Sugar Land City Councilman to be deposed in Sex Harassment Case

Prime Communications, LP and Polaris-PC Management, LP have been sued in the United States District Court in Houston for Sex Discrimination, Disability Discrimination, Hostile Work Environment, and Retaliation by a former Lease Manager who had stellar reviews and multiple awards from the company. The case is gearing up for depositions this week.

The case alleges that Trevor Weerasinghe, Aslam Jiwani, and Nashaud Kermally (a Sugarland City Council Member) discriminated against their former employee on the basis of her sex and subjected her to a hostile work environment.

The lawsuit complaint alleges the following: (1) Trevor Weerasinghe made a comment about the employee and her husband being together sexually by putting his finger into the hole of his other hand that was in a fist, thereby illustrating a penetrating action with his finger into his fist; (2) Aslam Jiwani told the employee to keep her “hoo-hah” shut. “This was extremely offensive and inappropriate because the term ‘hoo-hah’ is a derogatory slang term meaning vagina; and (3) Naushad Kermally, the Sugar Land City Council Member asked the female employee and her husband a number of inappropriate questions (at the company Christmas party) such as ‘Where’s the craziest place you ever had sex?’, ‘Which friend of your spouse would you most like to see in a bikini?’, ‘If your spouse were a sex animal what kind of sex animal would they be?’, and ‘What is your favorite body part of your spouse and why?’”.

The employee complained to Human Resources and this caused the company to retaliate against her, and eventually they fired her, claiming she had performance issues, according to the lawsuit.

She now seeks back pay, future pay, and compensatory damages in the lawsuit. Trial is expected to take place in October 2022.

Bruce Coane is a lawyer handling wrongful termination cases throughout the United States for over 30 years. He is a 2020 and 2021 Super Lawyer selected by Thomson Reuters company, with offices in Texas and Florida. He may be reached at bruce.coane@gmail.com or 713.850.0066 or 305.538.6800. The law firm website is http://www.coane.com.

Mandatory Vaccinations at Work

Here is my latest video talking about whether an employer can require compulsory COVID-19 vaccines, under the threat of job termination. Is it legal? Can they require it? What are your legal rights? I answer all of those questions in this video.

Bruce Coane is is a lawyer handling wrongful termination cases throughout the United States for over 30 years. He is a 2020 Super Lawyer selected by Thomson Reuters company, with offices in Texas and Florida. He may be reached at bruce.coane@gmail.com or 713.850.0066 or 305.538.6800. The law firm website is http://www.coane.com.

Fired for Raising Concerns about Coronavirus or COVID-19?

I have been getting daily inquiries about employee rights in light of the Coronavirus and COVID-19 situation. Many employees have been fired for discussing the virus or taking time off. Today a doctor inquired about a hospital refusing to allow him to wear a mask while he makes his rounds. These are all novel issues and further complicated by emergency declarations at the local and national level.

Often during times of emergency declarations, legal rights are suspended. On the other hand, it still remains illegal to fire someone over protected legal rights, such as their disability or religion.

This Houston employment lawyer and Miami employment lawyer, deals with these issues every day. I consider federal laws under the Civil Rights Act of 1967,  the Americans with Disabilities Act, the National Labor Relations Act, and others. It is a matter of taking the individual facts of the person’s Coronavirus or COVID-19 situation and trying to apply those facts to existing laws.

What about lay-offs? There are hundreds of thousands , if not millions of American workers being laid off right now. If an employer has been trying to get rid of an employee for quite sometime, placing them in a group layoff is certainly one way to disguise their intent. In order for the employee to have a case in that situation, they would have to show that they were unfairly included in the layoff because of their age, race, sex or some other discriminatory reason. If the entire workforce is laid off, then, of course, the employee would most likely lose.

As these brand new employment issues arise due to Coronavirus and COVID-19, I will continue to work with clients to come up with out-of-the-box solutions to find laws that may cover their situation and may get them some justice in dealing with employers who make unfair or unscrupulous  decisions.

