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Is an employer vicariously liable for a catastrophic car accident when an employee is “coming-and-going” to work?  The Texas Supreme Court recently reaffirmed the general rule and clarified the limits of the “special mission” exception. In Cameron Int’l Corp, an oilfield worker, Mueller, completed his shift with Cameron Int’l Corp. Mueller had been assigned to the “Blue Marlin” jobsite by a contract agency looking for labor to assist Cameron with their operations. Mueller’s supervisor asked him to stay on voluntary standby for potential work at a different site the next day.

The Texas Legislature has started its 88th Regular Session and as of January 23, 2023, more than 2,150 bills and joint resolutions have been filed.  We examine a few bills that are of particular interest to the design and construction industry. SB 283 – Relating to requiring workers’ compensation coverage for employes of building and construction contractors and subcontractors Summary: Would require all contractors and their subcontractors for a public work project to be covered by workers compensation insurance. HB 1054 – Requiring classification of certain construction workers with th

Last month, a Texas jury found that FedEx Corp. retaliated against a former employee and awarded the former employee $365 million in punitive damages, $120,000 for past pain and suffering, and $1.04 million for future mental anguish. The jury was apparently more disturbed about retaliation for reporting racial discrimination than the alleged discrimination, itself, finding no discrimination had occurred. Jennifer Harris, an African American woman, started working for FedEx in 2007 as an entry-level sales representative. For nearly a decade, she was a rising star at the company, receiving sever

What happens to nuclear verdicts on appeal? The El Paso Court of Appeals recently issued a sobering opinion, overruling a $7 million verdict. In Claxton v. Rayner, Claxton’s windshield was hit by a portion of the load that Rayner was transporting on behalf of his employer, Even Better Logistics (EBL).   While Rayner was transporting an oversized load from Dayton to Abilene, he took the wrong exit and ended up on a route that was not part of his TxDOT required route.  The TxDOT route was selected because he was transporting an oversized load. Rayner allegedly did not realize he was on the

What makes a worker an employee versus an independent contractor?  How you classify an individual may change, depending on whether proposed revisions to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) by the Department of Labor are accepted and enacted. The proposed revisions were posted on the Federal Register’s website on October 13, 2022 and will be available for public comment until November 28, 2022. The proposal seeks to broaden the factors used to determine whether a worker is an employee, allowing more workers to be classified as employees who would then be entitled to the minimum wage and over