Dallas Austin

On Monday, July 27, 2020, United States Senator John Cornyn of Texas introduced the Safe to Work Act, a companion to the concurrently introduced $1 trillion COVID-19 stimulus bill.  The Safe to Work Act would create uniform standards across all states for plaintiffs to sue businesses for damages related to alleged or actual coronavirus injuries.  While the Act is certain to be revised as it winds through the House of Representatives, several states, including Oklahoma, have already passed laws limiting businesses liability for coronavirus claims.  The Texas Legislature, not scheduled to res

Immunity comes in many flavors.  Immunity from liability or suit is one kind, immunity from viral infections an altogether different variety.  The resumption of in-person classes for K-12 school children without an effective and widely distributed vaccine and without widespread community immunity to the virus has stoked concerns among parents, children, and educators alike.  In Florida, the teachers have taken to court to prevent a state-wide order from taking effect that would require resumption of in-person instruction. In July 2020, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and his administration or

When is a contractor who performs work for a governmental entity allowed to share in the state’s immunity from suit?  When can the contractor, not just the King so to speak, do no wrong?  A June 2020 Texas Supreme Court opinion sheds additional light on the issue. 1.     Tic-Tac-Toe The Texas Lottery Commission, an entity entitled to sovereign immunity, contracted with GTECH to manufacture and service instant lottery tickets.  GTECH proposed a “FUN 5” scratch-off game, essentially a tic-tac-toe game with a 5X box that allowed the winner to claim five times the prize amount in the &

As we tip-toe toward the resumption of the school in Texas in mid-August, parents and employers are facing a myriad of questions and a dearth of certainty.  Will students be attending classes in-person or remotely or some combination of each?  Will the school semester be interrupted if the pandemic continues to flare and the Governor issues a shelter-at-home order?  What happens to employees with school-age children when or if schools suddenly close? Of equal importance, what does this mean for employers? To try to answer some of these questions, we will first address the recent guidelines

Who gets to decide whether Dallas or Austin or any other part of Texas opens or closes for business?  As little consistency as there is from county-to-county about what is required from employers in the COVID-19 era, there is seemingly less consistency on whether the Governor or cities and counties have the authority to impose new requirements.   The consequences of who has the authority get more serious when discussing whether a specific city or county may require persons to shelter-at-home or whether that authority belongs entirely to the Governor.  Certainly, the Governor’s actions ea

When is a force majeure clause specific enough to excuse performance in the COVID-19 era?  We are about to find out. The Republican Party of Texas (“RPT”) recently filed suit against the City of Houston and its Mayor, Sylvester Turner (“Mayor Turner”), Houston First Corporation (“HFC”) and its President, Brenda W. Bazan (collectively the “Houston Defendants”) for cancelling the contract to hold the Texas Republican Convention in Houston between July 13 and 18, 2020.  The City’s action came as Texas consistently posted (and, as of the date of this article, continues to post)

“Today,” Justice Neil Gorsuch said, “we must decide whether an employer can fire someone simply for being homosexual or transgender.” In a landmark decision, the United States Supreme Court ruled in June 2020 that the seminal employment discrimination statute, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, protects gay, lesbian, and transgender people.  The opinion from the Supreme Court was 6-3, with Justice Gorsuch writing the majority opinion.  A.    A Title VII Primer Title VII prohibits employers from discrimination by setting or changing a person’s compensation