Almost 50 years ago, this Court declared that citizens do not surrender their First Amendment rights by accepting public employment. Rather, the First Amendment protection of a public employee’s speech depends on a careful balance “between the interests of the [employee], as a citizen, in commenting upon matters of public concern and the interest of the State, as an employer, in promoting the ... More...   $0 (06-19-2014 - AL)

Many Americans suffer from alcoholism. Sakera Jarvela, a commercial truck driver, is one of those individuals. Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations prohibit anyone with a “current clinical diagnosis of alcoholism” from driving commercial trucks. Jarvela’s employer, Crete Carrier Corporation, contends that it maintains a company policy that prohibits it from employing anyone who has... More...   $0 (06-18-2014 - GA)

Plaintiff Michael P. Brannon filed suit in the district court alleging that defendant Howard Finkelstein reduced and ultimately terminated Brannon’s consulting work as a forensic psychologist for the Broward County Public Defender’s office in retaliation for Brannon’s constitutionally protected testimony about a Florida state court judge. The United States District Court for the Southern Dis... More...   $0 (06-18-2014 - FL)

Wanda Rogers appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of her former employer, Bromac Title Services, and its owner, Title Resource Group, LLC (collectively, “Bromac” or “appellees”), dismissing her claims under the Jury System Improvement Act (“JSIA”), 28 U.S.C. § 1875. For the following reasons, we AFFIRM.

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS

From April 29, 20... More...   $0 (06-18-2014 - OK)

Ronald Ross appeals a grant of summary judgment by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to Continental Tire of Americas LLC (“Continental”) and Kevin Gilhuly in this Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) action. 29 U.S.C. §2601 et seq. Because Ross received all to which he was entitled under the FMLA, and suffered no adverse employment consequences for... More...   $0 (06-17-2014 - PA)

The trouble began when Michael Barrett, a Salt Lake County employee, helped a colleague pursue a sexual harassment complaint against her boss. The complaint was entirely warranted but some in management apparently didn’t like the publicity. According to Mr. Barrett, his superiors thought him a noisy troublemaker and began a campaign to have him discharged or demoted. After he was demoted Mr. Bar... More...   $0 (06-13-2014 - UT)

Following a bench trial, the court awarded plaintiff Esther Kim $60,000 against her former employer, defendant Konad USA Distribution, Inc. (Konad), and her former boss, defendant Dong Whang. Defendants appeal, citing the alleged failure of plaintiff to meet certain “jurisdictional” prerequisites (e.g., exhaustion of administrative remedies, proving Konad had five employees) in her sexual hara... More...   $0 (06-12-2014 - CA)

This is an interlocutory appeal. Azin Lotfi sued her employer, Cheniere Energy, Inc., claiming her employment was wrongly terminated; she also sued two officers of the company, Charif Souki and Greg Rayford, for tortious interference with her employment at Cheniere. Souki and Rayford filed a motion to dismiss

2

Lotfi’s claims against them under chapter 27 of the Texas Civil Practic... More...   $0 (06-10-2014 - TX)

Michael Young brought this employment discrimination case claiming race discrimination and retaliation against his former employer Builders Steel Company ("Builders Steel"). The district court 1 granted summary judgment to Builders Steel on both claims. Young now appeals. We affirm.

I

Young, an African-American male, was employed with Builders Steel for twenty-six years. Builders Ste... More...   $0 (06-09-2014 - MO)

Vista Quality Markets (“Vista”) appeals the trial court’s order denying its motion to compel arbitration. We reverse and remand to the trial court with instructions to enter an order compelling arbitration.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Vista is engaged in the business of operating grocery stores in El Paso, Texas, and is a non-subscriber to workers’ compensation. In Febr... More...   $0 (06-08-2014 - )

The State of Texas charged Mark Augustin Castellano, age 39, with second-degree murder for the 2012 death of Michelle Warner, age 31, whose body was found in a West Texas grave between Midland and Odessa. The State claimed that Castellano killed Ms. Warner in the bedroom of their home in Houston.

Defendant claimed self-defense.

The State claimed that he killed Ms. Warner, took h... More...   $0 (06-07-2014 - TX)

Neal W. Dias, a former employee of Verizon New England Inc., appeals the district court's denial of his motion for a new trial, filed in the wake of a defendant's jury verdict on Dias's claim that Verizon discharged him and subjected him to a hostile work environment in retaliation for engaging in activity protected by Massachusetts antidiscrimination law. Dias says that the jury instructions and ... More...   $0 (06-05-2014 - MA)

We are asked to decide whether federal or state privilege law governs the admissibility of evidence of an alleged settlement reached during mediation of federal and state law claims. We conclude that federal privilege law governs, but that the County waived any available privilege; therefore, we affirm the district court’s enforcement of the settlement agreement reached in mediation.

