EEOC Charges Against LNR Property LLC Go to Investigative Unit

After a failed mediation at the EEOC, our client’s charges of race and national origin discrimination against LNR Property LLC, of Miami Beach, are being returned to the EEOC’s investigative unit.

The charges were filed in April 2012, after our client was fired. Our client was at the firm for over 10 years. He is a US citizen, born in Haiti. He says that he was the only black person in his department and one of the few non-Hispanics. He says that most of his Hispanic co-workers spoke in Spanish (which he could not understand) and constantly piled work on him, while they took constant breaks and often sat around with nothing to do.

The EEOC will investigate these charges to determine if LNR has violated the law. If the EEOC determines that LNR has violated the law, they may seek conciliation or the EEOC could file a lawsuit. Alternatively, the EEOC can issue a Right to Sue letter, allowing our client to pursue the matter directly in Federal court.

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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.

Deferred Action and Work Permits: No Need to Wait in Long Lines

The front page of Thursday’s New York Times, showed a long line of people at a local U.S. Immigration office seeking information and forms about the new rule allowing work permits and deferred action status for young people.

All of the information and forms are available online at the USCIS website, and it is ironic that young people, the largest users of everything internet-related, would be out in the hot sun lining up at the immigration office. Every answer to every possible question, in general, is available on the CIS website. Of course, there are grey areas, and from my perspective, the worst person to ask about grey areas would be an immigration office employee who does not adjudicate the applications. Applicants with grey area questions or other serious immigration issues would be well-advised to seek the help of a competent immigration lawyer.

Finally, while the government made the forms and information available on August 15, the local offices are not accepting the completed applications. Like all immigration forms, the applications must be mailed in, and I always recommend it be done by certified mail.

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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.

Deferred Action “Amnesty” for Young People Has Complicated Instructions

In true government fashion, the new deferred action program has 9 pages of instructions on how to fill out the form and how to be qualified. It reminds me of reading the instructions to tax forms, although in this situation, the immigration service uses a larger font than the IRS, making the instructions more reader friendly. Either way, if an applicant has any issues or does not have lots of documents, they may have difficulty proving they are entitled to deferred action and the work permit that comes with it.

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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.

Hair Sample Drug Tests Lead to Job Termination

The latest rage in employment drug testing seems to be the hair sample drug test. I am seeing multiple cases every week for the past 3 months, concerning workers being fired for failing a hair sample drug test.

photo: Bettor.com

While I don’t claim to know any of the science behind it, I will say it’s a huge problem for workers subject to random drug testing or pre-employment screening. Many times, a job offer letter requires a pre-employment drug screen within 24-48 hours of receipt of the job offer letter.

Few states, if any, have any laws protecting worker rights when it comes to drug screens. And, as usual, the only rights that non-union employees typically have, are rights concerning a work environment free of discrimination based on age, race, sex, national origin, religion or medical condition. If a worker cannot argue discrimination in the drug screen, then, they often have no case or legal claim against the employer..

Our law firm represents workers in failed drug screen cases, but it is often an uphill, but not always impossible, battle.

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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.

Ex-employee files Pregnancy Discrimination charges against Intertek

A former lab analyst at Houston-based Intertek, has filed discrimination charges against the company with the EEOC. Coane and Associates is currently representing her at the EEOC.

Our client is from Sri Lanka and was working for the company on a working visa. Once she got pregnant, however, it all went downhill at work, according to our client. She has complained to the EEOC about pregnancy discrimination and related causes of action.

The employer allegedly harassed her at work once she they knew she was pregnant, and, after her maternity leave, promptly fired her two weeks later. The EEOC will be investigating the charges, after which the matter may be brought to court.

Our law firm has handled many pregnancy discrimination cases, and the law is clear, that it is illegal to treat a pregnant employee differently than her co-workers and/or to single her out for unfair treatment.

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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.