Employment Law

The loss of a managerial or executive position under unfair circumstances can be one of the greatest crises of a person's life.  Helping people obtain fair treatment from employers is a major area of G&B's practice, and some of its most satisfied clients are those whom G&B has helped to make a transition away from bad employment situations.

Some of the legal rules governing employment in Texas can be surprising.  Did you know that:

• an executive who moves from California for a career in Texas moves from a state in which employees have substantial rights to continued employment to a state in which they may be fired "at will" for any lawful reason
• under certain circumstances, employees may secretly band together to form a new company while still employed by their current employer
• unsigned documents may form the basis of an employment contract which can alter the parties' legal rights
• under the latest decisions of both the United States Supreme Court and the Texas Supreme Court, an employer may be liable, and an employee may recover, if discrimination based on age, sex, race or gender was even a partial reason for an adverse employment decision
• being hired by a foreign subsidiary of an American company could cause a manager's or consultant's rights to be governed by the law of a foreign country
• employment litigation is being revolutionized by the widespread use of email -- disputes which used to be "your word against theirs" are now often provable through written electronic evidence
• there are actions which an employee must take before suing a company for sexual harassment by another employee
• vindictive behavior towards an employee can be a very expensive mistake for a company.

This is not intended as legal advice with regard to any specific situation nor should it be relied upon as such.  Rather, these examples show the complexity of many employment decisions, the need for properly drawn employment agreements, and the need for legal advice at critical junctures in the employment relationship.