The U.S. Supreme Court has held that title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 does include discrimination against gay persons. I have discussed this issue a few times, that the decision in Oncale v. SundownerOffshore Services, Inc., 523 US 75, 118 S.Ct. 998, 140 L.Ed.2d 201 (1998), was a very parsed
Pres. Trump brought some unusual experience to the office of the President of the United States. He filed over 3,500 lawsuits during his career in business. That is an astounding number. Periodically, I look for prior lawsuits regarding different organizations. I am sure I have never seen more than ten lawsuits for any one organization,
One question that has arisen regarding this outbreak is can employers be liable if their employees contract the coronavirus? The Occupational Safety and Health Act has a general provision requiring employers to provide a safe working environment for its workers. That provision requires employers to provide a place of employment which is free from “recognized
The courts have struggled with the wording in Title VII for a couple of decades. Title VII clearly prohibits discrimination based on sex. Does that mean Title VII prohibits discrimination based on sex orientation? If an employer terminate someone because he is gay, how is that not discrimination based on sex?
The challenge is that
At an en banc hearing before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, Trump lawyer William Consovoy said if the President shot someone on Fifth Avenue in New York City, he would be immune from criminal investigation. I was not there, but am sure Judge Denny Chin was not impressed by that assertion. There is limited
Defamation refers to uttering an untruthful statement about someone. “Libel” refers to written defamation. “Slander” refers to oral defamation. In the employment context, defamation has an extra hurdle. In Texas, to constitute defamation at work, the defamation must be made in the course and scope of employment. That is, the defamatory statement must be related
In civil lawsuits, we do these things known as “depositions.” We depose a witness with no judge present. The depositions usually occur in lawyer’s offices, but they can take place anywhere. The two warring sides meet up and the only brake on poor behavior are social norms. In a deposition in Las Vegas, a lawyer
The Americans with Disabilities Act provides that a person is entitled to an accommodation if needed. But, sometimes the need for accommodation is not so apparent. Back injuries are notorious for being unpredictable. Russell Holt applied for a job with BNSF railway. He received a job offer conditional on passing a physical exam. Mr. Holt
I wrote about a pushy judge in the Paul Manafort trial here. The judge was fussing at the prosecutor and the prosecutor fussed back a bit. Now, the judge has apologized and explained to the jury that he was “probably wrong” for criticizing the prosecutor regarding one of the witnesses. IRS agent Michael Welch
The National Labor Relations Act has always protected a worker’s right to discuss “terms and conditions” of employment. Sec. 7 of the NLRA protects the right of workers to discuss conditions at their job. Sec. 7 of the NLRA is found at 29 U.S.C. § 158(a)(1).
But, because labor unions are so rare in the