Coane and Associates, PLLC

What to do if you get an EEOC Right to Sue Letter

Coane and Associates,PLLC — Thu, 16 May 2024 23:02:17 +0000

This video explains how to take your EEOC discrimination case to the next step……….court.

Once that Right to Sue letter gets issued, a person normally has only 90 days to file a lawsuit. At our firm, we rarely turn down a meritorious case that is ready to be filed in court. If the client has the ability to hire us, we have sufficient lawyers to get the lawsuit prepared and filed.

Bruce Coane is an attorney who has been handling discrimination lawsuits in federal courts around the country for over 40 years. He may be reached at 713.850.0066 or 305.538.6800.

http://www.coane.com

Court Activity Heats Up, Post-COVID

Coane and Associates,PLLC — Mon, 13 Jun 2022 21:38:29 +0000

Our employment law cases are starting to pick up steam lately, as the courts have reopened and started doing trials again as the fears of COVID have let-up. Interestingly, during the height of COVID, it seemed that every case was settling, but now, companies seem to be aggressively defending wrongful termination cases.

One of our specialties at Coane and Associates is wrongful termination employment law. Starting tomorrow, we will be having an arbitration trial, where we represent an older man who was fired by Travelers Insurance (Travelers Indemnity Company, to be exact), in an employment discrimination case. His claim is that he was fired because he is an older man, and that Travelers Insurance has a pattern of firing older men and replacing them with women. There is a similar arbitration case against Travelers pending in Massachusetts.

The lawsuit filed in court, claims that Nancy Spears of Travelers, “told the staff that this was the year of the woman” in 2019, the same year they fired our client allegedly because he is male. Our client, in his 50’s, was a Claim Technical Coverage and Quality Examiner. He was under the supervision of Susan Garofolo, who he alleges in the lawsuit gave him performance warnings/plans with no feedback, thereby setting him up for failure. The lawsuit also alleges that Garofolo was so angry about our client going to Human Resources that she retaliated and fired him.

We will often warn our clients to think twice about going to HR. We characterize HR as the enemy of the worker, because in reality, HR is normally there to protect the company and not the worker. Trial (arbitration) against Travelers starts tomorrow at 10am in Houston.

In another case we are handling in federal court in Houston, our client sued Woodville Pellets, LLC, a company owned by Graanul Invest Group. Our client, a Mexican-American employee of Woodville Pellets, sued for race and national origin discrimination which got so bad that he was forced to quit his job at the company. The company, after months of litigation, filed a motion for summary judgment, trying to get the case dismissed so they would not have to go before a jury. In an Order released today by U.S. District Judge, David Hittner, he ruled that the company will have to stand trial because there are issues of material fact with regard to race and national origin discrimination. Trial is scheduled for next month, where a jury will decide if the company is guilty of violations of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

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.

Sugar Land City Councilman to be deposed in Sex Harassment Case

Coane and Associates,PLLC — Mon, 25 Apr 2022 17:40:15 +0000

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.

Employment Law and Wrongful Termination Cases

Coane and Associates,PLLC — Tue, 08 Feb 2022 19:42:14 +0000

Here is a recent interview, where I talk about the employment law and wrongful termination cases that we handle at my law firm. We represent both employees and employers in these cases, with about 85% of the cases being on behalf of employees. We handle everything from breach of contract to discrimination, EEOC charges, arbitration, mediation, litigation, government employees, union matters and more, and we do it across the United States, as long as we can apply federal laws to the case.

Federal Magistrate Judge Orders Chewy to Produce CEO Emails

Coane and Associates,PLLC — Fri, 28 Jan 2022 15:30:00 +0000

In a hearing before a Federal Magistrate Judge this week, Chewy, the pet product company, was ordered to turn over certain emails of their CEO, Sumit Singh.

The case involves a lawsuit for employment discrimination against Chewy. Michael Krumpak of Oakland Park, Florida was a former Director at Chewy until he was terminated. His lawsuit claims that he was terminated because of his age and his sexual preference. The lawsuit alleges that he was shunned by management after he attended a party with his husband.

Krumpak’s attorneys at Coane and Associates of Hallandale Beach, argued that emails of the CEO relating to Krumpak’s termination were relevant and the judge agreed. The company had objected to turning over the emails, but was ordered to do so this week by the Federal Magistrate Judge in Fort Lauderdale.

The case is expected to be set for trial later this year.

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.

Immigration Law Changes Predicted Under the Biden Administration

Coane and Associates,PLLC — Mon, 18 Jan 2021 15:45:05 +0000

Here is my latest video discussing changes in immigration law and procedures that I, a Houston immigration lawyer and Miami immigration lawyer, predict will be coming in 2021, under the new administration. I talk about the Muslim travel ban, the public charge requirements, etc., all of which I predict will be extinguished in 2021.

Bruce Coane is Board Certified in Immigration Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and has over 35 years of immigration law experience. He may be reached at 713.850.0066 or 305.538.6800. The law firm website is http://www.coane.com.

Mandatory Vaccinations at Work

Coane and Associates,PLLC — Mon, 04 Jan 2021 19:58:42 +0000

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.

Employment Update: COVID-19 Issues in the Workplace

Coane and Associates,PLLC — Thu, 29 Oct 2020 14:47:38 +0000

In this video, I give an update on employment law issues in the workplace, as a result of COVID-19. These issues range from return-to-work situations to OSHA investigations of a dangerous or unsafe workplace.

Our Texas employment law firm and Florida employment law firm get inquiries daily about these exact issues. The coronavirus or COVID-19 presents a huge problem for employers and workplace safety issues.

I hope you find this video presentation to be helpful.

Bruce A. Coane is a Houston employment lawyer and a Miami employment lawyer and represents clients in employment law matters under federal law throughout the United States. He may be reached at bruce.coane@gmail.com or at 713.850.0066 or 305.538.6800. The law firm website is http://www.coane.com.

Tribute to Ruth Bader Ginsburg and a 2020 Update on Immigration Law

Coane and Associates,PLLC — Mon, 19 Oct 2020 13:35:58 +0000

In this video, I talk about my personal experiences and meeting with Ruth Bader Ginsburg. I also provide an update on some of the latest news in the world of USA immigration law. In this ever-changing field of law, there are new rules, regulations, interpretations and laws coming out on almost a daily basis.

Bruce Coane is Board Certified in Immigration and Nationality Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and is a Miami immigration lawyer and a Houston immigration lawyer with offices in both cities. He may be reached at 713.850.0066 or 305.538.6800, or by email at bruce.coane@gmail.com. The law firm website is http://www.coane.com.