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Texas

Age taunts earn $75K for former North Richland Hills employee

03/01/2010

The city of North Richland Hills will pay $75,000 to a former employee to settle a suit claiming that the worker was forced to resign after being continually taunted that he was too old to do his job. The lawsuit said city workers repeatedly ridiculed Robert Coffman, saying he was too old to keep up, that he made too much money and that he should quit.

Pilgrim’s Pride settles ICE investigation for $4.5 million

03/01/2010

Pilgrim’s Pride Corp., one of the nation’s largest poultry processors, has agreed to settle with the government following a two-year Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigation into allegations that hundreds of its employees were unauthorized to work in the United States.

Must we pay for unauthorized overtime?

03/01/2010

Q. Without authorization, one of our employees worked extra hours this week, even though we told everyone they needed approval to work overtime. Are we required to pay overtime for the unauthorized hours?

Do we need to get proof that employees who drive have licenses and insurance?

03/01/2010

Q. Some of our employees have jobs that require some driving. Do we need to ask these employees for proof that they have driver’s licenses and insurance?

When supervisor’s harassment is serious, make sure the punishment fits the crime

02/26/2010

Employers that don’t take swift action when they learn of possible harassment have only themselves to blame. Being too timid when it comes to punishing the supervisor is not a good idea. Whatever you do, don’t even think about transferring the harassed subordinate into a position with fewer responsibilities. Instead, move the harasser—or even terminate him.

Lawsuit-proof hiring: Post every job opening

02/12/2010

Here’s one of the simplest ways to avoid failure-to-hire litigation: Adopt a uniform system for posting openings—and then stick with that system. If you do, employees won’t be able to claim later that they didn’t know about an opening and would have applied if only they knew.

Check CBA for pay rules on safety gear prep

02/12/2010

Sometimes it’s hard to imagine many advantages of being a union workplace, but here’s a bit of good news: At least in some limited circumstances, working under a collective-bargaining agreement gives employers some protection against FLSA lawsuits that demand payment for time spent putting on and taking off protective gear at the beginning and end of the workday.

State unemployment tax rates increase this year

02/12/2010

Texas joins a number of other states that have had to increase unemployment tax rates in 2010. The recession has steadily drained the state’s Unemployment Compensation Fund.

Texas employees file FLSA suit against T.J. Maxx

02/12/2010

Employees of T.J. Maxx stores in Texas have filed a class-action suit alleging that the retailer stiffed workers out of regular wages and overtime pay. The lawsuit claims management required workers who exceeded their scheduled hours to work off the clock and told them to use vacation and sick time to cover time worked beyond their scheduled hours.

Employee can’t claim constructive discharge on what might happen in workplace

02/12/2010

Some employees try to fabricate a lawsuit by resigning and then alleging that some form of discrimination made their working conditions so intolerable that they had no choice but to quit. The name of this claim: constructive discharge. Fortunately for employers, it takes more than a few isolated comments to create intolerable conditions. And, as the following case shows, the fear that working conditions will become intolerable isn’t enough to justify quitting before things get bad at work.