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.

The city of Austin has drafted a proposal that would ban the use of most plastic and paper bags in the city.

According to the bill, by 2013, retailers can begin to charge 25 cents for plastic bags and by 2016, bags will be completely removed from most all retailers.

There are a few exceptions to this ban and those include, carry out food bags, wine and beer bags, bags for meat and fish, pharmaceutical bags and bags for bulk food. The bill states that retailers must offer reusable fabric bags. The draft may be voted on by City Council next month.

The Austin employment lawyers are interested in keeping Austin residents informed on news in the area. For more information, visit the Statesman online today.

An employee at the College of the Mainland has sued the school claiming that her supervisor violated her civil rights by demoting her, ostracizing her and suspending her after she was the witness in a previous sexual harassment case.

According to the lawsuit, the woman was an administrative assistant that claims that she has been the retaliated against for being a witness. The original lawsuit was filed in July 2008 by a former employee against her supervisor.

This new lawsuit is the eighth one brought against the college since 2009. Each lawsuit has claimed some type of civil rights violation that has allegedly occurred on the campus. College officials have not commented on this current lawsuit.

If you or a loved one has been retaliated against after speaking up for your rights, you need experienced representation that may be able to help you fight for the compensation that you deserve. Contact the Austin workplace retaliation lawyers of The Melton Law Firm by calling 512-330-0017.

A girl from Brooklyn, who  was working as a hairdresser at a Soho hair salon, has now filed a $16 million sexual harassment lawsuit against the salon.

The salon is located on Broom St. and specializes in curly hair. It is a very swanky place where a hair cut has been know to cost around $300.

The suit stated that the men flirted with her and smacked her bottom. She claims that this was the reason that this created a hostile work environment which caused her to lose promotions and eventually her job.

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

Officials in El Paso have stated that they will be investigating wage theft claims that violate the Texas Penal Code.

The state Senator, County attorney, district attorney and police officials will all be involved in the investigation. In industries such as construction, it has been reported that one in five workers are experiencing wage theft, which leaves them unable to provide for their families.

A new bill was passed in order to combat this issue. The Senate Bill 1024 will make it less difficult for  law enforcement officials to prosecute employers that are guilty of wage theft. This new law went into effect on Sept. 1, 2011 and police officials are now ready to investigate employers in order to protect Texas workers.

If you or a loved has been the victim of wage theft, you need experienced representation on your side that may be able to help you receive the money that you deserve. Contact the Austin wage dispute lawyers of The Melton Law Firm by calling 512-330-0017.

Former head coach for Texas Tech, Mike Leach, will possibly be returning to college football next season after he was fired from Tech two years ago.

Leach filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against the university after he was fired over an incident that occurred in 2009 that involved the son of the television analyst, Craig James.

The 50-year-old coach has said that he has enjoyed his time off, but it is now being rumored that he may fill the head coach spot for the Arizona Wildcats. Leach told reporters that he has heard nothing “in particular” about the job, just speculation.

If you or a loved one were fired from your job under illegal grounds, you may be able to receive compensation. Contact the Austin wrongful termination lawyers of The Melton Law Firm by calling 512-330-0017  today in order to discuss your legal options.

Dairy Queen franchise in Huntington, Texas has been sued after alleged civil rights violations.

According to the lawsuit, a 17-year-old former employee claimed that her rights were violated when she was sexually harassed by a fellow employee. The suit also states that the teen was the victim of a hostile work environment after she was retaliated against after reporting claims of sexual assault.

The teen was told that the coworker that was retaliating against her would be fired in 30 days, but she never was. Instead, the teen was scheduled less and less until she was terminated for allegedly not showing up for work. She is seeking damages for lost wages and mental anguish.

If you or a loved one has been the victim of sexual harassment at work, you need experienced representation on your side. Contact the Austin sexual harassment lawyers by calling 512-330-0017 today in order to discuss all of your legal options.

Wrongful termination may seem to be an easy category to interpret, but there are certain requirements of a case that need to be present in order for a case to be considered wrongful termination.

Wrongful termination occurs when the reason that a person is fired is illegal. A person can be fired or quit a job for any reason at any time, it only becomes illegal when the reason that they are being let go it not legal.

Texas has the “at-will” doctrine that puts limits on how a person can file these lawsuits. In order to file a successful wrongful termination suit, there has to be some type of grounds including breach of contract, retaliation, discrimination, breach of good faith, and the violation of public policy.

If you or a loved one feels as if you were wrongfully terminated from your job, you need experienced representation on your side to help you get your case together. Contact the Austin wrongful termination lawyers of The Melton Law Firm by calling 512-330-0017.

Three veteran LAPD officers have been awarded $2.5 million in a retaliation and gender discrimination lawsuit that was filed against their supervisors.

This case was filed by three senior detectives in the Fugitive Warrants Section(two males and one female) and their claims go back to their training days in 1972.

The suit alleges that a former female lieutenant allegedly rebuked one of the detectives in training and she  made it clear that she wanted only female detectives to be supervisors during their night-shift. She also allegedly told one of the female detectives that she wanted her to spy on the male detectives.

When one of the male detectives got into an argument with the lieutenant, she allegedly moved him to a desk assignment and took away his detective role. When two of the detectives tried to talk to the captain about these claims, they were allegedly ignored. One of the detectives was transferred out of this section and another was pressured to leave it.

If you or a loved one has been retaliated against after speaking up about discrimination in your workplace, you need experienced representation on your side. Contact the Austin workplace retaliation lawyers of The Melton Law Firm by calling 512-330-0017.

The former elections chief deputy has filed a lawsuit against Grimes County claiming that she was wrongfully terminated after reporting illegal actions allegedly done by the the Elections Administrator.

The lawsuit was filed in June and stated that the Elections Administrator accepted a late absentee ballot, mailed a ballot to a voter before a voter application was received, and delivered a voter application to a resident in an assistant living center after the deadline.

The former employee claimed that these election violations began in October 2010 and that November, the woman reported the violations to a judge in Grimes County. By December, no actions were done against the administrator and the former employee claimed that she was retaliated against.

The in April, the administrator allegedly asked the woman to change the facts on a voting application and when it was asked if this was a violation, the woman was terminated.

If you or a loved one has been wrongfully terminated after a whistleblowing incident, you need experienced representation on your side. Contact the Austin whisterblower attorney of The Melton Law Firm by calling 512-330-0017 today.