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Texas

Arbitration won’t work on wage claims if agreements are too one-sided

01/03/2018

If you structure an arbitration agreement so it takes away too many employee rights, you may find yourself in federal court anyway—first to litigate the validity of the agreement and then to try the case. 

Court OKs double trouble in pay bias case

01/03/2018

A federal court hearing a case brought by the EEOC against a Texas county has allowed an alleged victim of discrimination to add additional charges in an Equal Pay Act case the EEOC is already litigating. As a practical matter, that means the employer will have to fight even more attorneys while defending its pay practices.

Title VII doesn’t cover sexual orientation

01/03/2018

A federal court has dismissed a lawsuit alleging a hostile work environment based on sexual orientation, despite the EEOC’s position that sexual orientation discrimination is sex discrimination under Title VII.

Court recognizes a new kind of claim: Retaliatory hostile environment

01/03/2018

Essentially, a retaliatory hostile environment claim looks at situations in which life was made generally difficult for an employee in small ways that in themselves would not affect a term or condition of employment.

Houston union settles EEOC race bias claims for $30,000

12/06/2017

Local 100 of the United Labor Unions, a multi-state service workers’ union, has agreed to settle charges it discriminated against two black organizers when it fired them for allegedly not meeting recruiting goals.

Principal sues Houston schools for race, age discrimination

12/06/2017

A renowned Houston high school principal who was suspended with pay in September has filed a race and age discrimination lawsuit against the Houston Independent School District.

Assignment scope determines background checker liability

12/06/2017

If you run background checks before hiring, the information you request may limit liability for the investigating firm you use.

Jury gets to decide: Did she quit or was she fired?

12/06/2017

Think an employee’s ultimatum a­­mounts to quitting in a huff? Maybe, maybe not­. If a dispute transforms into a lawsuit, it may be up to a judge or jury to determine if an em­­ployee really resigned or was just blow­­ing off steam.

ADA interactive accommodations process not required—if employee isn’t disabled

12/06/2017

Employers are supposed to engage with disabled workers and applicants in the ADA’s interactive accommodations process in order to arrive at reasonable accommodations. But what if the employer refuses—and it turns out the employee wasn’t actually disabled?

Track hours worked … unless you want court to

12/06/2017

If you haven’t kept track of all worker hours, a court will ask employees for their estimates. And if the court thinks that isn’t accurate either, it will come up with its own estimate. That’s what happened in one recent case.