Dallas Senior Trial Attorney Deontae Wherry
Juneteenth started right here in Texas. On June 19, 1865, Union General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston with General Order No. 3 and finally announced freedom for the enslaved people of Texas, more than two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation. Texas was the first state to recognize Juneteenth as an official holiday in 1980, and Congress made it a federal holiday in 2021.
Is Juneteenth a Paid Holiday for You?
Dallas Employment Trial Lawyer Riley Carter
When an employer crosses the line from negligent to malicious, punitive damages are one of the most powerful tools an employee has. But the statute you sue under can mean the difference between a $50,000 ceiling and an unlimited verdict. Here’s a quick guide to how punitive damages work in Texas employment cases under federal and state law.
Federal Law: Title VII vs. § 1981
Dallas Senior Trial Attorney Deontae Wherry
The Supreme Court has once again reshaped the landscape of Civil Rights in America, and the implications could reach far beyond the ballot box. In a decision that effectively guts a key pillar of the Voting Rights Act, the Court has signaled that states are now free to dilute the voting power of racial minorities through gerrymandering so long as they call it “partisanship” instead of “racial bias.”
It is one more example of a Court’s intent on stepping back from its role in protecting minority groups from majority overreach. The maps will still be drawn to silence minorities. The harm will still fall on the same communities. The only difference is the label on the package.
Dallas Employment Trial Lawyer Harjeen Zibari
The legal system is complicated. There are many terms and lots of jargon that gets thrown around, and it can be overwhelming to parse through it all. There are three avenues that come up a bit in civil litigation, particularly in employment law. This blog will explain what litigation, arbitration, and mediation mean, how they’re different, and how they interact.
Litigation:
Rachel Bethel Dallas
Trial Attorney
Imagine that you’re at work. You learn that you’re being denied an accommodation. The sexual harassment won’t stop after your report. A paycheck isn’t adding up. It might be tempting to type the whole story into an AI site and ask, “Do I have a case?” It’s fast, it’s free, and the answer sounds right. After all, it’s written in legalese! What could go wrong?
Quite a bit actually. AI tools can be useful for plenty of things, but advice on your employment is not one of them.
Dallas Senior Trial Attorney Deontae Wherry
When Jane walked out of her office in Plano for the last time, she felt both relieved and uneasy. For nearly a year, she had documented what she believed was discrimination at work. She filed a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), saved emails, kept notes, and waited.
Weeks passed. Then months.
Dallas Employment Trial Lawyer Riley Carter
Members of the military and uniformed services make extraordinary sacrifices in service to our country. Federal law recognizes that those sacrifices should not come at the cost of a civilian career. The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) is designed to protect service members and veterans from discrimination, retaliation, and unlawful job loss related to their military service.
At Rob Wiley, P.C., we regularly represent employees whose rights have been violated after they served—or continued to serve—in the military. Understanding the basics of USERRA is the first step in protecting those rights.
Dallas Employment Trial Lawyer Harjeen Zibari
The legal system is complicated. There are many terms and lots of jargon that gets thrown around, and it can be overwhelming to parse through it all. There are three avenues that come up a bit in civil litigation, particularly in employment law. This blog will explain what litigation, arbitration, and mediation mean, how they’re different, and how they interact.
Litigation:
Rachel Bethel Dallas
Trial Attorney
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) generally governs the standards required for American workers. The FLSA addresses minimum wage, child labor restrictions, record keeping, and overtime.
The FLSA does not mandate that employers give breaks during the workday. However, should an employer choose to provide breaks, the FLSA strictly regulates whether those breaks must be paid. This is where many FLSA violations occur.
Dallas Employment Trial Lawyer Riley Carter
Employees in the food industry are often the first people to see when something is wrong. Unsafe sanitation practices, contaminated ingredients, improper storage, falsified safety records, or pressure to ignore food safety rules can put the public at serious risk. Congress recognized this reality when it passed the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA)—and included strong protections for employees who speak up.
If you reported food safety concerns and were punished for it, you may have legal protections and remedies under federal law.
Dallas Employment Lawyer Blog