Christmas came early for one former employee when, on December 19, a Dallas jury awarded her a multimillion dollar verdict for a breach of an employment contract. Read on. Dem dry bones Andrea C. Avellan went to work at...
Employment Law Letter
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has resumed operations after a prolonged period without a quorum, restoring its ability to decide cases and issue precedent. Yet the Board’s narrow composition, looming vacancies...
From pay transparency to remote work, employees are increasingly vocal about working conditions both in the office and online. The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) protects employees—union and nonunion alike—when they...
In a new wave of lawsuits filed under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), four employers were sued during the recent holiday season for allegedly breaching ERISA fiduciary duties regarding their...
The flu is spreading like wildfire! So, is a flu-caused absence protected under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)? Calling out sick Here’s a typical scenario: Employee is off for four days. He calls in and says he...
Over the past year, I’ve responded to several “Notice of Payment Compliance Complaints” from the Industrial Commission of Arizona (ICA), the state agency responsible for enforcing Arizona wage payment compliance. These...
Here’s a case that presents retaliation basics in Texas. By basics, I mean what it is that you screen in looking for a way to dismiss a discrimination charge or a lawsuit. Let’s look at a few facts Kelli Smith worked as...
Words matter, and they matter a lot. As Mark Twain purportedly once said, “The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between a lightning bolt and a lightning bug.” So, I read with...
The new year, as always, brings with it new developments in labor and employment law. Likewise, the ever-growing labyrinth of state and local paid leave laws, including paid sick leave and family and medical leave laws...
The Frank Sinatra song “My Way” popped into my head as I was reading a case from the Houston area, where an employee argued her pregnancy must be the reason for her termination because her performance was excellent (if...
In Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a rare unanimous employment opinion, held that placing an additional evidentiary burden on majority group plaintiffs was inconsistent with Title...
On December 2, 2025, the Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service issued a notice of proposed rulemaking regarding the new “Trump accounts,” which were created by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The...
Q If an employee takes sick leave but hasn’t completed and returned an Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) form, can the employer lawfully terminate employment? Under the FMLA, employers are permitted to require medical...
Artificial intelligence (AI) use is now pervasive, and the era of AI-generated employee communication has arrived. Employers are increasingly encountering emails and letters that feel a little too polished, unusually...
In a significant published opinion, the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals (whose rulings apply to employers in Oklahoma and Kansas) recently affirmed summary judgment (dismissal without a trial) in favor of a McAfee &...