This week, referring to his favorite object, my iPhone, my two and a half year old proclaimed: “I’m going to charge it like a man.” What? Who taught him the phrase “like a man”? What does he think it means? I asked him these questions, and he just beamed at…
Read More
This recent case brings to mind the old adage, “Never make promises you can’t keep.” Here are the alleged facts: DuPont spun off part of its operations to form a new subsidiary. DuPont gave affected employees an option—keep working for DuPont or go work for the new subsidiary. DuPont allegedly…
Read More
This week, my toddler invented a new word: “fleever.” A "fleever" is a make-believe power tool used to clean floors. Any household item may be used as a fleever--a flashlight, a hiking pole, an empty roll of paper towels. At its essence, fleevering involves making sweeping motions across the floor.…
Read More
In 1964, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act outlawed major forms of discrimination, including discrimination based on race, national origin, religion, and sex. At the time, sex discrimination meant discrimination against women. Today, however, courts are grappling with the boundaries of sex discrimination…
Read More
Under Texas law, does an employee who is over 40 and who is discharged and replaced with an older employee have the right to sue for age discrimination? That is one of the questions the Texas Supreme Court will decide in Mission Consolidated Independent School District v. Garcia. The Court…
Read More
An employee’s Facebook page or Twitter feed may provide significant information to her employer, including what the employee is saying about the employer outside of work. But when is an employee’s tweet or Facebook post protected and when is it grounds for termination? According to recent decisions by the National…
Read More
The Texas Supreme Court heard arguments this week in Prairie View A&M University v. Chatha. The issue in the case is whether the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (Ledbetter Act) applies to the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act (TCHRA), the state law that mirrors Title VII. The Ledbetter Act…
Read More
According to the Fifth Circuit, Title VII’s damages caps apply per person, not per claim. In Black v. Pan American Laboratories, LLC, et al., --- F.3d. ---, 2011 WL 2763096 (5th Cir. July 11, 2011) (not yet released for publication), the employee brought 3 claims of sex discrimination and retaliation…
Read More
In Marsh USA Inc., et al. v. Cook, --- S.W.3d ---, 2011 WL 2517019 (Tex. June 24, 2011) (not yet released for publication), the Texas Supreme Court held that providing stock options to an employee is sufficient consideration to support a noncompete. According to the majority opinion, because the stock…
Read More
Do your company’s policies include an arbitration clause? Is the clause governed by the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), Texas Arbitration Act (TAA), or both? A recent decision by the Texas Supreme Court, Nafta Traders, Inc. v. Margaret A. Quinn, ___ S.W.3d ___, 2011 WL 1820875 (Tex. May 13, 2011) (not…
Read More
