Monthly Archives: April 2013

“No Brainer” Terminations Can Become Close Calls When The Employee Has Engaged In Protected Activity (Part 4)

Posted on April 30, 2013 by

In our last post of the day discussing retaliation, we discuss two very interesting cases from the Fifth Circuit. Smith v. Xerox Corp., 371 Fed. Appx. 514 (5th Cir. Mar. 2010) and Smith v. Xerox Corp., 602 F.3d 320 (5th … Continue reading →

Posted in Houston Employment Law, Houston Retaliation Law, Retaliation | Tagged ,

“No Brainer” Terminations Can Become Close Calls When The Employee Has Engaged In Protected Activity (Part 3)

Posted on April 30, 2013 by

Here is another interesting case from the Seventh Circuit. Even though the employee allegedly threatened violence, the court found a fact question on the termination. In Miller v. Illinois Dep’t of Trans., 643 F.3d 190 (7th Cir. 2011), Miller requested … Continue reading →

Posted in Houston Employment Law, Houston Retaliation Law, Retaliation | Tagged ,

“No Brainer” Terminations Can Become Close Calls When The Employee Has Engaged In Protected Activity (Part 2)

Posted on April 30, 2013 by

In our series of posts today, we discuss how a seemingly “no brainer” termination decision can become a close call if the employee had engaged in prior, protected activity. For example, in Coleman v. Donahoe, 667 F.3d 835 (7th Cir. … Continue reading →

Posted in Houston Employment Law, Houston Retaliation Law, Retaliation | Tagged ,

“No Brainer” Terminations Can Become Close Calls When The Employee Has Engaged In Protected Activity (Part I)

Posted on April 30, 2013 by

Today, our video podcast discusses situations in which seemingly “no brainer” termination decisions were second guessed by courts in light of the fact that employee had previously engaged in protected activity. Mark’s paper discusses this issue in depth. Courts have … Continue reading →

Posted in Houston Employment Law, Houston Retaliation Law, Retaliation | Tagged ,

HR Employees And Protected Conduct (Part 2)

Posted on April 29, 2013 by

One additional note from our earlier post today. There is the question of whether the case law regarding HR employees and oppositional conduct applies to SOX claims. In Riddle v. First Tennessee Bank, No. 3:10–cv–0578, 2011 WL 4348298, at *8 … Continue reading →

Posted in Houston Employment Law, Houston Retaliation Law, Human Resources, Retaliation, SOX | Tagged ,

HR Employees And Protected Conduct (Part I)

Posted on April 29, 2013 by

We continue our video podcast series on retaliation with a video on HR employees. Mark’s paper addresses this topic in depth. Employers sometimes fear that human resources personnel or other managers involved in employee relations may themselves bring claims of … Continue reading →

Posted in Houston Employment Law, Houston Retaliation Law, Human Resources, Retaliation | Tagged , ,

What is “Illegal” Retaliation Under Title VII?

Posted on April 26, 2013 by

The video we released today addresses a basic employment law question, but one that pops up all the time; namely, “What is illegal retaliation?” Title VII reads: “It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer to discriminate against … Continue reading →

Posted in Houston Employment Law, Houston Retaliation Law, Retaliation | Tagged ,

Denying Discrimination Can Be Proof Of Retaliation If An Employer Uses The Wrong Words

Posted on April 25, 2013 by

Today’s video podcast discusses a situation in which an employer appears to leap to a conclusion about an employee’s motivation behind a complaint of discrimination. Mark’s paper discusses this issue in more depth. In short, it is not unusual for … Continue reading →

Posted in Discrimination, Houston Employment Law, Houston Retaliation Law, Retaliation | Tagged ,

Encouraging An Employee To Reapply May Undermine A Retaliation Claim

Posted on April 24, 2013 by

The video that we released earlier today discusses how an employer’s invitation to a terminated employee to “reapply” for employment may help defeat a retaliation claim. We discuss this issue in our retaliation paper. In short, in appropriate circumstances, employers … Continue reading →

Posted in Houston Employment Law, Houston Retaliation Law, Retaliation

The New Wave Of Retaliation

Posted on April 23, 2013 by

Earlier today we started our video podcast series on employment law retaliation. In Houston, we have seen an explosion of these cases. The first video–dealing with the new wave of retaliation cases in light of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 … Continue reading →

Posted in Dodd Frank, Houston Employment Law, Retaliation, SOX | Tagged ,