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Texas

Base hiring decisions on listed qualifications

08/02/2010

Make sure your job announcements list all relevant experience and educational requirements. Why? Courts deciding whether to send a failure-to-hire case to trial won’t consider any qualifications you didn’t list in the job announcement. Here’s how that could play out:

Unbiased investigation stops retaliation suits

07/23/2010

Complaining about things like pay disparities and other alleged acts of discrimination doesn’t make an employee immune from discipline. But if the timing between the complaint and the discipline is too close, watch out for a retaliation lawsuit. Make sure that doesn’t happen by setting up a process in which disciplinary recommendations are based on an independent investigation.

Must we rehire strikers when labor dispute ends? We may want to keep replacement workers

07/02/2010
Q. A group of our employees recently voted to strike. To ensure that our operations aren’t disrupted, we would like to hire replacement workers. When the strike ends, will we be required to reinstate the strikers?

In case of layoffs, must we offer severance and pay out accrued, unused vacation?

07/02/2010
Q. We are in the process of reducing our staff and will need to lay off several employees. Are we required to provide severance pay to those selected for layoff? How about pay for accrued, unused vacation time?

2 small companies, 1 owner: Could we be covered by the FMLA?

07/02/2010
Q. We are a small manufacturing company with 16 employees. We distribute our products through another company, which we also own. The distribution company has 38 employees. One of our manufacturing employees is pregnant and has asked for time off. She says she is entitled to leave under the FMLA. Is this true?

Lawyer gets $8.7 million after deception about firm’s stability

07/02/2010
A Texas jury has awarded $8.77 million to an attorney who says his career was derailed when he went to work for a law firm that was embroiled in a nasty dispute between partners.

DOJ grant to fight employment bias along Mexican border

07/02/2010
Rep. Rubén Hinojosa, who represents the 15th District of Texas in Congress, recently announced that the Justice Department has awarded $59,546 to fund a project aimed at reducing employment discrimination against Texans authorized to work in the United States regardless of their national origin.

Dallas hospital owes $3.6 million for discrimination

07/02/2010
A federal jury in Dallas has awarded Dr. Naiel Nassar more than $3.6 million after he sued the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UTSW) at Dallas for religious and race discrimination.

Some internal complaints may qualify as whistle-blowing

07/02/2010
The Texas Whistleblower Act protects some employees who report violations of the law to “an appropriate law enforcement authority.” But does that include complaining up the employer’s chain of command? Sometimes.

Beware discussions concerning employee longevity

07/02/2010
Casual business conversations can come back to haunt you if some comments imply that you could save money without so many long-term employees.