Austin Employment Law Blog

Anti-discrimination laws have long protected employees over the age of 40 in Texas and across the United States. However, a new decision released by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals raises questions on whether or not those protections are extended to job applicants as well.

In the recently decided case, a 58-year-old man submitted an application to a large medical device company for a legal role. The man was ultimately never given an interview. He later learned that the position went to a 29-year-old man with fewer qualifications. This led the man to file an age discrimination lawsuit alleging a violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). His lawsuit alleged that the discrimination had a disparate impact on his career. After an appeal from the trial court, the 7th Circuit disagreed, citing the "plain language" of the ADEA. According to the court, Congress explicitly intended the protections of the ADEA to apply only to current employees and not prospective hires.

While it is common for male employees in Texas and elsewhere to be subjected to sexual harassment because they are gay or transgender, experts say it is relatively rare for male workers to be sexually harassed by female co-workers or supervisors. However, a male former Disney Cruise Line employee has filed a lawsuit claiming that he experienced sexual and age-based harassment while working at the company.

According to the lawsuit, the man worked as a labor analyst at Disney for nearly two decades. However, it alleges that a younger female supervisor created a hostile work environment for him during his last few years with the company. For example, the suit alleges that the supervisor tried to embarrass the plaintiff by detailing sexual experiences she had with various partners, including experiences she had in "sex rooms" on Disney ships. The claim further alleges that all senior managers and executives in the plaintiff's division were women.

Female doctors have become commonplace throughout Texas, but a survey of mothers who work as doctors has revealed their struggles with discriminatory attitudes. The results of a survey that investigated workplace challenges among doctors who are mothers found that more than one-third of 6,000 respondents had been discriminated against at work after becoming parents.

Many female doctors reported that they faced different expectations at work compared to their male colleagues, and they had lower pay. Diminished opportunities for promotions became a regular theme among the 947 doctors who provided researchers with additional comments. Women said that they were frequently excluded from workplace functions that could have helped them build their careers. Male doctors, however, always received invitations to career-building activities. One woman said that colleagues assumed that she would rather care for her children than do something extra at work. Another doctor said that managers changed their attitude toward her performance after she had a baby.

Some Texas employees who work on-call shifts may be eligible for overtime pay. As evidenced by a court case in Ohio, however, there can be some confusion regarding when that overtime pay is required. The judge in that case found that a nurse who was on call throughout the weekend should have been paid overtime even though she didn't work the entire 48 hours that she was on call.

The nurse worked an on-call shift every other weekend. This was in addition to her usual work week. She was paid her regular rate for the on-call time, but she argued that she should have been given overtime. The hospital argued that since the nurse was not working for the entire 48 hours, this was not warranted. The court disagreed. First, it argued that it was compensable time since the hospital paid her the regular rate.