Well, the Supreme Court disagreed with me. But, only by a 5-4 vote. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the President’s travel ban and rejected the appeal of the state of Hawaii. See the opinion in Trump v. Hawaii, No. 17-965 (6/26/2018) here. I previously wrote about that travel ban and its
employment law lawyers
Fifth Circuit Finds Affidavits Conclusory
In a recent decision, the Fifth Circuit overruled Judge Lynn Hughes, again. The Fifth Circuit reversed Judge Hughes’ grant of summary judgment on several claims. The claims started when Karen D’Onofrio left Vacations to Go, the largest seller of ocean-going cruises in the world. Karen was a sales representative for Vacations. After a couple of…
Federal Employees Wait Years for an EEOC Judge
For federal employees, they have a different process to trial. A federal employee can file a verbal complaint with his/her local EEO office. The employee must make that initial contact within 45 days of the last act of discrimination. When that process is completed, the federal employee then has 15 days to submit a written…
Online Legal Providers Are Practicing Law without a License
Online legal help has grown tremendously in the past 10 years. But, the truth is many of those websites are providing legal advice – without a law license. In lawyer talk, we call that unauthorized practice of law. Unauthorized practice of law was developed to protect consumers from charlatans, person who claim legal knowledge, but…
Fifth Circuit Reverses JNOV
Many federal judges avoid employment cases partly because they involve so much detail. But, it is in those details that a circumstantial case is won or lost. And, most employment cases depend on circumstantial evidence. in Robinson v. Jackson State, No. 16-60760 (5th Cir. 12/4/2017) (unpublished), the Fifth Circuit dived into those details and…
Hard to Find Employment Lawyers
I talked the other day about a recent book from the University of Chicago Press: Rights on Trial: How Workplace Discrimination Perpetuates Inequality. See my poor post here. The authors went to federal records and interviewed individual plaintiffs to study how well discrimination lawsuits achieve the simple aim of rectifying discrimination in the workplace.…
White Supremacist Accusation not Always Defamation
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…
Ft. Worth Court Rejects Arbitration Agreement
Many employers have started posting their employee polices online, and not in hard copy format. If so, they will run into the issue presented in Doe v. Columbia North Hills Hospital, 2017 WL 1089694 (Tex.App. Ft. Worth 3/23/2017). Jane Doe was sexually assaulted by a male co-worker. When she sued her former employer, it invoked…
Fox News’ Bolling Suspended
There must be something in the water at Fox News. They keep having issues with sexual harassment. Eroic Bolling, a news host, has been accused by several female co-workers of sending photos of his genitals via text messages. Huffington Post reported that more than a dozen sources said he had sent unsolicited photos of his…
Juries Cannot Review the Internet During Trial
Our judicial system requires juries to review only evidence produced at trial. That is the system we have had since before 1776. A juror who brings in a medical dictionary to better understand medical testimony would violate the oath they take as jurors. The theory is that a jury should review only the evidence that…