A couple of weeks ago, the EEOC Chair, Andrea Lucas posted a video asking white males if they have suffered discrimination. If so, please report it to the EEOC. See NBC news report here. This is very unusual behavior for the EEOC. For decades, the EEOC has branded itself as neutral, not favoring employee
A recurring issue in retaliation lawsuits concerns the temporal connection between opposing discriminatory practices and the resulting discrimination. Fifth Circuit precedence suggests that a temporal connection alone that extends over four months is too long to infer a connection. That tension is vividly demonstrated in Stamps v. University of Texas System, No. 24-CV-00249 (W.D.
A frequent question in disability cases concerns how long can an employer take when considering a request for accommodation. Some requests are so urgent that any delay will cause irreparable injury. In Strife v. Aldine Independent School District, No. 24-20269 (5th Cir. May 16, 2025), we get some answers. In Strife, a teacher, Alisha
I wrote about the hearing regarding the lawsuit filed by the law firm, Perkins Coie here. The Judge was clearly flabbergasted by the Executive Order targeting two big law firms. She asked at that hearing if this EO was not like something from the Joe McCarthy era? Well, Judge Howell has now issued her
Pres. Trump issued an executive Order which forbids “illegal DEI.” Executive orders only have binding, legal effect for the Executive branch of the U.S. government. But, EO’s often have general influence throughout American society. What is or what might be “illegal DEI”? That phrase likely stems from the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Students for
For no apparent reason, other than naked politics, Pres. Trump has fired two of the three Democrat appointed members of the EEOC Commission. The Commission decides EEOC policies and guidance. It is fairly normal for the EEOC to lack enough members for a quorum when a new administration first starts. But, in removing two pf
His name is Joe. Joe cleans tables at a coffee bar I frequent. Joe has limited functioning. Whatever his diagnosis is, he could be on the severe end of the autism spectrum. Joe does a great job at keeping the tables clean and performing “hey you” tasks. Even though Joe is tall and big enough
Every time a new President is elected, the Department of Justice reviews its civil rights lawsuits one at a time, to see which cases it will continue with. This process has always been performed on a case-by-case basis. Until now. The new Trump administration has frozen *all” current or pending new cases. The Memo issued
In employment lawsuits, the nub of the matter is often the alleged pretext. The employer argues the personnel decisions as completely normal and free of discriminatory bias. The plaintiff argues the opposite, that the employer’s decision does not withstand scrutiny. In Texas Tech Univ. Health Sciences Center v. Flores, No. 22-0940 (Tex. Dec. 31
The decision in Bostock v. Clayton County Georgia, 590 U.S. 644 (2020) was rendered in 2020. In that decision, the U.S. Supreme Court resolved a long-standing issue: does Title VII apply to homosexual based claims? Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination based on sex. Does “sex” include same sex?