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Employment Law

In Texas, decisions raise bar on waiver of arbitration agreements

05/04/2015
Two recent decisions from the Supreme Court of Texas and the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals are reminders that, under Texas law, it is difficult for employers to waive arbitration agreements.

Activist’s challenge to equal rights rule fails

05/04/2015
An antigay activist has failed in his attempt to defeat the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance, which would recognize sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes.

Jury awards $250,000 to former strippers in Houston

05/04/2015
Two former exotic dancers will split a $250,000 award after a jury sided with them in their suit against Houston nightclub Tiffany’s Cabaret. The jury found the club illegally made the women share their tips and wrongly forced them to pay to dance there.

Public employees do have to follow employers’ decisions

05/04/2015
While public employees typically have greater protections on the job than employees working in the private sector, they don’t have unlimited protection from interference with their jobs.

Court holds firm on 180-day deadline for filing discrimination complaints with TCHR

05/04/2015

A Texas court has refused to give workers additional time to file discrimination lawsuits based on a so-called “discovery” rule. The case involved an employee who argued he had more time to sue because he did not realize he had been discriminated against during the 180 days immediately following the alleged discrimination. He said it took longer than that for it to become obvious that bias had occurred.

Sorry, it’s never acceptable to make jokes comparing employees to animals

05/04/2015
If you want to lose a hostile environment lawsuit, go ahead and ignore complaints and let managers act like bigots and racists. A recent case illustrates just how big a mistake tolerating such nonsense can be.

Texas leads nation in number of EEOC charges

05/04/2015
More EEOC charges originated in Texas in fiscal year 2014 than any other state.

Stress from tough boss isn’t a disability

05/04/2015
Some supervisors are hard to handle, especially for subordinates sensitive to criticism. But the resulting stress isn’t usually a disability under the ADA and therefore doesn’t have to be accommodated.

Supremes: Courts may review EEOC for good faith

05/04/2015
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled April 29 that courts have the authority to review whether the EEOC made a good-faith attempt to conciliate discrimination complaints before suing employers, as required by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The unanimous decision in Mach Mining v. EEOC is a limited win for employers.

EEOC: Title VII covers transgender employees

05/01/2015
Arguing that Title VII’s prohibition on sex discrimination covers transgender employees, the EEOC successfully pursued a bias claim filed by an employee who was fired shortly after beginning a transition from male to female.