Top 5 Texas Employment Law Stories of 2011

Texas is a big state with a lot of workers in all areas and walks of life. In any working environment conflicts between workers and employers may arise. Below are our picks for the Top 5 Texas employment law stories of 2011.

5. Dr. Pepper Snapple Age Discrimination Verdict

Plano's Dr. Pepper Snapple Group was hit with a massive age discrimination verdict after six workers with more than twenty years of tenure alleged that they had been pushed out due to their ages. Dr. Pepper Snapple was ordered to pay $18.5 million.

4. Company That Didn’t Pay Workers For Booting Up Computers

This story made a splash because many workers don’t think about the time they spend doing the little things, like booting up computers. But failure to get paid for doing the small tasks played a big part in the nearly million dollar settlement that a Carrollton company, Hilton Reservations and Customer Care, reached with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division.

3. Starbucks Settled With Dwarf Barista

Elsa Sallard, a barista from El Paso, who was dubbed the dwarf barista, settled out with Starbucks after they hired and then fired her. Starbucks also had to agree to provide disability training to its employees.

2. Abercrombie Hijab Discrimination

A Muslim woman from Oklahoma named Samantha Elauf won a lawsuit against Abercrombie & Fitch after learning to her detriment that the woman’s hijab did not meet the company’s “look policy.” The religious discrimination case in Oklahoma was significant because a Texas worker, Hani Khan, had also sued the retailer for the same reason.

1. Ashley Alford’s Sexual Harassment Verdict for $95 million

An Aaron’s employee, Ashley Alford, was granted a $95 million verdict by a jury of her peers. And that makes this the biggest Texas Employment Law story of 2011. The nitty-gritty of the case involved a supervisor holding an employee down and ejaculating on her. The jury punished the employer to the tune of $80 million in punitive damages alone.

A glance at the stories reveal that sexual harassment, age discrimination, disability discrimination, religious discrimination, and impropriety in wages and pay, are all getting litigated all the time in Texas. Clearly, the employment law bar in Texas is formidable and active. They will be busy in 2012.

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