Dallas Employment Lawyer Blog — Page 2 of 17 — Published by Dallas, Texas Employment Lawyers

Show me the money: Damage caps in employment law cases.

November 13, 2020 | Rasha Zeyadeh

Employment law claims are undoubtedly the most difficult claims to bring forward. This is especially true if you are an employee in a conservative state like Texas. All other considerations aside, the financial and emotional cost of litigation alone is taxing. To make matters worse, the chances of success at trial in an employment law case is relatively low. rasha-zeyadeh

In 2019, The Harvard Law & Policy Review published a paper that found that from 1979 to 2006, plaintiffs won employment discrimination cases 15% of the time in federal court. Compare that to plaintiffs in all other civil suits who won their cases 51% of the time. The low margin of success for plaintiffs asserting employment discrimination claims can be attributed to many factors, including employer friendly laws, conservative judges and juries, and short deadlines. Continue reading ›

“In this economy!?”—What mitigation is, and why you need to do it!

November 6, 2020 | Austin Campbell

Most of the time, if an employee decides to talk to an employment attorney it is because they have been fired. And even if reinstatement to the employee’s old job is a possibility, often when they were fired for an illegal reason they are understandably afraid of returning to the lion’s den to face retaliation. But if you are an employee who was fired for an illegal reason and do not feel safe returning to that same employer (or your employer just refuses to take you back), it is critically important that you keep in mind your “duty to mitigate.” This article explores some key points of that means, why it is important, and what you can do to fulfill that duty austin-campbell

The point of any employment lawsuit is ultimately “restorative,” to put the employee in the same place they would have been but for the illegal actions of their employer. If feasible, that includes reinstating them to the position they lost. But reinstatement is not always feasible, and it alone does not always fully compensate an employee for what they lost. So, one major thing that most employment lawsuits usually ask for is compensation for lost wages (“backpay”) through the time of trial. However, courts will not allow an employee to artificially increase what they can get out of a lawsuit by tactically increasing what the employee has lost. Instead, courts impose a “duty to mitigate,” which means a fired employee who is asking for backpay in a lawsuit must make reasonable efforts to find and keep comparable employment.

Ready, Set, Vote!

October 30, 2020 | Deontae Wherry

deontae-wherry It is quite clear that the election season is upon us. From television ads to unsolicited text messages, there is absolutely no way to miss the importance of this election. This election shapes our future and the future for those we love. We must uphold our civic duty and exercise our right to vote.

In my colleague’s article Vote Now or Forever Hold Your Peace, she discusses the impacts this election will have as it relates to labor and employment law. Indeed, recent events have made us all wonder what the future holds for employees’ rights. It is not only the Supreme Court that impacts these rights but all of those who are up for election.

SEC Whistleblower Bounty Program Under Dodd-Frank

October 23, 2020 | Fadi Yousef

fadi-yousef Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in 2010 shortly after the financial crisis, commonly known as the Great Recession. The Act’s aim was to “promote the financial stability of the United States by improving accountability and transparency in the financial system, to end ‘too big to fail,’ to protect the American taxpayer by ending bailouts, to protect consumers from abusive financial services practices, and for other purposes.”

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Employment References and Texas Law

October 16, 2020 | Austin Campbell

austin-campbell Employees leaving a company can often wonder whether their former employer will insert itself into their future career. In particular, people can be worried about what former employers are allowed to say to jobs where they are applying. “Can my old job sabotage my career?” Texas has a patchwork of laws that apply to employment references that often differ dramatically from laws in other states. The fact that companies can have their own reference policies only serves to confuse things more. The purpose of this article to relieve some of that confusion when it comes to employment references in Texas.

Vote now or forever hold your peace.

October 9, 2020 | Rasha Zeyadeh

rasha-zeyadeh This presidential election is the most critical election of our time. Aside from the obvious presidential contest, all 435 seats in the United Stated House of Representatives, 35 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate, 13 state and territorial governorships, and numerous other state and local elections are contested. This election does not only decide who will occupy the oval office for the next four years, but also who will sit on our country’s highest court, and enforce our local laws. The impacts of this election will be felt for years, especially in the context of issues involving labor and employment law.

Discrimination Cases and the EEOC Process: How to Get Started

October 2, 2020 | Deontae Wherry

deontae-wherry Have you ever wondered about what the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) actually does? You are not alone. Every week, I speak to my clients or potential clients about the EEOC’s role in employment disputes. This article briefly explains the EEOC process, common questions, and why you may want to hire an employment attorney to assist you through the EEOC process.

What is the EEOC?

Whistleblower Protection Under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act

September 30, 2020 | Fadi Yousef

fadi-yousef The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (“SOX”) is a federal law that established new standards for public companies and created whistleblower protection for employees who disclose information that could show a violation of federal securities law, SEC rules, or any federal law related to fraud against the shareholders. Given its diverse civil, criminal and administrative provisions, SOX could be considered one of the most important whistleblower protection laws.

Unlike most whistleblower laws, SOX’s whistleblower protection provisions are not limited to providing a legal remedy for wrongfully terminated employees. In addition to containing employment-based protections for employee whistleblowers, the law contains other provisions directly relevant to whistleblower protection:

What RBG Taught Me About Employment Discrimination

September 21, 2020 | Robert J. Wiley

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Like many, I feel an overwhelming sense of sadness and loss following the death of Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg. Not only did she establish herself as a champion of equal rights for all, but she lived the fight herself. Smart, accomplished, and determined, she chose law school at a time when women were not welcome. During law school, she found herself often demeaned and unappreciated, being asked by the dean himself how she justified taking a seat that could have gone to a man. She would ultimately rise to the highest level of American law, the United States Supreme Court. Among its nine members, there are few who have served with so much distinction.

Healthcare workers’ whistleblower protections under the Texas Health & Safety Code

September 17, 2020 | Austin Campbell

austin-campbell Over 1.6 million Texans were employed in the healthcare and social assistance industry by 2019, and that number is expected to grow steadily over the next decade. Nursing in particular is one of the top five occupations in the state by number of online “help wanted” ads. Because of that, it is all the more important that healthcare workers here are well-trained and competent, and also are empowered to say something when they see something that puts patient health or safety at risk.

Fortunately, the Texas Health & Safety Code provides some powerful whistleblower protections that are unique to the healthcare industry. Unfortunately, figuring out if you fall within those protections is not always simple because the Code has so many different components. Making things harder, Texas courts have interpreted relatively few parts of the Texas Health & Safety Code compared to other employment laws. This article is meant to provide the reader with some basic information about some of the protections that healthcare workers (and others) have under this law, as well as limitations in the Code.