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Texas

Worker can’t show he’s legal? He’s still eligible for workers’ comp

06/02/2010
Illegal immigrants who can’t legally work in the United States are still eligible for benefits under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA), according to a recent 5th Circuit Court of Appeals decision.

Beat discrimination lawsuits by nailing down specific rationale for employment decisions

06/02/2010
In age discrimination cases, employees only have to show they were replaced by someone younger, or otherwise discharged because of age. You will have a much easier time showing that you had a legitimate reason unrelated to age for terminating the employee if you can cite specific business reasons to back up each part of your decision-making process.

TSU must play defense against suit by former basketball coach

06/02/2010
Surina Dixon, former women’s basketball coach at Texas Southern University, has filed a gender discrimination and retaliation lawsuit against the school, alleging that it violated Title VII by paying her half of what it paid the coach of the men’s team.

El Paso settles police official’s bias lawsuit

06/02/2010
In September 2008, El Paso Police Department Assistant Chief of Staff Diana Kirk filed a lawsuit charging the city with discrimination and retaliation. Now the El Paso City Council has voted to settle the suit, which alleged bias against Hispanic and female members of the police department.

Beware! Even small penalty can be retaliation

06/02/2010

Employees who complain about discrimination are protected from retaliation—and even a small financial penalty against an employee may be enough to trigger a lawsuit. Remember: The test for retaliation is whether a hypothetical reasonable employee would be dissuaded from complaining in the first place if he or she knew the consequences.

Know the one key limit on at-will employment

06/02/2010

Because Texas is an “at-will” state, employers are generally free to fire employees for any reason or no reason. Of course, firing employees under circumstances that would be illegal under any specific employment law won’t fly. But other than that, there is only one other discharge reason that puts employees outside at-will employment: Employers can’t fire employees for refusing to perform an illegal act.

Creating a drug-free workplace: How to draft a policy, conduct legal tests

05/11/2010

It’s in your best interest to detect employee drug abuse early and root it out immediately. But that’s easier said than done. Keeping your workplace drug-free means knowing how to spot the problem and effectively respond to it—without violating employees’ legal rights and creating legal liability.

Returning temps and the FMLA: What are our obligations as the client company?

05/06/2010
Q. A staffing agency has informed my company that a temporary worker who was previously assigned to us is returning from a leave under the FMLA. What are our obligations to this individual?

OK to test for alcohol under ADA?

05/06/2010
Q. We suspect some employees come to work drunk. Are workplace alcohol tests lawful under the ADA?

Shouldn’t applicants disclose disabilities?

05/06/2010
Q. We recently extended an employment offer to someone who was later determined to be unable to perform the essential functions of the position because of a visual impairment. As a result, we wasted a significant amount of time and missed the opportunity to hire other qualified individuals. Aren’t workers obligated under the ADA to disclose to an employer that they suffer from a disability?