In employment lawsuits, the nub of the matter is often the alleged pretext. The employer argues the personnel decisions as completely normal and free of discriminatory bias. The plaintiff argues the opposite, that the employer’s decision does not withstand scrutiny. In Texas Tech Univ. Health Sciences Center v. Flores, No. 22-0940 (Tex. Dec. 31
The decision in Bostock v. Clayton County Georgia, 590 U.S. 644 (2020) was rendered in 2020. In that decision, the U.S. Supreme Court resolved a long-standing issue: does Title VII apply to homosexual based claims? Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination based on sex. Does “sex” include same sex?
Federal judges are judges for life. Pauline Newman was appointed to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in 1984. The court hears patent claims and customs issues. In 2023, responding to complaints by staff that Judge Newman was being abusive, the judicial council for the Federal Circuit suspended Judge Newman, saying she had shown signs
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has been overruled a few times in the past few years. You know a court is too conservative when it is too conservative even for the very conservative U.S. Supreme Court. In the latest example, a group of five plaintiffs filed suit in the Western District of Louisiana objecting
Summary judgment is the employer’s go-to defense to a discrimination lawsuit. For a few decades now, many Federal judges have used summary judgment as a tool for clearing his/her docket. But, in Dabassi v. Motiva Enterprises, No. 23-20166 (5th Cir. 7/16/2024), the court of appeals reversed the district court’s grant of summary judgment. In
In the age of social media, it is tempting for trial lawyers to communicate in some way with potential juries. But, lawyers who succumb to that temptation will learn the lesson one Georgia lawyer learned. Both before and during the start of a trial in Gwinnett County, Georgia, the plaintiff lawyer posted videos explaining “three
Sometime back, I met with a young man about his work situation. He was told by his boss to do some things that the worker believed would violate internal policies. Every work place has rules unique to that work place. We describe those rules as internal rules or policies. The worker was essentially telling me
In the recent US Supreme Court decision of Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, No. 22-451 (2024), the higher court overrules the decades long precedent in Chevron USA Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Counsel, 467 U.S. 837 (1984). The Chevron decision had held that courts should allow deference to interpretations of statutes by expert
Southwest fired an airline attendant, Charlene Carter, in 2017 after she engaged in a two year campaign sending pro-life messages on social media to the union head. Many of the messages included graphic images. They were, said Southwest at the time, intended to cause emotional harm on the union head. The messages included personal insults.
There has been much talk in the news recently about judges who supposedly should recuse themselves. Donald Trump, the serial litigator, has asked every judge in his criminal cases, except one, to recuse themselves. But, his motions have generally been based on pretty specious grounds. What are good, solid grounds for recusal? We get a