Supreme Court Issues Decision Helpful to Immigrants This Week

The Supreme Court issued an important decision, Vartelas v. Holder, No. 10-1211, rejecting the retroactive application of a provision of a law passed by Congress in 1996 that has prevented many lawful permanent residents (LPRs) from returning to the United States after a trip abroad. Citing the “deeply rooted presumption” against applying new laws retroactively, the Court ruled 6-3 that LPRs who temporarily leave the country cannot be denied readmission on account of criminal convictions that occurred before the law took effect.

The Justice Department argued that LPRs with certain criminal convictions may be barred from re-entering the United States any time they leave the country—even if the law in effect at the time of their guilty pleas did not make them eligible for deportation or ineligible for reentry to the United States. The Supreme Court rejected this argument, noting that the government’s interpretation effectively prevented such LPRs from ever leaving the country.

There are still serious consequences, however, for certain LPR’s with criminal convictions after 1996, who leave the country and try to return. While, historically, they may have had no problems returning in the past, many of these people are now being arrested at the airport upon their return after short visits abroad. Our law firm of Coane and Associates, PLLC continues to represent LPR’s facing these exact problems.

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About the author: Bruce Coane is an attorney who specializes in labor and employment law, and, immigration law, with offices in Florida and Texas. He may be reached at houstonlaw@aol.com, 713-850-0066 or 305-538-6800.

Facebook Users Talk About Giving Employers Their Passwords

NBC-Miami interview of me regarding employers asking for Facebook passwords

Read the full article here.

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About the author: Bruce Coane is an attorney who specializes in labor and employment law, and, immigration law, with offices in Florida and Texas. He may be reached at houstonlaw@aol.com, 713-850-0066 or 305-538-6800.

Facebook Password Required at Job Interview?

Is a prospective employee required to give their Facebook password at a job interview? Clearly an invasion of privacy? Well, believe it or not, there is no law about any of this.

Last week, members of the U.S.Senate, asked for an investigation, but the truth is, the matter had never been addressed. Employers are always coming up with new and creative ways to fire employees, and now they have a new method to use in the hiring process. Will Congress or state legislatures stop them? I sure hope so!

I noticed that one senator asked the EEOC to look into the matter. However, the EEOC investigates complaints of discrimination based on age, race, sex, etc., but certainly no issues involving privacy. I guess the senator was looking for some avenue, and the EEOC is about the only avenue for wronged employees. Unfortunately, the EEOC would have to make quite a stretch to link a Facebook password with unlawful discrimination against a particular group.

It will be interesting to watch how this new area of employment law develops. No doubt, soon enough, I’ll have clients coming in with these issues.

photo from: Forbes.com
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About the author: Bruce Coane is an attorney who specializes in labor and employment law, and, immigration law, with offices in Florida and Texas. He may be reached at houstonlaw@aol.com, 713-850-0066 or 305-538-6800.

Coane and Associates’ Client Sues Company for Overtime Pay

Our law firm, Coane and Associates, just recently filed a lawsuit on behalf of a client for overtime pay. Our client worked at Liberty Power Corporation in South Florida, and claims that the company had him working more than 40 hours a week without any extra pay or overtime.

In 2011, the company installed time clocks and then started paying proper overtime, but before that, they were simply paying regular hourly rates to workers. The Fair Labor Standards Act generally requires employers to pay their non-exempt workers 1.5 times their hourly rate for hours worked in excess of 40 in a week.

Our client was also fired by the company and has a discrimination complaint pending with the EEOC. The lawsuit is filed in federal court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

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About the author: Bruce Coane is an attorney who specializes in labor and employment law, and, immigration law, with offices in Florida and Texas. He may be reached at houstonlaw@aol.com, 713-850-0066 or 305-538-6800.

Religious Discrimination

Religious discrimination is prohibited in the workplace by federal law. This prohibition applies to all employers who have at least 15 employees. The EEOC investigates charges of religious discrimination, and in most cases, takes no further action. Eventually, the EEOC issues a Right to Sue letter giving the employee 90 days to file a lawsuit in court.

Our law firm, Coane and Associates, represents individuals with such claims, and has done so against such large employers as Chik-Fil-A, Southwest Airlines and others. Attached is an interesting article about a religious discrimination case going to trial this week in California.

Click the article : Ex-NASA Employee Claims Discrimination for His Beliefs

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About the author: Bruce Coane is an attorney who specializes in labor and employment law, and, immigration law, with offices in Florida and Texas. He may be reached at houstonlaw@aol.com, 713-850-0066 or 305-538-6800.

Race Discrimination case at U.S.Court of Appeals

Today, we have oral argument before 3 judges at the U.S.Court of Appeals in New Orleans, on a race discrimination case. This is one court below the U.S.Supreme Court.

The case is called Linda Criner vs. Texas New Mexico Power (TNMP) Company. We represent Linda Criner, an employee of TNMP, who stated in her lawsuit that she was being discriminated against because of her race. Ms. Criner is black and the evidence showed that most of her co-workers are white. Further, she alleged that she was constantly turned down for promotions within the company because of her race. Her filings with the court talked about a “good ole boy” network within the company where almost all promotions she applied for, go to white men.

Despite the large amount of evidence filed with the U.S.District Court in Houston, the judge refused to allow Ms. Criner to have a jury trial. Instead, the judge dismissed the case completely, on the company’s motion for summary judgment.

While such motions are common, many judges still allow the case to go to trial, in order to let the jury decide. In this case, Ms. Criner never had her day in court.

An appeal was filed, and, in an unusual move, the U.S.Court of Appeals, granted oral argument. This is unusual because many times the court of appeals will simply read the lawyers’ briefs and make a decision without hearing oral argument.

The case will be argued by Lauren Schlossberg of our Miami office, at the court of appeals today. Typically it takes 30-90 days to receive a decision. Ms. Criner, the alleged victim of the race discrimination plans to attend the oral argument in New Orleans, as well.

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About the author: Bruce Coane is an attorney who specializes in labor and employment law, and, immigration law, with offices in Florida and Texas. He may be reached at houstonlaw@aol.com, 713-850-0066 or 305-538-6800.

Mandatory Detention of Lawful U.S. Residents by Attorney Bruce Coane

Attorney Bruce Coane speaks about Mandatory Detention for Lawful U.S. Residents. For more information, please contact Coane and Associates, PLLC either at our Houston office at (713) 850-0066, or our Miami office at (305) 538-6800. You can also visit http://www.coane.com, or send emails to houstonlaw@aol.com.