Sunday May Still Be Sacred: Texas Jury Sides with Employee Who Chose Church Service Over Work

Sunday May Still Be Sacred: Texas Jury Sides with Employee Who Chose Church Service Over Work

By Keith S. Anderson & Anne R. Yuengert

November 13, 2019

If an employee misses work to attend church on Sunday morning and the company subsequently fires her, is that religious discrimination? A jury in Texas recently said yes and awarded the plaintiff close to $350,000. The verdict is a reminder to employers to remember your religious accommodation obligations. Trouble with supervisor and work scheduled for Sunday Lois Davis worked in the IT department for Fort Bend County, Texas. Davis had a troubled history with the…

5th Circuit Joins the Growing Crowd Holding that Private Student Loans May be Dischargeable in Bankruptcy

By Keith S. Anderson & Alexandra Dugan

November 4, 2019

The Fifth Circuit’s recent decision in Crocker v. Navient Solutions is a stark reminder to for-profit student lenders and servicers that bankruptcy caselaw continues to evolve relating to discharge. In Crocker, the Fifth Circuit joined the trend of cases holding that private student loans are dischargeable in bankruptcy. More specifically, the court affirmed a bankruptcy decision by the Southern District of Texas that private educational loans are not statutorily excepted from discharge, absent undue hardship…

The Door Gets a Little Wider: D.C. Circuit Rules Employee-Plaintiff Can Get Comparator Discovery to Prevent Dismissal of Case

By Keith S. Anderson & Anne R. Yuengert

August 8, 2019

If your employee sues you for discrimination, they don’t get to look at how the decision-makers treated everyone else, do they? Well, in Cruz vs. US Homeland Security, the D.C. Court of Appeals says yes they do. Although the district court granted summary judgment and did not let the plaintiff take discovery on how her bosses treated others, the court of appeals said not so fast. The ruling allows plaintiffs potentially to cast a…

Student Loans in Bankruptcy: What’s on the Horizon?

By Keith S. Anderson, Alexandra Dugan, Christopher L. Hawkins & Erin Malone-Smolla

June 19, 2019

Federal law has long excepted student loans from discharge in bankruptcy in all but the rarest instances, recognizing the problems (and costs) associated with allowing borrowers to wipe out defaulted debts through a bankruptcy filing. However, as the issues of access to college and affordability become frequent topics in political discourse, new ideas for radical changes to the treatment of student loan debt in bankruptcy have been proposed. Lenders and servicers need to be up…

The Conundrum of Credit Reporting In and After Bankruptcy: Help May Be on the Way

By Keith S. Anderson & Andrew J. Narod

May 30, 2019

Creditors and credit furnishers often find properly reporting a payment status to Credit Reporting Agencies (CRAs) during, and after, bankruptcy a challenge. The recent Report of the American Bankruptcy Institute on Consumer Bankruptcy recognizes those challenges, and looks to convene a forum to provide better guidance and clarity as to proper credit reporting once a borrower goes into bankruptcy. Challenges What constitutes proper credit reporting with an account that is in, or after, bankruptcy is…

Bag the Gag Provision: New Jersey Is the Latest State to Restrict Non-disclosure Agreements in Settlements

May 14, 2019

You finally settled that tough discrimination or harassment claim. Now you just need to ink the settlement agreement, and obviously it will include a standard non-disclosure clause to prevent your claimant from ever talking about the events or settlement amount ever again – right? Well, depending on the state you are in, not so fast. The #MeToo movement and attention on non-disclosure agreements in the wake of the President Trump-Stormy Daniels story, has led several…

Student Loan Servicers’ Fight over Federal Preemption of State Regulation May End Up in the Supreme Court

By Grant A. Premo & Keith S. Anderson

April 15, 2019

In courts across the country, servicers are facing off against states and borrowers over the extent to which federal laws preempt state regulation of federal student loan servicers. Numerous states have stepped up their enforcement activity against student loan servicers and begun enacting new laws aimed at regulating student loan servicing, partially in response to what the states view as a slowdown in federal oversight. Some servicers of federal student loans, pushing back against the…

Take Two: Alabama’s City Versus State Minimum Wage Dispute to Get Full Appellate Review

February 12, 2019

Minimum wage laws invite controversy, and Alabama’s latest tug-of-war between the state and its largest city is going to get another wider review. You may recall that back in 2015, Birmingham, Alabama, passed a local minimum wage law. On the heels of that move, the Alabama Legislature then passed a state-wide minimum wage law, preempting local city laws. In response to the state’s new law, some Birmingham citizens, along with the NAACP, contended that…

California Expands Protections for Military Servicemembers with Student Loans

January 24, 2019

With the start of the new year, California has expanded protections for military servicemembers with student loans. Student loans incurred by a protected servicember before entry into service have an interest rate cap of 6 percent during the period of service plus one year thereafter. Additionally, student borrowers can obtain a deferment on their payment obligations for 180 days or the period of active duty plus 60 days. California’s law AB-3212 amends the California Military…

You Don’t Get a Bite at the Big Dog: Texas Court Rules that Injured Worker Cannot Depose Company CEO