Many employers in Texas are trying to save a few dollars by carrying their employees as independent contractors. As an independent contractor, the employer need not provide medical benefits or other types of benefits. But, as an independent contractor, the injured employee can sue the employer for tort injuries. In Stevenson v. Waste Management of Texas, Inc., No. 14-17-00433 (Tex.App. Hou. 2/21/2019), the employer tries to have it both ways. Waste Management wants employee status…

Mandatory arbitration agreements have become very common in a wide variety of jobs. Typically, the newly hired employee signs a raft of documents, one of which may include an arbitration agreement. Often, the employee has no recollection that s/he signed an arbitration agreement. One plaintiff attorney, recognizing that the employee may not know whether he signed an arbitration agreement, sent a pre-suit letter to the former employer asking if the employee signed a mandatory arbitration…

Once again, the President has attacked a federal judge, claiming the judge is based. Judge Amit Mehta found that it was “simply unfathomable” that a Congress that is constitutionally authorized to remove the president cannot investigate that that same president. The judge was denying a request from the White House to stop a subpoena to Pres. Trump’s accounting firm for his financial records. It ought to be self-evident that a body that can remove a…

In 2002, in reaction to the Enron scandal, Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The Act protects whistleblowers who report violations of securities regulations regarding accurate reporting. See National Whistleblower Center post regarding the act here. There was a whistleblower at Enron who did try to report the violations of securities regulations. And, here in San Antonio, we see a Sarbanes Oxley whistleblower who was fired by Spectrum. Hether McCullar has filed a federal lawsuit…

One thing an employer must not do when an employee files an EEOC charge is to seek criminal charges against that employee. Yet, that is exactly what the San Antonio area Precinct 2 Constable has done. Constable Michelle Barrientes Vela has tried to persuade the District Attorney to prosecute Leonicio Moreno for tampering with a government record and aggravated perjury. Deputy Moreno filed a couple of EEOC charges. Constable Vela believes Deputy Moreno filed a…