Under the Family Medical Leave Act, a mother or father can take 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for a sick child. But, the FMLA does not apply to employers with less than 50 workers and it does not apply to part-time workers. The FMLA has limits. It does not apply to many workers.
UIW Claims to be Arm of the Government
One of the things about litigation is that strategy often takes precedence over substance. In the Redus family lawsuit against University of the Incarnate Word, the university asked to dismiss the lawsuit. UIW claimed to be an “arm of the government” such that they would be immune to suits for personal injury. Cough, cough. Yes,
Rep. White Distrusts Muslims
This anti-Muslim bias is kind of crazy. Rational people can hold such irrational views. Do we really judge a religion of hundreds of millions of followers by the actions of a few hundred? Well, yes, state Rep. Molly White does. A Muslim group recently held its seventh annual Texas Muslim Capitol Day in Austin. Rep.
San Diego Jury Awards $185 Million in Punitive Damages
A San Diego, California jury recently awarded less than one million in compensatory damages and another $185 million in punitive damages to a woman who sued for pregnancy based discrimination. See Workplace Prof blog post. The suit was lodged against AutoZone. Rosario Juarez alleged that she was fired after being told that pregnant women
Texas Statutes of Limitation
Lawsuits are tricky. They must be filed within a certain deadline, known as "statutes of limitation." If a person misses the statute of limitation without a very, very good reason, that person cannot file the lawsuit. Statutes of limitations are very important. A suit based on personal injury must be filed within two years of
Judge Jones Cleared of Ethics Charges, Pending Appeal
I wrote before about Judge Edith Jones, who has been accused of making racist comments at a Federalist Society meeting. See my prior post here. She allegedly stated that certain racial groups, such as African-Americans and Hispanics, are "predisposed" toward crime. Most judges might get away with making those sorts of statements, if they
Jimmy John’s Requires Non-Compete Agreements
Non-competition agreements have been around for a long time. They have usually been used for saelsmen who have access to cloesly guarded customer lists and to doctors. But, now, they have been uased for hourly employees at a sandwich chain. Jimmy John’s has been sued because it requires employees to agree they will not work
Court Finds Factual Issues Regarding Accommodations
The ADA Amendments Act was passed in 2009. Since then, courts have addressed more fundamental questions about disability claims, such as what are the essential functions of a job and how can they be accommodated? On one such case, Perez v. Sprint/United Management Co., 2013 WL 6970898, No. 12-CV-3161 (N.D. Ga 12/19/2013), the court
Discrimination Cases Present Many Obstacles
Courtesy of creationc
Employment cases are exceedingly difficult, with numerous deadlines and traps for the unwary. We see some of these traps in the case of Prewitt v. Continental Automotive, No. 12-CV-582 (W.D. Tex. 8/28/2014). In this case, Larry Prewitt alleged that he had been terminated due to several reasons: race discrimination
Juries are Unpredictable
I try to warn clients all the time that juries are fickle. A party can have the best evidence and still lose. One recent case illustrates that reality. In Alexander v. Servisair, LLC, No. H-12-817 (S.D. Tex. 2013), the plaintiff alleged that she had been terminated for pursuing her rights to sick leave under