More and more employers are relying on staffing agencies to fill certain jobs. But, many employers retain so much control that they remain the employers in all but name. So, if the client employer is the employer in fact, what would be the status of the staffing agency? The Fifth Circuit addresses that issue in
Fifth Circuit Took Away Verdict for Plaintiff
The Fifth Circuit is a risky place to do business. Sometimes, it just reaches some strange conclusions. The case of Allen v. Radio One of Texas II, LLC, No. 11-20781, 2013 WL 703832 (5th Cir. 2/26/2013) illustrates the lack of predictability at the Fifth Circuit. In that case, Corina Allen worked at a radio
Fifth Circuit Reverses Summary Judgment
The Fifth Circuit issued an interesting decision reversing summary judgment. In Heinsohn v. Carabin and Shaw, No. 15-50300, 2016 WL 4011160 (5th Cir. 7/26/2017), the higher court found the employer did not have policies in place to support its claim that it fired a Legal Assistant for missing an appeal deadline and for allegedly
Fifth Circuit Engages in Hypothetical Conversation
Back when I was in law school, lo those many years ago, Prof. Fuller, who was always a gentleman and very genial, made a comment about jokes in a law school exam. He explained that professors, after staying up late, wading through hundreds of pages, are not in a joking mood. So, he warned us
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?
Fifth Circuit Finds Equitable Tolling When EEOC Makes Error
For those of us who deal with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission regularly, that can be a lesson in futility. Like too many agencies, they are assigned too many cases and are expected to do too much with too little. So, it is not surprising that the EEOC folks do make their share of errors.
Fifth Circuit Still does not Credit Plaintiff’s Testimony
The U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision Tolan v. Cotton, 572 US __, 134 S.Ct. 1861, 188 L.Ed.2d 895 a year ago. But, many courts still do not appreciate its holding. I wrote about the decision in Tolan v. Cotton here. The decision in Tolan essentially fusses at lower courts for not reviewing
Federal Judge Overruled and Case is Re-assigned
Fifth Circuit Overruled for Being Too Formalistic
The Supreme Court must take some delight in reversing the Fifth Circuit. In a recent decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has once again reversed the Fifth Circuit. In Johnson v. City of Shelby, No. 13-1318 (5th Cir. 11/10/2014), the Supreme Court found that the Fifth Circuit applied the recent decisions
SCOTUS Says Summary Judgment Does not Obtain When Key Facts are in Dispute
Summary judgment (i.e., "quick" judgment) has become the bugaboo for employment lawsuits over the past 20 years. I have discussed how the over-use of summary judgment has been particularly difficult for employment cases. Well, that same analysis applies to all civil rights cases. In Tolan v. Jeffrey Wayne Cotton, No. 13-551 (2014), the U.S.