Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who claims to be the toughest sheriff in America, has received the first step in the contempt process of federal court. The court found him in contempt last year. See my prior post about Sheriff Joe here. Judge Snow in Maricopa County, or Phoenix, Arizona, has ordered a re-organization of the
Gretchen Carlson Sues Fox News for Sexual Harassment
Gretchen Carlson has filed suit against Fox News and Roger Ailes for sex discrimination. Ms. Carlson was Miss America in 1989 and is attractive. In her lawsuit, she accuses Mr. Ailes of ogling her, repeatedly commenting about her legs, and once told her she was sexy but “too much hard work.” Nine months ago, he
AG Seeks to Muzzle Trump University Reports
John Owens’ information apparently hit a nerve. Within a day of the news report regarding the AG’s refusal to sue Trump University, Ken Paxton’s office has issued a “cease and desist” letter to Mr. Owens. I wrote about that investigation here. The cease and desist letter warns the former head of the consumer protection
Obesity is not a Disability, Says the Eighth Circuit
Obesity is sometimes referred to as a growing epidemic. There is more obesity today. But, obesity in itself does not rise to the level of a disability, according to a recent Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals decision. In Morriss v. BNSF Railway Company, No. 14-3858 (8th Cir. 4/5/2016), the plaintiff was 5’10” and weighed
NCAA Not Required to Pay Players for Images
Are college football players employees? The NLRB, at least on the regional level, said yes. See my prior post regarding that ruling here. In a similar case, one former college basketball player, Ed O’Bannon, sued the NCAA for using his name and image in marketing. The NCAA has long used the names and images
New Standard for Joint Employers
In a recent ruling, the National Labor Relations Board has adopted a new standard regarding joint employers. Joint employers is a relatively new creation in the area of labor and employment law. Joint employers, as the name suggests, refers to separate employers both being employers of the same employee. Many years ago, I worked on
Fifth Circuit Reverses Western District for Making Credibility Determinations
In Burton v. Freescale Semiconductor Inc. and Manpower of Texas, LP, No. 14-50944 (5th Cir. 8/10/2015), the Fifth Circuit overruled the district court’s summary judgment. The court addressed a frequent issue, who is responsible for the termination of temporary employees? But, in so doing, the higher court also addressed a more frequent issue, how
Beware of Vague Requests for Accommodation
With an aging population, we are already seeing more medical care issues in the work place. There will be more, not fewer, requests for accommodation. Since the ADA was amended effective in 2009, we are just now seeing the increase in requests for accommodation cases. Some folks just get the whole request for accommodation thing
Texas State Guard will Monitor Jade Helm Exercise
Gov. Abbott has asked the Texas State Guard to “monitor” the training known as Jade Helm 15. I previously wrote about that silly request here. I was wrong in describing the entity as the Texas National Guard. The Governor actually asked the “Texas State Guard” to watch the Special Forces soldiers traipse around conducting
Lawyers Threaten Complaint about Texas AG
If a lawyer said what Ken Paxton said about disregarding A Supreme Court decision, then that lawyer would indeed face disbarment. So, it is perhaps not surprising that some 150 Texas lawyers have threatened to file a complaint about the Texas Attorney General. Ken Paxton issued legal guidance soon after the Supreme Court decision finding