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Texas

Harris County, Texas official must take harassment training

08/30/2017
The chief of the Harris County, Texas prosecutor’s Misdemeanor Department has been disciplined for making inappropriate comments to female employees.

Courts often cut slack for missing minor deadlines

08/09/2017
Don’t expect a quick dismissal of a lawsuit just because the employee or his lawyers miss a deadline. Courts are quick to grant extensions in the service of “justice” and won’t come down hard for seemingly minor deadline misses.

When is telecommuting considered a reasonable ADA accommodation?

08/03/2017
Q. Our organization rarely if ever lets employees work from home. An employee in our marketing department is struggling with a disability and has asked to work from home as an accommodation. Would that be a reasonable accommodation?

How should staff conducting employment interviews accommodate deaf applicants?

08/03/2017
Q. The recruiting manager of our company is interviewing a deaf applicant for an open position. What should she keep in mind during the interview?

Employers must respond to spike in drug use by employees

08/03/2017
The results of a recent Quest Diagnostics study serve as a reminder to re-examine your drug and alcohol policies and programs to include education, prevention and treatment components, and to revise your testing procedures.

Doubt cast on spousal benefits for same-sex couples

08/03/2017
The Texas Supreme Court on June 30 threw out a lower court ruling that said spouses of gay and lesbian public employees are entitled to government-subsidized same-sex marriage benefits.

Mandatory training isn’t act of discrimination

08/03/2017
It’s unusual, but sometimes workers claim that being forced to attend a training session was discrimination.

Got a good reason for firing? Then stick with it–or risk a lawsuit

08/03/2017
Generally speaking, the law does not tolerate inconsistency very well. That’s one reason it’s so important to be careful about how you explain someone’s termination. If your story changes, don’t be surprised if it winds up being used against you.

Judges know it just like we do: Sometimes work is annoying!

08/03/2017
Courts seldom give much weight to complaints about general disrespect, micromanaging supervisors or impossible workloads unless it is quite clear that those conditions are meant to punish protected activity or are reserved for members of a protected class while others aren’t targeted.

Budget crisis is valid reason for termination

08/03/2017
Courts don’t want to be in charge of running your business. Generally, if you can put forth a genuine, legal rationale reason for an action—such as terminating an employee for budgetary reasons—courts aren’t going to step in.