One of the more esoteric (arguably boring) concepts in law is the idea of “standing”—that is, what kinds of disputes the Constitution allows courts to consider, and who can bring them. To put it another way, “standing” is about whether someone is allowed to sue someone else in the first…
Many employees may be unsure what to do if they discover they have been treated unlawfully by their employer. Going straight into a lawsuit can be a scary step, and is not always the right one. If you thought “there must be some government agency that can investigate and fix…
The Texas Whistleblower Act prohibits a state or local government entity from taking adverse personnel action against an employee “who in good faith reports a violation of law by the employing governmental entity or another public employee to an appropriate law enforcement authority.” The two most important considerations when determining…
The False Claims Act (FCA) is a longstanding federal statute that was originally enacted to combat defense contractors who committed fraud against the federal government during the Civil War. Since the 1860s, the FCA has been revised and has become an authoritative tool to prevent fraud committed against the federal…
Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in 2010 shortly after the financial crisis, commonly known as the Great Recession. The Act’s aim was to “promote the financial stability of the United States by improving accountability and transparency in the financial system, to end ‘too big…
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (“SOX”) is a federal law that established new standards for public companies and created whistleblower protection for employees who disclose information that could show a violation of federal securities law, SEC rules, or any federal law related to fraud against the shareholders. Given its diverse…
Over 1.6 million Texans were employed in the healthcare and social assistance industry by 2019, and that number is expected to grow steadily over the next decade. Nursing in particular is one of the top five occupations in the state by number of online “help wanted” ads. Because of that,…
Generally, you have the burden of proving if your employer’s actions toward you violate the law. Of course, sophisticated employers seldom admit to doing something that breaks the law, and often employment cases turn on a “he-said/she-said” moment, where the employee claims something was said and the employer later denies…
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is part of the Department of Labor and administers the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act), as well as numerous other safety and whistleblower laws. OSHA also sets safety standards for various industries. Because of OSHA, many employers have a general duty…
Over the past few decades, government regulators have begun to keep a much closer eye on the conduct of those in charge at large corporations. However, regulators may not be privy to all the inner-workings of a corporation, and given the number of corporations and lack of available resources to…