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Texas

Houston company settles EEOC religious bias case

06/02/2010

A Houston-area construction company will pay $122,500 to settle a lawsuit that alleged a Muslim employee had to endure religious and national-origin discrimination. The EEOC backed the lawsuit against Pace Services, filed by Mohammad Kaleemuddin.

Employee blames company, boss for stillborn son

06/02/2010
Natalie Schroeder was seven months into a high-risk twin pregnancy when she missed a doctor’s appointment. Her boss at Advanced Neuromodulation Systems in Plano told her she had to finish a report before she could leave. Three days later she went into labor and delivered a healthy girl—and a stillborn son. Now she is suing.

Intermittent FMLA leave may open accommodation door

06/02/2010

If you approve intermittent FMLA leave for an employee’s serious health condition, you’ll have a tough time arguing later that the employee’s disability means he’s unable to perform the essential functions of his job. That’s because you’ve already shown that periodic absences didn’t interfere with running the business.

Train interviewers to disregard apparent disability

06/02/2010
Employers aren’t supposed to ask about disabilities unless applicants bring them up. That’s to protect disabled applicants from preconceived notions about disability. But ignoring disabilities serves another function: Interviewers can later testify that company policy requires them to consider only qualifications.

Retaliation: Don’t sweat link between complaint and firing, if you would have fired anyway

06/02/2010

You may be worrying too much about firing an employee right after she files a discrimination complaint! If you can easily show that you would have fired her regardless of her complaint, a court is unlikely to connect her complaint with your decision. And in Texas, timing alone isn’t enough to prove the firing was retaliation.

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.