By Michael A. Logan and Amelia Coates Noncompliance with Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations may not singularly establish a negligence per se claim, but such evidence may be relevant to proximate cause in a simple negligence action. In 2015, the Corpus Christi-Edinburg Court of Appeals in 4Front Engineered Solutions, Inc. v. Rosales considered […]
OSHA Regulations: Admissible Evidence?
Hearing-Impaired Accommodations Required by Hospitality Industry
By Jaime DeWees and Michael Logan Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) gives rights of equal access to places of public accommodation. For people who are deaf or hard of hearing, Title III requires businesses to remove barriers to communication. Restaurants and other hospitality providers are required to provide “auxiliary aids and […]
DOL “Summertime Blues”: Texas Penalties Highlight Summer Child Labor Woes
School’s out and thousands of Texas teens are busy working their summer jobs. Think back to your first summer job – how old were you? Were you working in food service? Maybe as a lifeguard? Whatever your job was, you were probably not considering whether your employment was FLSA-compliant. The Fair Labor Standards Act permits […]
Christmas in July: Avoiding the Grinch
Practically Dealing With The December 1st Overtime Regulations—Five Months Out After much angst, the Department of Labor’s newest and most onerous overtime regulations become effective December 1st, right in time for the holidays. Goody! As of that date, if employers are not ready, haven’t revised pay procedures, and put in new accounting processes, well, “TB”—and […]
Why the Ninth Circuit’s “Password Sharing” Decision is Relevant for All Employers
Last week, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals handed down an important decision for employers under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) in U.S. v. Nosal. While Nosal was a criminal case initiated by the U.S. government against a former private-sector employee, the 2-1 decision may be applied in the civil context due to […]
A SLIPPERY AREA FOR EMPLOYERS: “SHOES FOR CREWS”
Mike Logan and Alexandra Easley discuss recent cases concerning the popular “Shoes for Crews” program utilized by many restaurants. These new cases could have major implications on the use of this program by hospitality companies. Read the article here.
TEXAS SUPREME COURT PROVIDES GUIDANCE ON HOW BEST TO PROTECT TRADE SECRETS DURING AN INJUNCTION PROCEEDING
On May 20, 2016, the Texas Supreme Court issued an opinion providing guidance on how courts should handle injunction actions involving claims related to theft of trade secrets. The case involves two competitors that provide solid-control equipment and services to the oil and gas industry, M-I L.L.C. d/b/a M-I Swaco (“M-I”) and National Oilwell Varco, […]
Potential relief for Employers being sued under federal statutes after U.S. Supreme Court ruling on consumer class actions.
The Supreme Court of the United States’ May 18, 2016 ruling in Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins has potentially far-reaching impacts on lawsuits brought under federal statutes—in this case, the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”)—that may curtail creative plaintiffs from “no-harm” class actions. This is a potentially significant victory for employers seeking to limit their exposure […]
DOL Publishes Final Overtime Rule
After proposing its Final Rule on July 6, 2015 and receiving over 270,000 comments, the Department of Labor has published the Final Rule implementing significant changes to overtime regulations. The changes will go into effect December 1, 2016. Here is a summary of the significant changes: Under the executive, administrative, and professional exemptions, the salary […]
The Power of Arbitration Agreements and Class Action Waivers
The most significant exposure an employer faces in employment litigation is a class action lawsuit. Whether it is a class asserting claims for discrimination, harassment, or overtime, the potential damages can quickly escalate when there are multiple employees all asserting the same claim. Matters only get worse when those claims are decided by juries, which […]