Barry Oliphint worked for Jacobs Engineering for seven years. Mr. Oliphint had a major argument with his supervisor about performing an inspection early. The supervisor and Oliphint agreed Oliphint would resign. But, when Mr. Oliphint started looking for a new job, one interviewer told him he had lied about resigning. It turned out that Jacobs

What sort of person seeks to profit from the murder of dozens of children? Twenty of the victims were between 6 and 7 years old. Yet, for years, Alex Jones sought to profit from the deaths of children killed at Sandy Hook Elementary. In so doing, he inflicted emotional torment on their families. For this,

Alex Jones and InfoWars were sanctioned in 2019. See my prior post here. Now, Mr. Jones’ motion to dismiss has been denied. Alex Jones has been sued in Texas by three families from the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting. Alex Jones and InfoWars claimed the shooting was not real. Two suits (field by Fontaine and

What happens when an employer obtains access to your Facebook page? In Galvez v. City of Katy, No. No. H-18-4221, 2019 US Dist LEXIS 20634 (S.D. Tex. 2/8/2019), we see an employer who accessed Maria Galvez’ Facebok page while she was out on leave. The City had access to her page, because Ms. Galvez

Alex Jones and InfoWars provide a good lesson in how not to conduct a lawsuit. Alex Jones and InfoWars are being sued for making false claims that the Sandy Hook Elementary school massacre was not real. One of the parents of the murdered children, Neil Heslin, sued Mr. Jones for defamation in Travis County, Texas.

Defamation refers to uttering an untruthful statement about someone. “Libel” refers to written defamation. “Slander” refers to oral defamation. In the employment context, defamation has an extra hurdle. In Texas, to constitute defamation at work, the defamation must be made in the course and scope of employment. That is, the defamatory statement must be related

Defamation is that cause of action many people consider, but which is very difficult to prosecute. To show defamation, you have to show what the other person was thinking. You have to show a bad intent. In Hawbecker v. Hall, No. SA-14-CV-1010 (W.D. Tex.), the plaintiff did show defamation. It was a strange case.

Racial divisions are building in the last couple of years. White right activists are becoming more active. If we accuse someone supporting discriminatory policies of being a white supremacist, have we defamed that person? In Tennessee, Lisa Rung heard Robert Weidlich speak against LGBT persons at a school forum. Upon leaving the building, she saw

Many employers require drug tests for their employees. What happens when the drug testing laboratory commits an error regarding the test? Failing a drug test can result in termination. That is what happened in Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Rincones, 520 S.W.3d 572 (Tex. 2017). The employer had a random drug testing program. Exxon Mobil

Not unlike former Pres. Bill Clinton, Pres. Trump has a reputation that will attract lawsuits. One such lawsuit filed by Summer Zervos, accuses the Celebrity Apprentice star of groping her when she was a contestant on his show. She accuses him of groping her and kissing her. She filed suit three days before Pres. Trump’s