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Employment Law

Not so fast! Texas whistle-blowers must pursue internal remedies before they can sue

10/05/2015

Texas law requires public employees who are fired by their employing agency to pursue internal appeals of that decision. Otherwise, they can’t sue in state court over alleged wrongful discharge for whistle-blowing. Government employers should make sure they raise that defense if they don’t have any record of the worker making an internal appeal.

Confidential customer lists may be trade secrets even if the names are available elsewhere

10/05/2015
Good news if you need to protect your customer lists from competitors: You can require employees to sign confidentiality agreements to block taking customer lists to the next job even if it’s theoretically possible for the competitor or someone else to put together the same information from other, publicly available sources.

When accommodation is impossible, it’s OK to discharge disabled worker

10/05/2015
Not every disability can be accommodated in a way that enables an employee to perform the essential functions of his job. Sometimes, the disability simply can’t be accommodated. When that’s the case, you may terminate the employee. If he sues, you must be ready to show what the job’s essential functions are and that it simply isn’t possible for the disabled employee, given his specific disabilities, to perform those functions.

Employees must explain religious objections

10/05/2015
The federal appeals court that covers Texas has come down on the side of an employer that fired a worker for insubordination for refusing to say a rosary. Reason: The employee never revealed that her religion prevented her from complying.

What managers need to know about sexual harassment

10/01/2015
Here’s a primer on what sexual harassment is and how to react when you see it.

How can we prevent a workers’ comp claim from an older, accident-prone employee?

09/30/2015
Q. One of our employees is over age 70 and has had a broken foot, memory problems and a recent car wreck that caused some residual problems. Should we allow him to work? What can we do to protect ourselves from potential workers’ comp claims should he injure himself?

Prepare for more whistle-blower retaliation complaints

09/30/2015
Heed OSHA’s memo stressing that it only needs “reasonable cause” to find merit in one.

Jury awards $550k to porn-viewing sheriffs

09/30/2015
Two Northumberland County sheriffs who were fired for using department computers to watch porn will split $550,000 after a jury ruled the county violated their rights.

No magic words needed to ask for ADA accommodations

09/30/2015
Disabled employees who want reasonable accommodations don’t have to specifically use those words.

Negative comments about FMLA use? Call your lawyer because you will be sued

09/30/2015
Now is a good time to remind supervisors that making negative comments about FMLA usage can end in litigation. That’s because telling employees that taking time off makes it hard for co-workers who have to pick up the slack can chill further use of FMLA leave, discouraging employees from using time off they are legally entitled to.