By Linda H. Evans, Senior Associate. Houston is the last major city without its own local anti-discrimination law. But that may soon change. Next week Mayor Anise Parker is going to place before the City Council a proposed ordinance that would ban discrimination based on sex, race, color, ethnicity, […]
Yearly Archives: 2014
39 posts
By Kelline R. Linton, Junior Associate. In a recent decision, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) ruled that a “no gossip” work policy violated federal labor law (Hill and Dales General Hospital, 360 NLRB No. 70 (April 1, 2014)). Specifically, the policy provided: • Employees would not make […]
By Linda H. Evans, Senior Associate. Those tricky Texas non-competes pop up again! Earlier this month two Houston surgical assistants, who were sued by their former employer for launching their own business, were cleared by a Harris County jury. The former employer was seeking over a million dollars in […]
By Linda H. Evans, Senior Associate. On April 8, 2014, the President signed a memo that would require government contractors to submit extensive reporting on their salary practices. Additionally, he signed an executive order applicable to government contractors that prohibits any retaliation against individuals when there has been a […]
By Kelline R. Linton, Junior Associate. The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (“OFCCP”) recently issued Final Rules that changed regulations under both the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (“VEVRAA”) and Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act (“Section 503”). These Final Rules became effective on March 24, 2014. […]
By Kelline R. Linton, Junior Associate. While a basic contracting principle is that a commercial buyer has an implied duty of good faith and fair dealing, the Precision Pine rule limited the application of this duty in the federal contract context. However, a recent 2014 Federal Circuit court decision […]
By Kelline R. Linton, Junior Associate. On February 10, 2014, the IRS and Treasury issued the final regulations on the Employer Shared Responsibility provisions under Section 4980H of the Internal Revenue Code. These regulations explain how to determine a large employer for the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) employer mandate […]
By Kelline R. Linton, Junior Associate. The Affordable Care Act’s employer mandate requires large businesses with 50 or more full-time employees to offer health insurance to their full-time employees. This mandate has been postponed until 2015 for large employers (100 or more employees), and 2016 for medium employers (50 […]
By Kelline R. Linton, Junior Associate. Last week, President Obama signed an executive order that raised the minimum wage for federal contractors to $10.10 an hour from the current rate of $7.25. The following is a breakdown of the key implementation aspects of this Order: The Scope of […]
By Linda H. Evans, Senior Associate. Each year the EEOC issues its yearly report on enforcement and litigation. The report is always a good way to assess the temperature of what’s going on in EEOC world. Among 2013’s highlights are the following: • Total number of charges received […]