Houston Legal Blog

Nearly every Texas business deals in contracts. These agreements can be with vendors, suppliers or customers, among others. What they all have in common is that they must comply with the law in order to remain valid.

If a contract does not comply with the laws applicable to it and you become embroiled in a dispute regarding the contract, it may not hold up in court. What you may have thought was a simple case of breach of contract could end up costing you time, money and effort if the contract fails to legally bind you and the other party.

A woman claims that she was raped by another worker outside of work. Both the alleged rapist and the victim were workers for the Idaho Department of Corrections. At the time of the incident in August 2011, the man had been on administrative leave for another alleged rape that occurred in July 2011. The IDOC acknowledged to the woman that it knew about his history, and he had three prior complaints prior to the July 2011 incident.

Despite that, he had received no discipline for those prior complaints. A day after reporting the rape, IDOC sent out an email telling others to reach out to the man because he was likely feeling down. When the female employee asked for paid leave as was IDOC policy in extreme or unusual situations, her request was denied. This was the same type of leave that the male employee had been granted after the July 2011 incident.

On Sept. 29, it was reported that three former Oracle employees, all female, filed a lawsuit against the company for pay discrimination. The lawsuit, which was seeking class-action status in order to represent all female employees at Oracle, was filed on Aug. 28. The company has locations in Texas.

The lawsuit alleges that Oracle systematically paid its female employees lower wages than their male counterparts even though they performed equal or similar work. The lawsuit also referenced the lawsuit filed against Oracle by the U.S. Department of Labor after the agency reportedly found a pay disparity between female and male employees and discrimination against women in the workplace. Due to the fact that Oracle is required to maintain records of wage rates for all employees located in California, the company should have been aware of the pay disparity.

Some people in Texas take the view that hard work will bring job opportunities and career growth to people regardless of their race. Although success in the workplace requires dedication and skill development, data strongly indicates that blacks and Latinos face discrimination as soon as they even apply for jobs. Applicants from these groups receive fewer chances to interview, which translates into fewer job offers and reduced career potential.

A meta study conducted by university researchers that reviewed 28 field studies going back to 1989 showed that employers called white job applicants for interviews 36 percent more often than black applicants. Employers favored white job seekers with callbacks 24 percent more often than Latinos who applied for jobs. The researchers concluded that in 25 years, blacks had experienced no improvements in racial discrimination although Latinos had made some gains at the point of hire.