Austin Kaplan and Ryan Estes publish in Austin Lawyer what should you know about employment law during the pandemic

From remote work to vaccines, seven essential things you should know about employment law and the ongoing global pandemic. Read more below…

Austin Kaplan remarks on the impact of winter storm Uri on Texas workers

Austin Kaplan, an employment lawyer based in Austin, described these situations as a consequence of a lack of adequate labor protections in a state with notoriously weak safeguards for workers. “There’s no requirement in Texas that people pay any vacation time at all. There’s just no safety net, or anything like that,” Kaplan told The Daily Beast. “In my estimation, the state that turned the power grid off ought to be the one paying,” Kaplan said.

Read the full story on the Daily Beast. Also quoted in The Hill, Daily Mail, KTEM, and Midland Reporter-Telegram.

James Glenn and Johnny Spradlin v. Llano County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO), Sheriff Bill Blackburn, Officer Jackson Idol, former Officer Steven Sifford, unknown Officer John Doe, and Llano County, Texas

[January 7, 2021] AUSTIN, TEXAS—Kaplan Law Firm recently filed a federal civil rights lawsuit on behalf of James ‘Mike’ Glenn and Johnny Spradlin alleging unlawful arrest and excessive use of force against the Llano County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO), Sheriff Bill Blackburn, Officer Jackson Idol, former Officer Steven Sifford, unknown Officer John Doe, and Llano County, Texas.

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Nancy Kinney, Charles Townsley, Michael Sauro, Walter Noffsinger, Rosa Davidson, Michael Kelly, Tom Kierl, Constance Lewis, Sheri Parr, Paul Pham, Alvaro Paiz, Titon Hoque, Chris Mancuso, Wilbert Talmadge, Thanh Do v. IBM Press Release

[September 21, 2020] AUSTIN, TEXAS – Wright & Greenhill and Kaplan Law Firm recently filed a federal lawsuit against IBM on behalf of fifteen individuals alleging that IBM systematically and illegally fired thousands of its older employees because of their age alone.

Wright & Greenhill previously handled a similar age discrimination lawsuit wherein a federal judge ordered IBM to produce over 150,000 pages of high-level company documents, including communications between its CEO and other top executives. The new lawsuit against IBM also coincides with the EEOC’s groundbreaking, multi-year investigation that stems from ex-IBM employee complaints from across the nation. The EEOC’s investigation ultimately determined that the agency has reasonable cause to believe IBM has been purposefully carrying out the same age discrimination scheme alleged in the lawsuit. (more…)

Austin Kaplan and Maff Caponi Answer COVID-19 Workplace and Unemployment Questions on Young Gunners Podcast

Board Certified Employment Lawyer Austin Kaplan and Associate Maff Caponi discuss the answers to the top questions employment lawyers are seeing regarding COVID-19 workplace issues and unemployment in the “Employment Law in a Pandemic” episode of Young Gunners by Texas Young Lawyers Association.

“Employment Law in a Pandemic” on Spotify

Austin Kaplan Addresses Six Flags Over Texas Dreadlocks Job Denial

Austin Kaplan of Kaplan Law Firm in Austin, Texas, told Newsweek that the theme park’s grooming policy was “questionable,” but that such cases were not uncommon in the U.S.

“If you have a grooming policy, you should have a reason for it. It really depends on the facts,’ said Kaplan, who is not representing Washington. “I think this is an open issue across the country, and it comes up a lot.”

Kaplan said he would ask the theme park how the grooming policy was applied, and what kind of goal the company was trying to accomplish with it.

“Who decides what is an ‘extreme hairstyle’? If the policy suggests discrimination, then the employers could be in a lot of trouble,” Kaplan told Newsweek.

Full Coverage at Newsweek