Family Medical Leave Act

In Harmon v. Texas Southern Univ., No. 14-21-00125 (Tex.App. Corpus Christi 6/15/2023), the court denied the employer’s Plea to Jurisdiction. It also looked behind the employer’s weak arguments about what its supervisor knew. Ms. Harmon had taught at Texas Southern for some 16 years, when her knee gave her so much trouble that she

Congress passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) in March, 2020 in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Soon afterward, Congress also passed the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (EPSLA). As the name suggests, the EPSLA allowed employees to take time off from work to quarantine due a possible covid19 infection. The leave requirements portion

Many defendants do this to some degree in a lawsuit: they exaggerate the testimony of the plaintiff or other witnesses. There is sometimes a fine line between advocating a position and outright fabricating evidence. In Flores v. DISH Network, the defense firm, Littler Mendelson, crossed that line. Littler Mendelson primarily practices employment law across

Pro se cases (i.e., for self) typically result in dismissal. These are lawsuits filed by a layperson on his/her own behalf – without a lawyer. I previously posted about a pro se lawsuit here. In another such case, Wynne v. Jubilee Academy, No. 19-CV-00739 (W.D. Tex.), the plaintiff filed the suit herself. Although

The President signed into law the Families First Coronavirus Response Act yesterday. See the new Act here. It amends the Family Medical Leave Act. The FFCRA applies to employers with fewer than 500 employees. This provision may cause confusion, since the FMLA itself applies to employers with more than 50 employees.

The FFCRA covers

What rights do you have regarding the coronavirus? Chris McKinney, a top notch lawyer,  has drafted some very good FAQ’s regarding this new pandemic. See his post here As a serious illness, most employees would be covered by the Family Medical Leave Act if they contract the virus. The more difficult question is must an

In Myles v. UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, No. 17-00871-XR, 2018 US Dist. LEXIS 5080 (W.D. Tex.), we see an instance in which the state employee successfully sued the state employer for a violation of the Family Medical Leave Act. Normally, a state employer is immune to a suit based on the

In a recent decision, the Fifth Circuit overruled Judge Lynn Hughes, again. The Fifth Circuit reversed Judge Hughes’ grant of summary judgment on several claims. The claims started when Karen D’Onofrio left Vacations to Go, the largest seller of ocean-going cruises in the world. Karen was a sales representative for Vacations. After a couple of

If a person needs an extended leave for treatment for a bad back, would the ADA require an employer to allow him an extra few months? The Seventh Circuit in Severson v. Heartland Woodcraft, Inc., No. 15-3754 (7th Cir. 9/20/2017), said no. Ray Severson, left work for his full 12 weeks of unpaid leave