The federal government has launched an investigation against the Bastrop Independent School District for alleged racial discrimination after Bastrop Community Activist Steve Miller filed a complaint.

Miller says he is happy the Department of Education is investigating the school district, but isn’t exactly sure it will make up for all of the wrongs that have been done over the years.

“We have supervisors calling other employees, in the presence of other employees, using the “N” word,” said Miller.

Bastrop residents staged a peaceful protest in May 2011 after repeated incidents of racial discrimination against employees and students. This happened after the Bastrop middle school principal called out African-American students for poor exam scores.

Miller filed the complaint with the Texas NAACP in August 2011 before the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights got involved. The OCR has asked for human resource records in the district over the past two years related to hiring practices and other areas of interest.

If you have been a victim of racial discrimination, or any other form of discrimination, at your place of work, let the legal team at The Melton Law Firm, help you fight for justice. Call today at (512) 330-0017 to discuss your situation in more detail.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed a lawsuit against a chain restaurant in Texas called Bayou City Wings for allegedly discriminating against pregnant employees.

The restaurant’s policy forced pregnant women to stop working within the first trimester of their pregnancy, even though this is illegal.

One woman, who worked as a server and manager for three years, was laid off when she became pregnant, even though she has a note from her doctor stating that she was cleared to work until at least her 36th week. According to the lawsuit, at least eight other women were also laid off due to this pregnancy policy. The affected women are currently seeking monetary compensation through this lawsuit.

If you or a loved one has been the victim of pregnancy discrimination, contact the Austin employment lawyers of The Melton Law Firm today by calling 512-330-0017.

An advocacy group for the state of Texas is now suing the city, along with many other businesses for allegedly discriminating against people with disabilities.

Several local restaurants, retailers and bus companies in the city have been named because people with disabilities have stated that they can not fully enjoy the places that are culturally unique to the city due to lack of accessibility.

Twelve defendants were named in Austin, many of which are located on South Congress and Sixth Street. Lawsuits that are aimed at the city claim that city officials failed to provide enough parking in downtown and entertainment districts for disabled people.

The suits also state that the city failed to provide ramps, equal access to pools, and signs to alert people with disabilities about accessible routes. One more lawsuit is expected to be filed in conjunction with these other lawsuits.

The city of Corpus Christi is currently facing a gender discrimination lawsuit that was brought against them by the Justice Department.

The lawsuit alleges that the Police Department discriminated against hiring women for the department by making them fulfill a fitness test that very few women have been able to pass. Between the years 2005 and 2009, only one in every five women has been able to pass the test compared to two-thirds of all men.

The assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division, Thomas Perez said, “This complaint demonstrates that employment practices that unnecessarily exclude qualified candidates on account of sex are unacceptable.” The city has been working with the Justice Department for quite some time in order to settle the alleged sexual discrimination issue.

The complaint states that the number of entry-level females that were hired between 2005 and 2011 was only 12, compared to 113 men during the same period.

A former basketball coach for Lovejoy High School has now filed a lawsuit against the school district claiming that she was treated differently at work because of her age, race and gender.

The coach stated that she was subjected to comments about her race and was also told to favor the white players. According to the lawsuit, the coach’s job was threatened whenever she objected these requests.

She filed a formal complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and stated that after this was done, she was reassigned to a different teaching position in retaliation. While coaching, her team made it to the State Finals, but she did receive low scores on her performance review.

If you or a loved one has been discriminated against in the workplace, you need representation on your side at this time that is committed to fighting for justice. Contact the Austin discrimination lawyers of The Melton Law Firm today by calling 512-330-0017.

According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, there was a record high number of discrimination complaints in 2011.

This is the second year in a row that the number has peaked and officials have stated that the most common filing was related to retaliation. Racial discrimination was the second-highest topic of complaint.

The agency stated that over 99,000 complaints were filed and nearly $455.6 million was awarded to those who were found to be have been discriminated against in the workplace.

There were over 7,000 complaints that involved federal employees and their claims totaled to nearly $58 million in relief. Also, the commission stated that they were able to resolve more cases then they had pending in 2011 and decreased the pending cases by 10 percent.

If you or a loved one has been treated unfairly in the workplace, you need representation your side that may be able to help you receive the representation that you are entitled to. Contact the Austin discrimination lawyers of The Melton Law Firm by calling 512-330-0017.

The Austin Employment Lawyers of The Melton Law Firm are happy to announce events in the Austin community. Today, the tickets for the Austin Food and Wine Festival are going on sale for the three day event that will take place in April.

This year’s festival will feature 40 events including food testing, cooking demonstrations, local favorite chefs, and more. The festival takes place April 27 to April 29. Events begin at 9 a.m. daily and go on till 4 p.m.

The Austin Food and Wine Festival is presented by Food and Wine Magazine and is a collaborated effort with C3 Productions, local chefs and restaurants.

For the event schedules, please visit the Austin Food and Wine Festival web site today.

A race and gender discrimination lawsuit has been filed against the the Texas Department of Family Services by the U.S. Department of Justice after an employee claimed that he was harassed and wrongfully terminated against.

According to the lawsuit, the man was the only black employee at the El Paso division of Child Protective Services and two of his supervisors continually said comments to him that were of a racist nature. The lawsuit claims that the two supervisors made comments to the man that were “slave-related.”

They also allegedly ignored comments that he was being sexually harassed at work before he was fired in 2007. He then filed a complaint seeking compensatory damages.

If you or a loved one has been treated unfairly at work because of your race or gender, you need experienced representation on your side. Contact the Austin discrimination lawyers of The Melton Law Firm by calling 512-330-0016.

Starbucks has now settled a discrimination lawsuit that stated that a female in Texas was fired because of her height that is caused by her dwarfism.

According to the lawsuit, the woman was fired after her manager told her that she could be a ‘danger’ to other employees and customers that visit the store.

The woman offered to use a step stool or a ladder, but stated that her request was denied. The lawsuit has now settled for $75,000. The store also must provide training to all of its stores in El Paso, where the woman worked.

If you or a loved one has been discriminated against at the workplace, contact the Austin discrimination lawyers of The Melton Law Firm today by calling 512-330-0017.