Quid pro quo sex discrimination refers to the situation in which a male harasser asks for sexual favors from a female subordinate. The phrase is Latin for “something for something”. That is the situation involved in the lawsuit of Stephanie Cordero against Tom Benson Chevrolet and her former supervisor, Ernesto Davila. But, Ms. Cordero goes
Religion Invoked in Texas House Race
Back in the 1850’s, religion became a large part of the national debate in all elections, state, local and national. The Know Nothings opposed immigrants in general and Roman Catholics in particular. They were called Know Nothings, because they were instructed to reply “I know nothing” when asked about their party. The party was officially
Trump Spokesperson Tweeted about “Pure Breeds”
So, back in 2012, the presidential election was between Barack Obama, son of a black father and white mother, and Mitt Romney, whose father was born in Mexico. Don Trump’s spokesperson tweeted at the time: “Perfect Obama’s dad born in Africa, Mitt Romney’s dad born in Mexico. Any pure breeds left?” See CBS news report
Fifth Circuit Disregards Summary Judgment Standards
The point of summary judgment is to dismiss cases that have no genuine chance of winning in front of a jury, or cases that a jury should not even hear. Summary judgment should result in dismissal of cases that lack any real issue of fact. Why have a trial if there is no genuine issue?
Supreme Court Recognizes Implicit Bias
A theory being discussed in academic circles is that discrimination is often implicit. According to this theory, we tend to filter out certain information based on our preconceived notions about peoples and ethnicities. The academicians refer to this as “implicit bias.” Justice Kennedy recently recognized some validity in the theory in Texas Department of Housing
Federal Judge is Sanctioned
Many lay persons have this idyllic view of the judicial system that judges are sober, thoughtful and the jury members even more so. But, judges and jury members are human, after all. Indeed, many members of the jury, like many citizens at large, are skeptical about claims of discrimination. Judges are no different. In fact,
Court Hears Affirmative Action Case
The case of Abigail Fisher is once again back before the United States Supreme Court. Ms. Fisher sued the University of Texas when she was first denied admission. She is attacking the affirmative action program at UT. UT allowed the top ten percent of each graduating class at the time. Ms. Fisher argues that that
Excluding All Moslems will not Protect Us
In times of war or fear, we turn to our baser instincts. Unfortunately, lately that means many Americans blame all Moslems for the acts of a few. As I have mentioned here before, my experience is different than many Americans. I had the privilege of serving in Iraq with some wonderful persons who happened to
Trump Mocks Reporter for His Impairment
I used to work at Disability Rights of Texas. I learned that some folks have some very obscure disabilities. One such disability is arthrogryposis. The impairment causes a person to have paralyzed arms. A reporter, Serge Kovaleski, suffers from arthrogryposis. The reporter wrote a story just after 9/11 quoting some law enforcement officials that some
Fourth Court Finds Same Sex Harassment
I often wonder why more defendants do not try the “we discriminate against everyone” defense. In theory, if a supervisor discriminated against all genders and all races, then he could not be guilty of treating one nationality or one gender better than another. In Clark v. Alamo Heights Independent School District, No. 04-14-00746 (Tex.App.