In April, I wrote about the enforceability of forfeiture clauses in an article published in Texas Lawyer and reprinted with permission here. A forfeiture clause requires an employee to forfeit his right to compensation if he engages in activity detrimental to the company, such as working for a competitor. In…
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Executive employment contracts and severance agreements often include a forfeiture clause. These so-called "bad boy" clauses require the employee to forfeit his right to compensation if he engages in activity deemed detrimental to the company, such as working for a competitor. A case pending before the Texas Supreme Court could…
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Here’s a recent arbitration case that will interest employers with Spanish-speaking employees. In Delfingen US-Texas L.P. v Valenzuela, the employee sued the employer for workers’ compensation retaliation. Because the employee had signed an arbitration agreement, the employer filed a motion to compel arbitration. Arguing that the arbitration agreement was procedurally…
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Texas has a statute that protects public whistleblowers who make a good faith report of a violation of law by a public agency or employee to the appropriate law enforcement agency. According to the statute, “appropriate law enforcement agency” is a governmental agency that the employee in good faith believes…
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This week, the Texas Supreme Court decided that the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act does not apply to the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act (TCHRA), the state law mirroring Title VII. (Click here for my previous blog covering the oral argument of this case.) The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay…
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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…
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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.…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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