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Employment Law

Part-time schedule may not be ADA solution

05/28/2014
Employees who have used up all available leave may want to return to work part time while they are still healing from an injury or illness. Whether part-time work is a reasonable accommodation under the ADA depends on whether all essential functions of the job can be performed part time.

Employee can’t sue customer for retaliation

05/28/2014

An employee recently tried to claim that a customer had retaliated against her for griping on the job. It didn’t work.

State Supreme Court reaffirms: At-will employment is the Texas standard

05/28/2014
The Texas Supreme Court was recently asked by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to determine the status of at-will employment in Texas. The Texas High Court made it very clear that at-will employment is the standard in the state. Employees can’t sue former employers for fraud if they “promise” continued employment and but then fail to deliver.

Check calendar on every harassment claim

05/28/2014
Employees typically have to file EEOC complaints within 300 days. Some attorneys think they can get around that rule by shopping around for other laws on which to base their lawsuits. Typically, they try to find a common-law tort to fit the situation, giving them much more time to sue. Now that avenue has been blocked.

Union seeks voice in Austin firefighter settlement

05/28/2014
The Austin Firefighters Association wants to be part of the city’s negotiation with the U.S. Department of Justice to settle long-smoldering claims that the city fire department’s hiring process discriminates against black and Hispanic applicants.

Warn hiring committee: Never discuss decision-making process with candidates

05/28/2014

If you haven’t already, warn everyone who serves on hiring committees or is otherwise involved in hiring-related decisions to keep their thoughts to themselves. For example, they should never discuss the inner workings of the ­hiring process with candidates.

Keep bereavement leave policies up-to-date

05/27/2014
Although there’s no federal requirement to offer time off after the death of a loved one, many businesses do it anyway. Before long, however, those voluntary policies could become law.

NFL draft pick of Michael Sam could move anti-gay bias bill in Missouri

05/27/2014
The St. Louis Rams’ decision to draft openly gay football player Michael Sam could help advance Missouri legislation that would include sexual orientation and gender identity as protected characteristics under state law. So says Dara Strickland, an employment law attorney and president of the LGBT Community Center of Metropolitan St. Louis.

‘Barbaric’ conditions cited in ruling against labor firm

05/23/2014
Beverly Hills-based Global Horizons, Inc., awaits a trial to determine damages that will go to Thai workers who toiled at Hawaiian plantations.

Jet Propulsion Lab misfired by disciplining disgruntled workers

05/23/2014
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology was schooled in the NLRA after it disciplined five employees who challenged lab policies.