Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
A Dallas County district judge and top civil lawyers shared their observations about what leads to large jury verdicts and discussed changes in jury attitudes during a recent CLE hosted by The Texas Lawbook.
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, Yelp prevails against the Texas attorney general’s office in a suit that accused the website of violating the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, a Dallas-area law firm represents an insurance company accusing nearly 50 defendants of RICO violations related to New York workers’ compensation benefits, and a split Texas Supreme Court issues a ruling clarifying the tolling period in a healthcare liability claim.
In this week’s edition of Litigation Roundup, Pioneer Natural Resources draws suit over its $60 billion Exxon deal, a fight between faculty at MD Anderson spills into court, a jury renders a take-nothing judgment in a personal injury suit that had sought damages in excess of $10 million, and the Fifth Circuit revives a fatal crash suit against Union Pacific.
Jennifer Harris’ attorney, Brian Sanford of Sanford Firm, told The Lawbook he plans to appeal the ruling either by seeking rehearing en banc at the Fifth Circuit or by petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case. Harris was awarded $366 million, including $365 in punitive damages, by a jury that rejected her claim of racial discrimination but did find that Harris’ firing was retaliatory.
Issam Abdallah and Abderraouf Alkhawaldeh recently reached a confidential settlement with Mesa Airlines. The two men filed suit after their flight was delayed and subsequently canceled because of what they allege was racial profiling by a flight attendant and pilot. U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor had tossed the claims against Mesa on summary judgment. The Fifth Circuit revived the lawsuit in October.
A consortium of more than 55 Texas and national business groups have filed a federal lawsuit in East Texas against the U.S. Department of Labor in an attempt to overthrow the government’s new overtime rule that would make more than 4 million American workers eligible for overtime pay.
A Harris County jury ruled that the Service Employees International Union improperly used aggressive tactics in its efforts to bring organized labor to Houston-based Professional Janitorial Service. In a 10-2 decision, the jury awarded $5.4 million to the cleaning agency. The Houston Chronicle has full details.
The longest pending civil lawsuit in the state of Texas is going to go on quite a bit longer. One of the five lawsuits brought 22 years ago by Dallas firefighters and police officers for back pay was scheduled to start trial Monday, but lawyers for firefighters sought and received a delay until next year. The city of Dallas faces a $2 billion liability if the firefighters and police officers win.
A federal jury in Dallas last Thursday ordered BlueCross BlueShield of Louisiana to pay McKinney-based Encompass Office Solutions $7.5 million for past unpaid services and tortious interference with its business practices. A young trial team from Thompson & Knight led the way for Encompass.
Lawler Foods, a Humble firm celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, has agreed to pay $1 million to compensate hundreds of unsuccessful job seekers after federal officials accused the company of telling black, white and other applicants that it would not hire them in favor of Hispanics.The EEOC sued the company in 2014 for race and national origin discrimination.
Dallas-based BarBri, Inc. continues to violate the Americans with Disabilities Act by failing to properly accommodate blind law students who use BarBri’s online and other services to prepare for the bar exam, a lawsuit filed today in Dallas federal court claims.
Lawsuits related to layoffs and job reductions in the oil patch have dramatically increased during the past 10 months. Employment complaints filed in the Southern and Western districts of Texas hit all-time highs in 2015. If filings during the first six weeks of this year are an indication, 2016 could shatter all records in Texas for lawsuits filed due to job reductions.
© Copyright 2026 The Texas Lawbook
The content on this website is protected under federal Copyright laws. Any use without the consent of The Texas Lawbook is prohibited.
