My friend Gene Lee wrote a good post about how long discrimination lawsuits can take. He refers to statistics showing that from start to finish, the average lawsuit will take 22 months. That sounds about right for the San Antonio area, also. Here in South Texas, we can file the typical discrimination lawsuit in state
Employee Depositions Critical to Successful San Antonio Lawsuits
I spoke about depositions in general a couple of weeks ago. Now, let’s talk about employee depositions in a San Antonio employment lawsuit. The plaintiff employee deposition is critical to success for any employment lawsuit. The plaintiff employee must be able to show the opposing attorney and the employer that the employee can testify
Eye Witness Testimony is Often Inaccurate
It is pretty well accepted among most lawyers that eye witness testimony is often inaccurate. The story I heard in law school was that a professor staged a fake attack during class. He had someone walk into his room and pretend to shoot him. The shooter ran away and the professor jumped up to show
Civil Rights Enforcement Drops under Bush Administration
Enforcement of civil rights laws fell significantly during the Bush administration, according to a GAO report, as reported in the NY Times. The non-partisan Government Accountability Office reports, for example, that the DOJ Civil Rights Division had filed 11 cases of sex or race harassment per year during the Clinton years, but only 6
Summary Judgment is Not Proper if the Employee has Some Evidence
To show same sex harassment, one must show: 1) the alleged harasser made explicit or implicit proposals of sexual activity and that the sexual harasser was homosexual, 2) the harasser was motivated by general hostility toward members of the same sex, or 3) direct, comparative evidence showing different treatment for members of the same sex
Former Employee Receives $5.5 Million Award
A South Texas hospital will pay $27.5 million to the U.S. Justice department as part of a settlement of claims that the hospital, South Texas Health Systems, bilked money from the US government. The allegations include charges that the hospital entered into a kick-back scheme with various doctors. The plan was that the hospital would
Opposing Lawyers Can Get Along
Clients and other lay persons do not always understand that lawyers for opposing sides can get along and even join together for lunch. Mike Maslanka points out what can happen when lawyers cannot extend the simple courtesies in his latest post. As a lawyer for one side or the other, it is easy to
Texas “Sort of” Anti-Retaliation Statute
No sooner do I post about Texas anti-retaliation statutes and then I hear from someone who sort of has anti-retaliation protection but maybe not. Let’s be clear. Texas is an at-will state. I do not necessarily wish it to be so, but it is so. There are few exceptions here to at-will. My previous post
Many Employers will Spend Big Bucks to Defend a Discrimination lawsuit
A school district spends $552,000 to defend a lawsuit it eventually settles for $150,000. See report at California Labor & Employment Law blog. Does that make sense? No, of course not. Yet, many defendants do just that. They spend far more than the case is worth. Most employment cases settle for anywhere from $10,000
High Salaries Tend to Produce Large Verdicts
I discuss this with clients so often. How much is my case worth? Most clients believe their case is worth millions. And, it is. To you. But, what is it worth to a jury? I have explained that studies of discrimination lawsuits have found that most often, juries do not award compensatory or emotional suffering