The case arose from a dispute involving an SMU professor who alleged she was denied tenure due to discrimination and retaliation. In addition to statutory discrimination and retaliation claims against the University, she brought common law claims for defamation and fraud against individual co-workers, based on statements and actions taken during the tenure review process.
Supreme Court of Texas
Texas Supreme Court Holds Defendant Attorney Fee Data Not Normally Discoverable
By Russell Cawyer on
Posted in Case Summaries
In many employment disputes, the recovery of reasonable attorney’s fees is an element a prevailing plaintiff-employee can recover. Some plaintiffs attempt to show the reasonableness of their counsel’s rates and fees by comparing it to the rates and amounts billed by the employer’s counsel. In In re National Lloyds Ins. Co., et al., the…
Texas Supreme Court Rejects Compelled Self-Publication Theory in Defamation Case
By Russell Cawyer on
Posted in Case Summaries
An element of a defamation claim is that the defamatory statement was published to a third party. Plaintiff-employees sometimes attempt to satisfy this element by arguing that, while the former employer never published any defamatory statements about the employee to a third party, the employee is compelled to self-disclose the reasons for his or her…
Two Recent “Yawn” Employment Cases from the Texas Supreme Court
By Russell Cawyer on
Posted in Case Summaries, Disability
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…
Texas Whistleblower Act Does Not Cover Purely Internal Reports of Violations of Law Says Texas Supreme Court
By Russell Cawyer on
Posted in Case Summaries
Texas law only recognizes a whistleblowing cause of action for public employees that, in good faith, report violations of law to an appropriate law enforcement authority. In two cases reported last month, the Supreme Court of Texas clarified that internal reports of violations of law, even if made in good faith, to officials having purely internal…
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
By Russell Cawyer on
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…
Texas State Law Age Discrimination Claim Fails Where Employee’s Replacement is Older
By Russell Cawyer on
The Texas Supreme Court held that an age discrimination plaintiff is never entitled to an inference of age discrimination at the prima facie case where the employee’s replacement is older than plaintiff-employee. In that situation, the plaintiff must establish a prima facie case through direct evidence of age discrimination.
Gloria Garcia (age 48) was terminated…
Employment Lawyers Must Document Their Efforts to Recover Attorney’s Fees under Texas Commission on Human Rights Act
By Russell Cawyer on
Prevailing plaintiffs in employment discrimination, harassment and retaliation cases can recover attorney’s fees their attorney’s incur in prosecuting those claims. In many instances the attorney’s fees sought can exceed the monetary relief the plaintiff obtains and can act as a serious impediment to prompt settlement.
Since most of these cases are done on a contingency…
Supreme Court of Texas Confirms Availability of Punitive Damages in Public Policy Discharge Cases
By Russell Cawyer on
Posted in Case Summaries
Texas is an at-will employment state where employees and employers are free to end the employment relationship at any time and almost for any reason. The Texas Supreme Court has created a single public policy exception to the at-will employment rule –the Sabine Pilot wrongful discharge claim. Under that judicially created claim, an employee has a…
Supreme Court of Texas Rejects At-Will Employee’s Argument that Agreement to Waive Jury Trial was Coerced
By Russell Cawyer on
Posted in Case Summaries, Jury Waivers
The Texas Supreme Court issued an opinion this morning holding that advising an at-will employee that his employment will be terminated if he does not sign a mutual waiver to resolve disputes without a jury is not unlawful coercion sufficient to sset aside the agreement. If you read this blog frequently, you know I am a big proponent…