The results of three pending cases could greatly increase the amount of employment-related litigation Texas employers may face in 2023 and beyond. In Groff v. DeJoy, Postmaster General of the United States Postal Service, the U.S. Supreme Court is considering what the lengths to which an employer must go to accommodate an employee’s sincerely
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
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
EEOC Issues New Enforcement Guidance on Reasonable Accommodation of Pregnant Employees
Several weeks ago, I wrote that the Supreme Court’s decision to grant certiorari in Young v. UPS (the case about an employer’s reasonable accommodation obligation to pregnant employees under the PDA) might end up signaling the end of light duty policies that limited light duty availability to employees with worker’s compensation injuries or illnesses. (post here).
Today, the EEOC issued
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
Investigation Closure Letters “Close the Loop” on Workplace Investigations
One thing often overlooked in conducting workplace investigations is reporting back to the complaining party at the end of the investigation. I have seen many cases where the employer conducted a thorough investigation and took prompt remediation action but never communicated to the employee that it had done so. From the employee’s perspective, he or she
Fifth Circuit Holds that Volunteer Firefighter is not an “Employee” for Purposes of Title VII
In an issue of first impression in this Fifth Circuit, the Court held that a volunteer firefighter making a Title VII claim of sexual harassment is not an “employee” for purposes of the statute and therefore had no legal claim.
The case arose from a suit filed by a former firefighter for the Livingston Parish
Fifth Circuit Reverses Controversial Trial Court Decision and Holds Termination of Employee for Expressing Breast Milk Constitutes Sex Discrimination
Last week the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a widely criticized trial court ruling that had held that a discharge of an employee because she was lactating or expressing breast milk did not constitute unlawful sex discrimination. In EEOC v. Houston Funding, II, Ltd, the employer moved for summary judgment arguing that Title
A Broken Clock is Right Twice Per Day: Supreme Court of Texas Holds Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act Does Not Apply to Claims under State Law
I wrote back in April 2010 that I thought the Houston Court of Appeals decision in Prarie View A&M v. Chatha applying the federal Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (“Ledbetter Act”) to claims arising under the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act (TCHRA) was wrongly decided. Last month the Supreme Court of Texas agreed
2011-2012 Term U.S. Supreme Court Wrap-Up of Employment Cases
Last week the U.S. Supreme Court ended its 2011-12 Term. Here are summaries of the labor and employment cases decided this term.
Hosanna-Taylor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC, (No. 10-553) (holding that teacher at religious school qualified as a "minister" within the meaning of the ministerial exception to Title VII and therefore