The author: Bruce A. Coane is a Houston employment lawyer and Miami employment lawyer for over 30 years, representing both workers and employers in workplace disputes. He  may be reached at bruce.coane@gmail.com, or at 713.850.0066 or 305.538.6800. The website is http://www.coane.com.

Coronavirus, Travel Bans and the U.S. Immigration System

In this video I talk about the coronavirus and its effects on the U.S. Immigration System.

For further information, contact Bruce Coane, Houston Immigration Lawyer and Miami Immigration Lawyer, at bruce.coane@gmail.com, 713.850.0066 or 305.538.6800.

Employee Rights: Exceptions to Employment at Will

Here is a video where I talk about exceptions to employment at will. So many people tell me that they were fired or suffered wrongful termination and never talked to an employment lawyer because their state has employment at will. They are shocked when I tell them that there are EXCEPTIONS to employment at will, and many employees have recourse where they thought they had none. As a lawyer who has handled wrongful termination cases across the United States for over 30 years, I can tell you it is certainly worthwhile to talk to a wrongful termination lawyer or employment lawyer about your legal rights.

At Coane and Associates, PLLC our wrongful termination lawyers represent individuals in discrimination cases under federal law, throughout America. We can be reached at 713.850.0066 or 305.538.6800, or by email, bruce.coane@gmail.com.

Empleo a Voluntad y Terminación Injusta

Aquí hay un video de nuestra abogada de Discriminación en Miami, Melba Rivera, habla sobre Discriminación, Empleo a Voluntad y leyes de Terminación Injusta.

Para más información nos pueden contactar al 713-850-0066 o al 305-538-6800, también pueden mandar un correo electrónico a bruce.coane@gmail.com.

Home Depot Sued for Job Harassment and Discrimination

Our law firm filed a lawsuit last week on behalf of our client, and against Home Depot. The federal court lawsuit alleges job harassment because of our client’s race, national origin and age.

Our client, age 62, was a happy employee of Home Depot for over 20 years. The staff at Home Depot enjoyed working  with our client and all was well until our client transferred to the Little York store in Houston. There, his store manager was Thomas Willtrout, and that is when the problems began.

In his lawsuit, our client alleges that Thomas Willtrout, his store manager, told him that he was “old and slow,” and that he “did not know anything about technology.” In addition, Willtrout, who is white, allegedly made fun of our client’s Indian-Carribean accent in front of customers and co-workers. Further, it is alleged that Willtrout would pretend that he could not understand our client whenever he spoke to Willtrout.

Our client also states that when he asked Willtrout to stop harassing him and making fun of him because of his age and national origin, that Willtrout said, “I’m the f***ing manager, I can do what I want.”

Following that exchange, our client states that he complained about the discrimination to Mervin Alphonse (District Manager) and Pamela Holland in Human Resources. They apparently initiated an investigation, but Willtrout remained as our client’s manager.

In May of 2016, our client states that Willtrout confronted him about the complaint to HR and told our client that he is “unhappy about that.” The following month, Willtrout gave our client a written warning, and in August of 2016, Willtrout fired our client, allegedly in retaliation for his complaint to HR and the District Manager. His 20+ years at Home Depot came to a very sad end.

The lawsuit is currently pending in U.S. District Court in Galveston, with the first hearing set for April 12 of next year. This Houston employment lawyer is representing the worker in his case against Home Depot.

For further information, I may be contacted at bruce.coane@gmail.com or at 713.850.0066 or 305.538.6800.

 

U.S.Immigration Laws: Do Not Enter!

It didn’t take long after yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling upholding the Muslim travel ban, that I got a frantic email today concerning a Pakistani Muslim woman stopped at the Houston airport and banned from entering the U.S.

This is despite the fact that she has a valid visitor visa and that Pakistan is not even on the list of banned Muslim countries.

