A jury verdict for $366 million is very rare. It is especially rare for a single plaintiff case. It is even more rare in federal district court. Yet, that is exactly what happened in Harris v. Fedex, No. 21-CV-01651 (S.D. Tex.). Jennifer Harris sued Fedex for discrimination and for retaliation after she complained about
The Western District of Texas recently denied in part and granted in part a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss in the matter of Doe v. U.T. at San Antonio, No. 20-CV-1039-DAE (W.D. Tex. 9/27/2021). The Plaintiff sued UTSA based on several theories. He also sued two administrators in addition to the school itself. The
In Lindsley v. TRT Holdings, Inc., 984 F.3d 460 (5th Cir. 1/7/2021), the Fifth Circuit reversed a grant of summary judgment regarding the plaintiff’s claim that she was paid less than her three male predecessors. Writing for the majority, Judge Ho said it was apparent that she was paid less than the men who
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
One of the more difficult problems for employers is harassment by unknown co-workers. The law was designed for harassment by supervisors. It functions not so well when the harassment is caused by co-workers. In Tolliver v. YRC, Inc., No. 17-10294, 2018 US LEXIS 17806 (5th Cir. 6/28/2018), African-American workers were harassed in various ways
The Department of Justice has filed suit against the City of Selma for violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Adam Sadler filed a charge with the EEOC claiming he had been demoted to firefighter after he complained about the Chief of the Fire Department. The former lieutenant complained that the
I spent twelve months in Iraq. We taught and coached Iraqis on the finer points of democracy. I served with some 140,000 other soldiers and service members. As soldiers, I thought we did pretty well under the circumstances. For a country long accustomed to strong central governance, there was visible progress on their ability to
The EEOC has been hit with another sanction of attorney’s fees. A court assessed $2.6 million in attorney’s fees against the EEOC due to a lawsuit they filed which they lost. See Workplace Prof blog post. The EEOC had sought class action status in EEOC v. Cintas and lost. Because the EEOC did not
Title VII of the Civil Rights act of 1964 prohibits discrimination based on sex, color, religion, and national (ethnic) origin. Other statutes prohibit discrimination based on age and disability. For Title VII to apply to your company, you must have 15 or more employees. For the Age Discrimination in Employment Act to apply
“Title VII” “Texas Commission on Human Rights Act” “EEOC” “Civil Rights Division” “Americans with Disabilities Act” “Age Discrimination in Employment Act”
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