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The headlines are mesmerizing, though not in a good way.  On the heels of a pandemic that has cost thousands of citizens their lives, a Caucasian man kills an African American man in the upper Midwest.  Protests break out that devolve into riots and spread to other cities.  The National Guard is called out.  The economic health of the country and income security of millions of Americans, both convalescing from the pandemic, hang in the balance.  The year is 1919.  And 2020.   As the old adage says, those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.  But history rarely repl

As more and more Texas businesses re-open and adjust to the new normal, it is easy to forget that COVID-19-specific orders and statutes, like the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), still apply.  The FFRCA is effective through the end of 2020.  Under certain circumstances, the FFCRA requires an employer to continue some or all of the employee’s wages through Emergency Paid Leave or Extended Leave. For more specifics about paid leave and extended family leave under FFCRA, please refer to our previous post on this topic. Here are some further considerations to remember about FFC

What does a COVID-19 unsafe workplace lawsuit look like?  We did not have to wait long to find out.  Just a few months into the pandemic, one of the first such lawsuits has been brought in Dallas County, Texas.  On April 30, 2020, the spouse of a Dallas meat plant worker who died from coronavirus sued her late-husband’s employer for claims of negligence and wrongful death in Parra and Dominguez v. Quality Sausage Company, LLC.  The Dominguez case raises some extremely difficult practical and legal questions such as how does an employer execute its responsibilities to create a safe workpl

Depending on which news channel you subscribe to, we are entering an era of inflation or deflation or a Goldilocks economy.  One view is that disruption to global supply chains will lead to rapid price escalation which in tandem with a loose monetary policy by almost every developed country in the world, will lead to a large increase in prices of basic commodities and fabricated products.   Another and completely different view is that mass unemployment will suffocate demand which in tandem with the exact same loose monetary policies will result in large decreases in prices of basic commodit

How does COVID-19 impact the enforceability of non-compete agreements?  Even if enforceable, is that promise still worth enforcing?  Typically, when an employer chooses to enforce a non-compete agreement with a former employee, that employee has voluntarily left her/his position and has gone to work for a competitor.  The novel coronavirus and COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in mass layoffs, including layoffs of some employees with non-compete agreements.  These circumstances warrant a careful look at whether and when to enforce non-compete agreements.  A non-compete agreement, or covenan