Prior to yesterday’s court ruling, I had already seen an uptick in unusual denials of visitor visas at USA embassies abroad. Frequent travelers who have had visas before have been going for renewals and finding that they are arbitrarily denied, and  they are being asked obscure questions about prior visits.

While the travel ban is limited to just a handful of countries, this Houston immigration lawyer and Miami immigration lawyer states that the practical effect is that Muslims in all countries are likely to have a much more difficult time getting a visa or entering the country. The “America First” policy, however, is not limited to excluding Muslims. I have recently seen visas denied to individuals from Ukraine, Africa and other places, where those same people had visas in the past.

For further information, I can be reached at bruce.coane@gmail.com or 713.850.0066 or 305.538.6800.

 

 

Discrimination Lawsuit against CVS

https://setexasrecord.com/stories/511248602-loader-alleges-cvs-pharmacy-inc-terminated-him-after-on-the-job-injury

This is a story that was recently published about a discrimination lawsuit we filed against CVS. Our client states in the lawsuit that he was treated unfairly and discriminated against by CVS when they fired him from his job. The lawsuit is pending in U.S. District Court in Houston. No trial date has been set but it is expected to receive a trial date for 2018 or 2019.

This Houston Employment Lawyer files federal discrimination lawsuits and cases against companies throughout the United States. For further information, I may be contacted at 713.850.0066 or 305.538.6800, or via email at bruce.coane@gmail.com.

Immigration and Employment Law Update-November 17, 2017

Here is a video that I shot in Madagascar in 2015, where I am talking about the Affidavit of Support which is required in many immigration cases. I talk about the misconception that people have where they think they must earn a certain income in order to file a visa petition or to “sponsor” a family member or foreign spouse. This is still a common issue, and the reality is that no job is required to sponsor a family member or spouse.

In other news, I was at Immigration Court in San Antonio this week representing a client who has DACA through 2019. For some strange reason, the ICE lawyer decided to start prosecuting my client again, despite the fact that he has DACA status and a work permit until 2019. I asked the ICE lawyer and the judge to close the case due to the fact my client is in valid DACA status. They said they would consider it. We shall see.

Talking about strange activities in the area of immigration law, this Houston immigration lawyer and Miami immigration lawyer has noticed a significant delay by the government in the processing of all immigration cases. Work permits that used to take 20 to 40 days, are now taking 6 months. Naturalization cases (to become a U.S. citizen) that used to take four months are now taking well-over a year. I have also noticed a new harshness in visa processing abroad. I heard from one of our clients today that he tried to renew his visitor’s visa in Ukraine this week, and was denied. There seems to be a district effort to cut down on the number of foreign visitors to our country.

In more promising developments in the world of immigration, one of our African clients got his EB-1 extraordinary worker case approved today. Like many of our clients, he works in the oil industry, and now, he and his family will all be getting green cards. I am very happy for them. The EB-1 category is a fast way to get a green card (less than one year). While many of our clients get it because of their experience in the oil industry, we have also done it for teachers, dancers, engineers, researchers, physicians, body shop workers and even an astronaut.

On the employment law side of our law practice, we are bracing for all the new federal judges and appellate judges. Sadly, there is no reason to believe that they are going to have much sympathy for our clients who are the victims of harassment and discrimination. Despite that, I am confident that we will continue to have success in representing our clients with their meritorious cases.

I should also mention that our law firm represents clients in employment law and immigration law all across America. While we may be based in Florida and Texas, we do federal law cases, which allows us to practice in all 50 states. I’ll be visiting Connecticut and Wyoming in the next 30 days on two of our cases, and we welcome referrals from across the country.

Lastly, I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about the daily news reports of sex harassment in the news. Our law firm has represented sex harassment victims for over 30 years. In order to have a winnable case, it is very important to report the sex harassment to Human Resources or the  appropriate authority within the company. While there may be some exceptions, reporting sex harassment and keeping records about it is critically important.

For further information, I may be reached at 713.850.0066 or 305.538.6800. My email address is bruce.coane@gmail.com.