Recent Articles

Arbitration (Is Not the Same as) Courts of Conciliation

March 19, 2012 14:57

In my first year of law school at the University of Texas, we had a class called "Introduction to the Study of Law." My section was taught by Professor Leon Lebowitz, one of the nicest profs at the law school, and a really good Business Associations, Securities Regs professor. Intro, at...

Jury Waivers Treated Same As Arbitration Agreements by Texas Supreme Court

March 09, 2012 20:06

I would have been surprised if the decision went the other way, but today the Texas Supreme Court affirmed that an at will employee who signed a jury waiver agreement rather than be terminated was not entitled to have it set aside because he was coerced. In re Frank Kent Motor Company (Tx....

Thinking About A Different World Under the NLRA

March 09, 2012 18:05

I have been quite busy lately but finally began catching up on some past reading and one of the first things was the most recent edition of the ABA Journal of Labor and Employment Law, Fall 2011, and its first article, Imagine a World Where Employers are Required To Bargain with Minority...

Disability Discrimination Law Is a Mess in More Than Ohio

January 09, 2012 16:42

Jon Hyman, at Ohio Employer's Law Blog who does a great job of keeping up with developments in the Buckeye state and beyond, has an interesting post about the differences of the definition of disability under the ADA and the Ohio state version. Because of that difference, it's hard not to agree...

One Prediction That Had Some Legs

December 22, 2011 22:22

Forecasting is an art not a science, and truth be known luck is probably the most single important factor if one gets it right, still I could not help but think back to one of my first posts of this year, 2011 --- the Year of the Non-minority? where I thought that we might see more cases where what...

Why Employers Don't Like Statutes Creating Causes of Action

December 20, 2011 18:56

One of the responses by the employer community to almost any proposed statutory cause of action is not that it supports employers who engage in whatever conduct is going to be prohibited, but that by adding yet another statutory cause of action, there is yet one more way for a lawsuit to be...

The 9th Circuit Does Their Part On Oracle Case, Extending California Labor Laws

December 16, 2011 23:50

One of the issues that I think has the potential to cause a lot of trouble for employers is the application of one state's labor and employment laws to employee who travel to work in another state.  In today's mobile world that is a lot of folks, especially employees located near state...

The Law of Unintended Consequences: Immigration and E-Verify

October 31, 2011 19:15

A recent article in Businesweek, A Verification System for New Hires Backfires makes clear just how complex the immigration issue is.The story of one flower grower's attempt to utilize E-Verify, the national registration system that allows an employer to check on worker's eligibility (after they...

Missed This New Jersey MDV the First Time Around

October 21, 2011 15:18

I was in Lubbock yesterday talking to their SHRM chapter about retaliation and the dangers of those cases, along with its first cousin whistleblowing, and this headline did nothing to change my mind. Former Warren Township prosecutor awarded $1.26M for whistleblower complaint.A city prosecutor,...

A Timely Follow Up -- The Importance of Action Not Words

October 07, 2011 22:44

Given the topic of my previous post  --- the need for employers to step up and make sure they dealt with bullying behavior rather than leaving it to legislation --- it was ironic to come across Bob Sutton's post, Adopting The No Asshole Rule: Don't Bother If The Words Are Hollow.The...