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Employment Law

How can we structure a policy that lets us search employees’ belongings?

05/04/2015
Q. I am worried that some of my employees are storing illicit or illegal items at work. Is there a way for me to legally search their belongings?

Which laws cover military leave?

05/04/2015
Q. Some of the employees at my construction company are members of the military and scheduled for active duty in the near future. What laws and regulations apply to me and my employees who are in the military?

Can smokers claim an ADA disability to justify taking lengthy smoke breaks?

05/04/2015
Q. I own and run a paper company in Texas. Some of my employees who are cigarette smokers regularly take more breaks than the two, 15-minute breaks that are allowed under their employment contract—and some of the nonsmokers in the office are getting angry. When I confront the smokers about this conduct, I am increasingly hearing them make an unusual claim—that they have a “disability” and are protected by law. What should I do?

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.