This issue arises every so often. An employee has a serious illness and is warned by her doctor that stress at work worsens the illness. Is that a disability? Not according to caselaw under the old (ie, pre-amendment) Americans with Disabilities Act. In one case, the client was warned that her hypertension would worsen if
Contributions to Texas Supreme Court Justices
A reader writes to tell me that the unfortunate decision in Whirlpool, Inc. v Camacho was marred by the fact that the winning law firm had given $67,500 to three members of the Texas Supreme Court. I previously wrote about this case earlier. Among the many things wrong with that decision is that the
Jurors Prefer Defendants Who Look Better
Studies show that jurors prefer parties who dress up. See report. The study looks at juror preferences regarding criminal defendants in court. But, the same reasoning aplies to parties to a civil lawsuit.
Stray Remarks Doctrine Still Lives
This is what is wrong with federal judges when it comes to employment law. In a recent deicison, the Fifth Circuit applied the discredited "stray remarks doctrine." Of course, a defense employment lawyer notes the application approvingly. See post. In Jackson v. Cal-Western Packaging Corporation, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals (federal)
Texas Supreme Court Accepts Non-Compete Issue for Review
Texas law on non-compete agreements is stricter than many states. In Texas, the non-compete can be enforceable only if the employer provides some sort of confidential information in exchange for the non-compete agreement. Typically, the employer provides some trade secret or other proprietary information. Mike Maslanka pens another excellent post and discusses the state
San Antonio Law Firm Provides Documents
I wrote previously about a San Antonio law firm that refused to provide documents requested by the EEOC. The EEOC even filed suit in federal court to get those documents. Well, the Malaise law firm thought better about it and provided the requested documents, after all. Russ Cawyer reports that the EEOC moved to
Fourth Circuit Overturns Summary Judgment
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (federal court) covers the Carolinas, Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia. The Fourth Circuit and the Fifth Circuit (Texas, Louisiana and Mississiippi) are the two most conservative courts of appeals in the country. So, it is news when the Fourtth Circuit overturns summary judgment in favor of the employer. In
Overt Discrimination in Paris, Texas
The EEOC has found reasonable cause to believe there is overt racial discrimination at a plant in Paris, Texas. Paris is in deep East Texas, more Southern than Western in its culture. The EEOC is seeking to conciliate the matter. See report. The EEOC found that black workers were routinely subjected to racial slurs
Corrected: San Antonio Unemployment Improves
Not sure how this happened, but I erred when I reported that San Antonio unemployment was 6.4% for March. It was actually 7.3% which is still a drop from the previous 7.7% in February.
Brewery Workers on Strike
The workers at the Carlsberg brewery in Copenhagen have gone on strike. Apparently, management reduced the number of free beers the workers can have every day. That’s right. The workers receive free beer during the work day. See report. How is that for a benefit of employment?