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Texas

After discipline, how should we respond to employee’s retaliation claim?

01/09/2013
Q. We recently disciplined one of our employees for a handbook violation. She has since alleged that she was the victim of harassment. We are now facing a retaliation claim from this employee. How should we respond to such retaliation complaints?

Firing for Facebook post doesn’t violate Texas privacy law

01/09/2013
Recently, a Texas appeals court was asked to determine whether firing an employee because of a Face­­book post violated that employee’s state law privacy rights. The court held that it did not.

Richardson Doubletree Hotel settles wage-and-hour suit

01/09/2013
The Doubletree Hotel in Richardson has agreed to pay 112 employees $102,592 to settle charges it violated the Fair Labor Standards Act.

DOL says ‘bah, humbug’ to Christmas lights installer

01/09/2013

Some may see this as part of the Obama administration’s alleged “war on Christmas.” In reality it was a simple enforcement action. The DOL recently played the Grinch by filing a lawsuit against a Dallas company that installs and removes Christmas lights.

5 Texas firms ace awards for gay-friendly practices

01/09/2013
Each year the Human Rights Cam­­paign rates Fortune 500 companies on how well they treat lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) employees. Five Texas firms couldn’t have scored any better, earning perfect 100s.

How to survive a DOL audit of your health insurance plan

01/09/2013
The Affordable Care Act health care reform law doesn’t fully kick in for another year. But that hasn’t stopped DOL auditors from scrutinizing group health plans for provisions that have already taken effect. Make sure your plan complies with the following requirements.

Undocumented worker claims retaliation? No back pay

01/09/2013
An undocumented worker who is fired after claiming he isn’t being paid minimum wage can’t collect back pay after his discharge. That’s because illegal immigrants shouldn’t be working anyway.

One stupid comment doesn’t create hostile environment

01/09/2013
When terminated through a reduction in force or for some other legitimate reason, overly sensitive employees may take a shot at filing a lawsuit over perceived slights, alleging they had been forced to work in a hostile work environment. Fortunately, it usually takes more than that to win.

Hiring or promoting? OK to discount experience if it’s trumped by other factors

01/09/2013

When an employee or applicant claims she was passed over for a job because of discrimination, she generally has to show that she was clearly the best-qualified candidate for the position. Some will argue that cumulative years of experience trump other factors. That’s not always true.

Good records win lawsuits: When disciplining, be as specific as possible

01/09/2013
If someone was terminated for breaking workplace rules, he may claim you treated others outside his protected classification more favorably. The best way to counter such charges is with very specific records showing why you believe each punishment fit the rule violation.