According to a press release issued on Monday, December 9 by lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights advocacy group Human Rights Campaign, more than two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies and 90% of all large employers are providing health insurance and other benefits to the same-sex partners of their employees. Among the corporations that are extending such benefits for the first time next year are Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., Hormel Foods LLC, and Wendy’s International, Inc.
The organization’s 12th annual Corporate Equality Index, which conducts a rating of private companies’ adoption of policies affecting gay and transgender people, showed a record number of businesses incorporating policies that provide protection for discrimination against gay and transgender people in the workplace, including 61% of Fortune 500 companies.
When you are experiencing workplace discrimination in Austin, our lawyers at The Melton Law Firm, can help. We believe that no one should be unduly subjected to such mistreatment and, as such, do our utmost when an employee is treated unfairly. Call us at (512) 330-0017 to talk about your situation and legal options.
In a 2-1 decision issued Tuesday, December 3, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Fort Worth, Texas-based homebuilder D.R. Horton and declared that the National Labor Relations Board was in violation of the federal law when it tried to hinder the former from making employees sign employee contracts agreeing not to file a class action lawsuit against the company.
Horton started requiring new and existing workers in 2006 to sign a contract saying they are waiving their rights to trial by jury in case of a job-related dispute and are agreeing to settle cases through arbitration.
Michael Cuda and other Horton employees in 2008 filed a complaint with the NLRB, saying that their employer wrongly classified them as exempt employees, that they were denied overtime pay, and that the class action waiver violated the National Labor Relations Act. In 2012, the NLRB ruled that the class action waivers were a violation of the deferral labor law.
The case was monitored by attorneys, headhunter and human resource organizations, and major Texas-based corporations, such as AT&T (telecommunications), J.C. Penney (upscale department stores), and RadioShack (electronic retail stores).
If your rights as an employee have been violated by your employer, get the skilled, experienced, and compassionate attorneys of The Melton Law Firm, to help you. We are dedicated to helping any Austin residents who have been treated unfairly by their employers, so call us today at 512-330-0017 to further discuss your situation and what legal action may be available to you.
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced on Monday, November 18 that it will hold Walmart Stores, Inc. liable for engaging in unfair business practices against its workers who sought to go on strike last year.
The charges stem from threats allegedly made by Walmart spokesperson David Tovar in a CBS Evening News interview last year wherein he claimed “there would be consequences” for employees who did not report to their shifts in order to strike.
Other charges that were filed by Walmart employees, which had support from the United Food and Commercial Workers, were declared to hold no merit by the labor board. The NLRB dismissed an employee’s complaint that his rights were violated because he was pushed by security hired by the company off of store property. Another dismissed claim was that Walmart was allegedly changing employees’ work schedules as vengeance for the strike.
Approximately 400 Walmart employees participated in last year’s Black Friday strikes, protesting the company’s unfair wages and benefits and conflicting work schedules.
At The Melton Law Firm, our lawyers help Austin employees who have had their labor rights violated by their employers. Call us at (512) 330-0017 to discuss your situation and find out if we can help you.
The Department of Labor and the Texas Workforce Commission reported that cases of unpaid employee wages in Texas have increased notably in recent years.
Researchers calculate that complaints have doubled to 3,053 in 2012 from 1,558 in 2009. Agencies have also collected data of $13 million in unpaid wages in 2012, a considerably larger amount than the $10 million in unpaid wages reported in 2009.
Texas Workforce Commission spokesperson, Tessa Givens, mentioned that a small fraction of employers in the Texas area are, indeed, not complying with the set wage arrangements.
Austin employment attorney, Mitchell Reichmann, said penalties for not complying with labor codes aren’t consequential enough to significantly affect an employer’s business.
Employees have the right to a healthy work environment, just wages, and protection against discrimination. When these rights are infringed on by co-workers or employers, an experienced attorney might be necessary. If you experience workplace injustice in the Austin area, contact The Melton Law Firm, at (512) 330-0017.
Banking giant, Wells Fargo, cited “changing market conditions” as the primary reason for laying off 125 employees in two Irving, Texas mortgage fulfillment units.
A Wells Fargo spokesman reported that 55 employees were informed of their impending job termination within the last few months, while the remaining 70 were informed just last week. The layoffs, which were confirmed with the Texas Workforce Commission, are part of a nationwide plan that will cut 925 jobs.