I.More...   $0 (06-03-2014 - AZ)

Plaintiff–appellant Jeremy Hoven is a former at-will employee of Walgreen Co. (“Walgreen”). He is also the holder of a Michigan license to carry a concealed weapon. On May 8, 2011, gun-wielding robbers entered Walgreen while Hoven was working the overnight shift. After one of the masked individuals pointed a gun at Hoven, Hoven drew his concealed weapon and fired it multiple times. Eight day... More...   $0 (06-02-2014 - MI)

In three issues, Appellant Uneeda Reed challenges the trial court’s summary judgment rendered in favor of Appellee Cook Children’s Medical Center, Inc. (CCMC) on her claims for racial discrimination and retaliation. We will affirm.

1See Tex. R. App. P. 47.4.

2

II. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Reed, an African-American female, began working at CCMC in May 2006. ... More...   $0 (05-29-2014 - TX)

Must an employer allow employees more than six months’ sick leave or face liability under the Rehabilitation Act? Unsurprisingly, the answer is almost always no.

By all accounts, Grace Hwang was a good teacher suffering a wretched year. An assistant professor at Kansas State University, she signed a written oneyear contract to teach classes over three academic terms (fall, spring, and sum... More...   $0 (05-29-2014 - KS)

Plaintiff and appellant Conchita Franco Serri brought this action against her former employer (defendant and respondent Santa Clara University (the University)) and other individually named defendants after the University terminated her employment. Serri had worked as the University’s Director of Affirmative Action since 1992. The University terminated her employment in 2007 because she failed t... More...   $0 (05-28-2014 - CA)

BIRMINGHAM, AL - The former Clay County jail administrator to four years in prison for using his authority to sexually abuse or otherwise deprive inmates of their civil rights, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance, FBI Special Agent in Charge Richard D. Schwein Jr. and Alabama Bureau of Investigation Division Chief Neil G. Tew.

JEFFREY SCOTT COTNEY, 48, of Ashland, pleaded guilty in ... More...   $0 (05-28-2014 - AL)

Dr. Collie Trant is the former Chief Medical Examiner for the State of
Oklahoma. Trant joined the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner at a time the
office was recovering from a series of public scandals. But Trant soon lost the
confidence of the Oklahoma Board of Medicolegal Investigations, to whom he
reported, and was terminated. Trant filed suit in Oklahoma state court alleging ... More...   $0 (05-28-2014 - OK)

New York, NY - Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that HECTOR MONSEGUR, a/k/a “Sabu,” formerly a leading member of a group of sophisticated computer hackers known as “LulzSec,” was sentenced today in Manhattan federal court to time served and one year of supervised release for his participation in computer hacking activity that victim... More...   $0 (05-27-2014 - NY)

While campaigning for a second term, President George W. Bush was scheduled to spend the night at a Jacksonville, Oregon, cottage. Local law enforcement officials permitted a group of Bush supporters and a group of protesters to assemble on opposite sides of a streetalong the President’s motorcade route. When the President made a last-minute decision to have dinner at the outdoor patio area of t... More...   $0 (05-27-2014 - DC)

In this interlocutory appeal, the County of El Paso, Texas and the El Paso County Sheriff’s Department (collectively referred to as “the County”) challenge an order denying their plea to the jurisdiction. TEX. CIV. PRAC. & REM. CODE ANN. § 51.014 (a)(8) (West 2008). We affirm.

BACKGROUND

On June 21, 2010, Appellee Lisa Latimer sued the County under the Texas Whistleblower Act.... More...   $0 (05-21-2014 - TX)

Deanira Morales appeals from the trial court’s judgment dismissing her whistleblower-retaliation lawsuit against her former employer, the Cotulla Independent School District. She contends the trial court abused its discretion by dismissing her case for want of prosecution and by denying her motion to reinstate. Because we hold that the trial court abused its discretion by

1 The Honorable ... More...   $0 (05-21-2014 - TX)

Plaintiff Sean Gloster filed an employment-related lawsuit against his former employer, defendant Melody Toyota (Melody), Melody’s parent corporation, other employees, and a third party. Although Melody and its related defendants warned Gloster prior to his filing of the lawsuit they would insist on arbitration under his employment agreement, the defendants waited until a year after the complain... More...   $0 (05-21-2014 - CA)

¶1 On February 25, 2013, Chester Rouse filed a wrongful termination suit against the Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA) and Daniel S. Sullivan. The petition alleged GRDA and Mr. Sullivan terminated Mr. Rouse on February 17, 2012, in retaliation for filing an overtime complaint under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), 29 U.S.C. § 201 through § 219. Retaliation for filing such a complaint is forb... More...   $0 (05-20-2014 - OK)