By Kelline R. Linton, Associate. On Friday, the Texas Supreme Court held that an independent contractor is not entitled to sovereign immunity when exercising independent discretion in performing government functions. In Brown & Gay Engineering, Inc., No. 13-0605, a drunk driver entered the Westpark Tollway the wrong way […]
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By Linda H. Evans, Senior Associate. Earlier this week, Home Depot agreed to pay at least $1.8 million to resolve a putative class action lawsuit which accused the store of violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) by using flawed job application background check forms. This is not the […]
By Linda H. Evans, Senior Associate. A Houston-based global technology and engineering firm has to pay a $130,000 fine to the SEC for an alleged violation of whistleblower protection rules. The problem stemmed from the restrictive language which was part of the confidentiality agreement that employees were required to […]
By Linda H. Evans, Senior Associate. Earlier this week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that vague provisions in union contracts should not automatically be interpreted to favor workers. A chemical plant in W. Virginia had a contract with the steelworkers from the 1990’s which provided lifetime health care benefits […]
By Linda H. Evans, Senior Associate. This past week, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) adopted new rules for union representation cases, significantly reducing the period between the filing of a petition and a union election. The final rules will become effective April 14, 2015. The basic changes […]
By Linda H. Evans, Senior Associate. On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Amazon.com Inc. warehouse contractors need not be paid for the time they spend waiting to go through security screenings. Some of the workers had claimed that they spend up to 25 minutes waiting […]
By Linda H. Evans, Senior Associate. In a 3-2 decision today (Thursday, December 11), the NLRB ruled that if an employer grants its workers access to a work email system, employees should be able to use it to discuss workplace issues, including those related to unionization. Back in 2007, […]
By Linda H. Evans, Senior Associate. Two discrimination issues were in the news this week. The first issue deals with pregnancy discrimination in the workplace. On December 3, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in the UPS case and will determine whether the company had the responsibility to […]
By Kelline R. Linton, Associate. With the holidays quickly approaching, employers who plan to host parties for their employees should be aware of the potential liability associated with providing alcohol. Under Texas law, an employer is generally not responsible for injuries to an employee or a third party […]
By Linda H. Evans, Senior Associate. Back in 2009 in response to the H1N1 virus, the EEOC issued some guidance on pandemic preparedness in the workplace and the ADA. While the Ebola and H1N1 viruses are not identical, there are similarities in how employers should respond. First, the employer […]