Tag: Employment law

Coach Fouls Out On Retaliation Claim

Retaliation claims are very dangerous for Texas employers. This is why any advantage is very welcome. So, a case that came out in September from the federal appeals court covering Texas is welcome news. Coach Complains; Coach Removed Charles Julien worked as a teacher and basketball coach for a high school. Following a losing season […]

maternity

Federal Law Requires Employers to Provide Pregnancy-Related Leave

We occasionally hear from clients asking if their employees have to be employed for 12 months and work 1,250 hours to qualify for the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) or if they qualify as soon as they begin employment. The question appears to conflate aspects of the PWFA with a similar but distinct federal labor […]

Court Rejects Joint Employer Defense in Discrimination Case

A federal district court in Louisiana recently heard a case in which a governmental entity tried to assert that it wasn’t liable as a joint employer of the individual who had accused it of discrimination and retaliation. Read on to learn why the court sided with the employee and allowed the claims to proceed to […]

To Tell the Truth: Falsehood Dooms Lawsuit

The law requires that both sides to a lawsuit play fair. When that’s not the case, the side playing fast and loose with the rules gets punished. For a recent prime example, read on. Deposition Falsehood! After Daniel’la Deering was fired from her job as an in-house lawyer for Lockheed Martin, she sued for unlawful […]

SCOTUS Order Signals It May Invalidate Some EEOC Harassment Guidelines

In August, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld an injunction to the Department of Education’s recently issued rule implementing Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. Title IX prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other education program that receives funding from the federal government. This order—coupled with its decision overruling Chevron deference—signals the […]

Employers Challenge Constitutionality of DOL Administrative Law Judges

When the Supreme Court decided SEC v. Jarkesy, it only decided one of the issues in the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals decision. As we noted in “NLRB’s Administrative Law Judges Face Existential Challenges,” the 5th Circuit in Jarkesy also ruled that the Securities and Exchanges Commission’s (SEC) administrative law judges (ALJs) were unconstitutionally […]

Privilege of Dignity: Hospital’s Peer Review Was Protected

Whenever an employer investigates employee misconduct, there’s a chance it will find—and may have to disclose—negative facts. This is true when a hospital investigates the medical conduct of a doctor, or an employer investigates an employee for potential harassment. In both instances, and in the absence of malice, those investigations are protected by the litigation […]

Attacks Continue to Undermine DEI Programs

Immediately after the Supreme Court’s decisions in SFFA v. Harvard/UNC eliminating the use of race in higher education admissions, questions were raised about corporate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs. Edward Blum—founder of the organization Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) that won the Harvard/UNC decision—and former Trump administration staffer Stephen Miller have aggressively challenged corporate […]

Companies Seek Supreme Court Review of Federal Contractor Minimum Wage

Recreational touring companies are seeking U.S. Supreme Court review of the U.S. 10th Circuit Appeals Court decision upholding President Joe Biden’s $15 minimum wage requirement for federal contractors. The companies claim the wage hike was beyond the president’s authority under the Procurement Act. According to the companies, the “legal problem the mandate creates is straightforward: […]

NLRB’s Administrative Law Judges Face Existential Challenges

Since the Supreme Court’s rulings in Loper Bright and Jarkesy, employers have wondered to what degree the High Court’s rulings would affect the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which has long regarded itself as being apart from the concerns facing other agencies. Recent actions by the courts, however, have begun to challenge the Board’s self-regard. […]