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Former Texas Southern women's basketball coach Surina Dixon has won a federal lawsuit against the school in which she alleged gender discrimination and retaliation for her 2008 firing.

A jury awarded Dixon $730,000 on Friday.  Statutory damage caps may reduce that amount.

Dixon was hired under a four-year contract by TSU in March 2008 and fired three months later without being allowed to coach a single game after she complained about illegal pay practices at the university.  Her salary was roughly half that of her mail counterpart - a violation of federal law. 

Dixon is now a high school teacher in Memphis, Tenn.

According to an article in the Houston Chronicle, TSU issued a statement and is still denying any wrongdoing whatsoever.  Obviously the school just doesn't get it despite the apparent facts of the case and jury's decision.  I can only take from their statement that they plan to continue efforts to discriminate against their female employees.  

Perhaps a shakeup in TSU's administration is in order.  

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The state's unemployment rate in July was the worst it's been in nearly a quarter of a century.
The state had a net gain of 29,300 jobs last month, yet the jobless rate rose to 8.4 percent from 8.2 percent in June, the Texas Workforce Commission reported Friday. The rate was 8.1 percent in July 2010.

The last time unemployment was this high was 24 years ago — July 1987 — during the state's oil and real estate bust.

Read the entire article here.

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Two restaurants in Jacksonville and their owners have been ordered to pay 30 employees $934,425 in back wages and liquidated damages under the terms of consent judgments. The agreements resolve a U.S. Department of Labor lawsuit based on an investigation by its Wage and Hour Division that alleged violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s minimum wage, overtime pay and record-keeping provisions.

Investigators found that kitchen employees were improperly classified as exempt from FLSA overtime pay provisions and consequently paid salaries that did not include compensation for hours worked over 40 in a week. Additionally, every week, tipped employees would receive their tips plus a paycheck that together equaled the minimum wage; however, management required the employees to sign and return the paychecks, and would then cash the checks and put the money back into the restaurant. Through this process, while it appeared that the owners were paying wages, the employees actually were allowed to keep only their tips. Finally, the employers did not maintain accurate records of the hours worked by employees.

The employees will receive $584,425 in back wages and an additional $350,000 in liquidated damages.

The FLSA requires that covered employees be paid at least the federal minimum wage for all hours worked, as well as one and one-half times their regular rates of pay for hours worked over 40 per week. If certain conditions are met, the FLSA permits an employer to take a tip credit toward its minimum wage obligation for tipped employees. The employer must pay tipped employees a cash wage of $2.13 per hour or the state mandated cash wage, whichever is higher; all tips must be retained by the employee except for contributions to a valid tip pooling arrangement; employees must be informed of the tip credit provision; and the amount of tips plus cash wages must equal the federal minimum wage, currently $7.25 per hour. Additionally, the law requires that accurate records of employees’ wages, hours and other conditions of employment be maintained.

Read the Full Report.

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American workers have been taking to Facebook and Twitter to passionately vent their workplace gripes, often in the most personal and vulgar ways possible. And as their bosses respond in kind with notices of termination, companies need to carefully consider whether they're breaking the law by firing someone due to the use of social media.

That's the take-away from a new analysis by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce of more than a hundred charges recently filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) involving social media and the workplace. Many of the complaints filed with the federal agency were brought by workers who felt they were illegally let go or otherwise disciplined for their Facebook musings. Others alleged that their companies had "overly broad" policies regarding social media that undercut their rights as workers. 

Read the entire story here.

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 We are frequently asked questions involving overpayment of unemployment from the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC):

• What is an overpayment?
• Why do I have an overpayment?
• Must I repay an overpayment?
• Why should I repay an overpayment?
• Do overpayments elsewhere affect me?

• Not reporting earnings or reporting the incorrect earnings amount when you request payment.
• Giving false information about your job separation or work search.
• Having your eligibility for benefits reversed due to an appeals hearing after receiving benefits.

• The overpayment stays on your claim record until repaid in full.
• The TWC will keep any future benefits until your overpayment is repaid.
• While it is not done in every case, the TWC has the authority to take legal action against you to recover the money, including suing you in a civil court.

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