Unfortunately, in the current economic climate, layoffs are not an uncommon phenomenon. However, should a person be terminated for unfair reasons, a competent and experienced employment lawyer can advocate for them. If you think your employee rights are being infringed upon by an Austin employer, contact the attorneys of The Melton Law Firm at (512) 330-0017 to find out what we can do for you.
A study conducted by the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign showed that 59% of Texas fast-food workers rely on government assistance programs such as food stamps and Medicaid to support themselves and their families.
This ranks Texas as the seventh-largest percentage of front-line fast-food workers on government assistance among the 24 states featured in the report.
According to Employment Policies Institute research director Michael Saltsman, employers would replace their workers with automated machinery if the minimum wage was raised significantly. Therefore, Saltsman added, tax payers must decide whether to partially support lower-skilled fast-food workers, or support them entirely if they were to lose their jobs to an “unrealistic wage mandate.
If you or a loved one work in a hostile work environment or are being payed below minimum wage, you may consider seeking legal representation. Please share your story with our attorneys at The Melton Law Firm in Austin by calling (512) 330-0017 today.
A lawyer employed in the Texas attorney general’s office is claiming that illegal conduct occurred within the state’s law enforcement defense division and has filed a lawsuit.
Michael Ritter had been working for Greg Abbott since he was hired in March 2012. He reported a hostile work environment, discrimination, falsification of hourly time sheets, and misuse of taxpayer dollars while working there, but was ignored. His report was dismissed, and Ritter was forced to transfer to the transportation division. He also lost oversight over four of his trial cases.
Judge Amy Clark Meachum denied Ritter’s petition to have the officials refrain from reprisal, but moved for the case to go forward on Friday, October 4.
If you have experienced discrimination, sexual harassment, civil rights violations, or other issues because of your workplace, you may consider taking legal action. Please contact our experienced attorneys at The Melton Law Firm, by calling (512) 330-0017 today to discuss your case.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) reports that the Austin Fire Department has discriminated against Latinos and African-Americans in their hiring process. Fire-fighter exams, which must be submitted with an application to the fire department, were allegedly biased against minorities.
The Department of Justice informed Austin through a letter that the fire department’s employment application practices were biased.
AFD Fire Chief Rhoda Mae Kerr maintains that the perceived discrimination was “unintentional”, and that applicants with the highest scores were hired.
Kerr also noted in the 2012 fire department review that they encouraged female candidates, as well as candidates of other races, to apply for the positions.
No one be forced to endure workplace discrimination. If you or a loved one is being treated unfairly by an employer, please contact our experienced attorneys at The Melton Law Firm, by calling (512) 330-0017 to discuss your situation.
Multinational retail corporation Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. announced on Monday, September 23 that it will hire 55,000 seasonal employees for this year’s holiday season in a bid to increase staffing to accommodate the influx of shoppers during the busiest shopping time of the year. The retail magnate said it will also move 35,000 part-time employees to full-time and transfer more than 35,000 full-time employees to a part-time position.
Wal-Mart is hiring more people this year than it did last year when it employed over 50,000 seasonal workers.
Last Monday’s shares were trading six cents lower at $75.77 with stocks increasing by 10.9% so far this year.
Sometimes an employer doesn’t practice proper conduct in dealing with his or her employees, treating them unfairly or even harassing them. If this has happened to you, our attorneys at The Melton Law Firm, might be able to help you take action against your employer. Call us at 512-330-0017 to discuss your case with us today.
In spite of a lackluster jobs report Friday, September 6 that questioned the country’s economic stability, analysts are of the opinion that the Federal Reserve will be pulling back on its stimulus program that helps secure the job market in a matter of weeks.
Economists said Fed governors would make light of the Labor department’s August report that showed a meager addition of only 169,000 jobs to the employment market, and still justify dwindling their monthly purchase of long-term Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities – initiatives that help push down long-term interest rates – after their next assembly on September 17 and 18.
Pantheon Macroeconomics chief economist Ian Shepherdson said Fed governors should postpone making such an action, as “the risks posed by Syria and the impending fiscal chaos in Washington” are at hand, with Shepherdson referencing Congressional debates over debt limit and spending measures.
Unfortunately, regardless of the job market, many people are treated unfairly by their employers. At The Melton Law Firm, our attorneys are dedicated to helping Austin residents who have suffered through such mistreatment, from unpaid overtime to workplace discrimination. Call us at 512-330-0017 to discuss your case with us today.
