The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has been overruled a few times in the past few years. You know a court is too conservative when it is too conservative even for the very conservative U.S. Supreme Court. In the latest example, a group of five plaintiffs filed suit in the Western District of Louisiana objecting
Summary judgment is the employer’s go-to defense to a discrimination lawsuit. For a few decades now, many Federal judges have used summary judgment as a tool for clearing his/her docket. But, in Dabassi v. Motiva Enterprises, No. 23-20166 (5th Cir. 7/16/2024), the court of appeals reversed the district court’s grant of summary judgment. In this
DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) is under a magnifying glass in many sectors, one of which is employment. Joshua Young, a correctional officer in the Colorado prison system filed suit after he was required to attend DEI training. He alleged the DEI training left him feeling marginalized. The training discussed “white supremacy” and “white exceptionalism.”
In a recent decision, the Fifth Circuit has suggested an odd practice. In Bunker v. Dow Chemical, No. 24-20046 (%th Cir. 8/7/2024), Ms. Bunker filed her EEOC charge, but she did not check the block at the top for “FEPA.” It is important to check that block to indicate you, as the Charging Party wish
There has been much talk about Project 2025, a book published by the Heritage Foundation. Many of the authors were major players in the last Trump administration. So, we can expect the contents of the almost 900 page book to fuel many policy proposals in a new Trump administration, if there is one. The book
We often hear about the Magna Carta and how that great document eventually led to our Declaration of Independence. But, what was the Magna Carta all about? In 2015, San Antonio’s own Prof. Vincent R. Johnson at St. Mary’s Law School wrote a nice piece about the Magna Carta. He explained in his article what
In the age of social media, it is tempting for trial lawyers to communicate in some way with potential juries. But, lawyers who succumb to that temptation will learn the lesson one Georgia lawyer learned. Both before and during the start of a trial in Gwinnett County, Georgia, the plaintiff lawyer posted videos explaining “three
I have written about Judge Lynn Hughes of the Southern District of Texas here and here. He has earned a reputation as a Judge who consistently makes anti-plaintiff comments in court, who makes disparaging comments about minorities – and even once barred a female attorney from his court room apparently simply passed on her name.
Twitter, now known as “X” has provided an avenue for many people to communicate with the wider world. But, too much communication can be a bad thing. Attorney Darlene Jackson in Washington, D.C. learned that lesson the hard way. Attorney Jackson filed suit on behalf of a passenger of the D.C. train in 2015. The
Sometime back, I met with a young man about his work situation. He was told by his boss to do some things that the worker believed would violate internal policies. Every work place has rules unique to that work place. We describe those rules as internal rules or policies. The worker was essentially telling me
