We previously wrote about the procuring-cause doctrine here. As a refresher, the procuring-cause doctrine provides that a salesperson or other agent who contracts for a commission becomes entitled to payment of the commission...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Confronted with pleadings that unequivocally showcases the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department’s discriminatory scheduling policies, the Fifth Circuit finds that the strict application of its precedent...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Workplace violence costs employers billions of dollars per year. More importantly, these incidents can cause immense physical and psychological harms to employees. The consequences of these harms impact...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In Braidwood Management, Inc. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Fifth Circuit endorsed for-profit employers integrating their religious beliefs into their employment policies to apply the...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Natural hairstyles have become increasingly popular among Black Americans of both sexes. Despite their popularity, these hairstyles have been overregulated frequently in the workplace. To address this...more
6/20/2023
/ Dress Codes ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Policies ,
Hairstyle Discrimination ,
Human Rights ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
New Legislation ,
Race Discrimination ,
State Labor Laws ,
Texas
Adriana Cook worked as a patient care technician (PCT) at Methodist Hospital in Dallas. In 2012, Cook injured her back on the job while turning a patient. Following her injury, Cook was unable to return to her PCT position...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Fifth Circuit dismissed a plaintiff’s harassment claims because the employer took prompt action to stop the harassment and prevent it from continuing. This case highlights the importance for employers...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Dallas County Sheriff’s Department gives its detention officers two days off per week. Prior to April 2019, the schedules were based on seniority, with most officers preferring to take their two days...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Railroad companies spend millions of dollars and thousands of hours developing their risk management systems. When a plaintiff aims to discover risk management data, companies understandably balk at the...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Baylor Miraca Genetics Laboratories, LLC (“BMGL”) is in the genetic test business. BMGL sells its tests to its “channel partners,” who in return test specimens ordered by physicians. Brandon Perthuis became...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In 2013, Yvonne Cardwell, a dishwasher at a Whataburger in El Paso, Texas, was injured when a heavy object fell off of a top shelf and hit her in the head. Whataburger moved to compel the lawsuit she filed...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Even before the pandemic made in-person work in many industries a thing of the past many employers had stopped requiring that their employees execute employee agreements like non-competition and arbitration...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: the Sixth Circuit recently sided with employer Fresh Products, LLC and its HR Manager, Dawn Shaferly, in an age, race, and disability discrimination lawsuit. In doing so, the Court helpfully clarified when...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Often an employer’s valid safety requirements for a position can be at odds with a disabled employee’s request for a reasonable accommodation. A recent decision from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Last Friday, the Supreme Court of Texas issued a one-line decision, without explanation, denying the City of Austin’s petition for review of an appellate decision temporarily enjoining the Austin paid sick...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The First Circuit recently sided with an employer in a disability discrimination suit in Trahan v. Wayfair Maine, Inc., Civil Action 19-1961....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On March 30, 2020, just two days before Dallas’ paid sick leave ordinance was scheduled to begin full enforcement, a federal court in Texas granted a preliminary injunction prohibiting enforcement of the...more
3/31/2020
/ Accrual Requirements ,
Dallas ,
Earned Sick Time ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Local Ordinance ,
Paid Leave ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Parental Leave ,
Safe Leave ,
Sick Leave ,
State and Local Government ,
Wage and Hour
Seyfarth Synopsis: Last April, the Dallas City Council passed an ordinance requiring employers to provide employees who work within the City of Dallas with 48 or 64 hours of paid sick leave per year, depending on size. ...more
3/25/2020
/ Accrual Requirements ,
Dallas ,
Earned Sick Time ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Local Ordinance ,
Paid Leave ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Parental Leave ,
Safe Leave ,
Sick Leave ,
State and Local Government ,
Wage and Hour
Seyfarth Synopsis: Vaccinations have been widely debated over the past few years, leaving employers unclear about their obligations to accommodate employees whose religious beliefs conflict with them. Recently the U.S. Court...more
1/31/2020
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Appeals ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Transfers ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
First Amendment ,
Free Exercise Clause ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Municipalities ,
Public Health ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Religious Exemption ,
Retaliation ,
Title VII ,
Vaccinations ,
Wrongful Termination
Seyfarth Synopsis: In affirming summary judgment in favor of the defendant in an Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) interference and retaliation case, the Fifth Circuit reinforced the importance of documenting performance...more
8/20/2019
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Interference Claims ,
Medical Leave ,
Performance Reviews ,
Retaliation ,
Summary Judgment
Seyfarth Synopsis: Employers in Austin, Dallas, and San Antonio expected the Texas Legislature to overturn their cities’ recent foray into city-specific paid sick leave laws. However, the Texas Legislature recently...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Effective January 1, 2019, the EEOC withdrew its prior guidance on the level of incentives employers may offer their employees to convince those workers to participate in employer-sponsored wellness...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In a recent decision, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that the use of the N-Word in the workplace one time is sufficient to trigger a hostile work environment....more
10/19/2018
/ #MeToo ,
Appeals ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Harassment ,
Health Care Providers ,
Home Health Care ,
Hostile Environment ,
Internal Investigations ,
Internal Reporting ,
Offensive Language ,
Summary Judgment
Seyfarth Synopsis: In a recent decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled that former employees need not return severance pay before filing a lawsuit against an employer, when the employee alleges the...more
10/2/2018
/ Civil Rights Act ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Pay Act ,
Former Employee ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Severance Agreements ,
Severance Pay ,
Title VII
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Fourth Circuit has issued a reminder of the boundaries of employer liability for defamation where there is no nexus between the employee’s offensive speech and the individual’s workplace...more