Last week the Texas Supreme Court reversed a $1 million jury verdict in a retaliation case arising under state law. In San Antonio Water Systems v. Nichols, the court held that the former employee’s confrontation of a male executive about his repeated lunch invitations to other female coworkers occurring three years before the plaintiff’s
Fifth Circuit Resolves Intra-Circuit Split on Important ADA Issue
Last month the Fifth Circuit resolved an intra-Circuit split on the appropriate prima face case that should be used in a discrimination case under the Americans with Disabilities Act. In EEOC v. LHC Group, Inc., the EEOC brought suit on behalf of a home health field nurse who was terminated after she was rendered unable
Texas Supreme Court Provides Defendants with Halloween Discovery Treat; Not Trick
Last Friday, Halloween, the Texas Supreme Court delivered defendants a “treat” in the form of a mandamus opinion articulating the standard for when discovery requests seeking information related to claims other than the
plaintiff’s claims crosses the line from seeking relevant information into an impermissible fishing expedition.
In In re National Lloyds Insurance Company, the
I Quit! Constructive Discharge Serves as Substitute for Adverse Employment Action
An essential element of most employment discrimination claims is that the employee suffered an adverse employment action. An employee who resigns often has difficulty making out a prima facie case of discrimination. An exception to this general rule is where the employee suffers a constructive discharge. Stated another way, where the employee can prove that the
Employee Wins Reversal of Religious Discrimination Defeat at the Fifth Circuit
Last week I wrote about a religious discrimination case where an employer snatched victory from the jaws of defeat at the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. This week, we have a Fifth Circuit opinion where the court took away an employer’s victory in another religious discrimination case and sent the case back to the trial court
Texas Supreme Court Holds that Forfeiture Provision In Incentive Plan Not A Noncompete
I wrote about the case of Drennen v. Exxon Mobile over a year ago. Drennen was the case of the Exxon executive who forfeited millions of dollars in incentive compensation when he left Exxon to work for a competitor. You can read the background of the case here. Today, the Texas Supreme Court held that a forfeiture clause
Distinction Between Supervisor/Nonsupervisor Makes $70,000 Difference in Religious Discrimination Case
The status of an employee as a supervisor or nonsupervisor can have a significant impact on the outcome of a discrimination, harassment or retaliation case. For example, if an employee who commits a hostile work environment is a supervisor, the employer could be deprived of valuable legal defenses like the Faragher/Ellerth affirmative defense. A recent case from
Delivery of FMLA Notices by First Class Mail Does Not Rule Out Disputes Over Receipt of Notice
The DOL regulations require FMLA-covered employers to provide various notices to employees. The regulations do not dictate how all of the notices must be delivered. Most employers utilize hand-delivery or regular U.S. mail for most pre-leave notices (eligibility and pre-leave designations) and use U.S. mail almost exclusively for post-leave notices (i.e., when the employee is already out
Fifth Circuit Holds, in Issue of First Impression, that But-For Causation Applies to Claims Arising Under the Jury System Improvement Act
Both federal and Texas law prohibit discrimination against employees for participating in various types of jury service. Imagine an employer defending itself from the accusation that it terminated an employee because of her jury service and then looking across the courtroom to see the individuals who will most likely decide the merits of its case –a
Two Recent “Yawn” Employment Cases from the Texas Supreme Court
There have been two employment cases decided by the Texas Supreme Court in the last several months. However, because I expect them to have little impact on Texas jurisprudence, I have not been compelled to write about them before today. However, in the interest of keeping the blog up-to-date with each of the employment cases from the