Practice Areas

Houston, Texas Employee Rights Law Firm

Protecting Employees in Texas and Across the Nation

Our passion at the Houston employment law firm of SLS is to represent employees who need advocacy in employment matters. We have the experience, the energy, and the resources needed to protect employee rights. We also provide consultant services to employers in areas such as sexual harassment prevention and training. Contact us for an initial consultation about your employee rights.

Our practice encompasses all areas of employment law, from the most basic to complex litigation matters. We are a full-service employment law firm offering everything from single-session reviews of contracts to representation in extensive lawsuits in state and federal courts. SLS represents clients in Texas and across the United States. We offer in-depth counsel and representation in the following employment law areas:

Wage claims
Overtime claims
Wrongful termination claims
Whistleblower lawsuits, including exercising the Qui Tam provision of the Federal Civil False Claims Act
Discrimination based on age, gender, race, national origin, disability, religion, or pregnancy
Sexual harassment, including opposite sex or same-sex harassment on the job from supervisors or coworkers, and the complaint and grievance procedures for claims of sexual harassment, such as filing complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
Severance packages, including lump-sum payments and COBRA and ERISA claims involving such issues as long-term disability coverage
Executive compensation, including salary, bonus, benefits, stock options and deferred compensation

In every employment law case, we apply our experience, knowledge and skills to achieve timely, satisfactory resolutions. We negotiate with employers, file administrative claims, and undertake lawsuits with the goal of bringing about justice, reform, and compensation for wronged employees.

Employment issues are extremely important in most people’s lives. Getting a job, keeping a job, getting a promotion, or negotiating a severance or retirement package are all significant events for every employee. Losing a job is a very stressful occurrence — with ripple effects impacting all facets of a person’s life. Your employment situation directly affects your family, your living situation, and your future plans — including the range of opportunities available to your children.

In addition to handling individual claims, the employment lawyers at SLS also represent groups of people in collective and class actions. Typically, if one employee in a particular type of job has his or her overtime pay rights violated, it affects more than just the single employee. We have handled collective actions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) with national reach and have helped hundreds of employees collect hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Employment Lawyers Committed To Employee Rights

If you are involved in an employment dispute, finding an attorney with extensive trial experience should be your first priority. Our Texas employment law firm offers quality representation to both employees and employers at an affordable cost. We have a depth of experience and knowledge unique for most law firms. Founded in March 1994, our firm is lead by attorneys who possess more than 50 years of combined experience representing employees who have been victimized at work, and employers faced with difficult employment-related issues. Employment law is constantly changing, and you need to find employment law attorneys who understand this area of the law. We assist clients who need to file administrative claims with government agencies, or need help with the filing of lawsuits in state and federal courts in Texas and across the country. Our settlement and trial record speaks for itself.

Additionally, our attorneys are members of the National Employment Lawyers Association, and we have contacts across the country in almost every area of employment law. If necessary, we will work with lawyers in other cities as local counsel to ensure that your rights are protected. We have also handled cases for senior-level key employees against international companies located in Canada, Mexico, Europe, and the Middle East.

We subscribe to accepted standards of excellent employment law practice. We invite you to contact SLS to schedule a consultation on your employment law matter.

Successes

$730K settlement awarded in gender discrimination case
A federal court jury Friday returned a $730,000 gender discrimination judgment in favor of Surina Dixon - who was hired as women's basketball coach at Texas Southern University in March 2008 but left in a contract dispute without coaching a game.
$3.2M settlement awarded in sexual harassment case
A former Brazoria County judge has been ordered to pay more than $3 million to three women who say he sexually harassed them while he was on the bench.
$875,000 Settlement in Whistleblower suit against the City of Houston
The city council agreed to pay $875,000 to a veterinarian who successfully sued the City of Houston; after he was unfairly fired from his job at the city's animal pound for complaining of animal abuse at the kennel. The jury found him retaliated against by his superiors who fired him with prejudice.
Wage & Hour Settlement in the amount of $574,000
Our firm represented 70 current and former servers of a restaurant chain that required its servers to share a portion of their tips with the managers and owners of the restaurant.
$375,000 Jury Verdict in a Gender Discrimination suit against the Houston Police Department
The jury found a female HPD cadet was discriminated against because of her gender when she was fired from the cadet class. HPD said she violated the Cadet Code of Conduct by carrying a gun in her personal car; however there were previous cases where male cadets were only reprimanded and not terminated.
Sexual Harassment Settlement in excess of $300,000
Our firm represented several employees who were sexually harassed by a male supervisor. After obtaining a letter of determination from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, our firm was able to negotiate a settlement in excess of $300,000.
Verdict in excess of $300,000 in National Origin Discrimination Case
Our firm represented a former dental professor at the University of Texas Health & Science Center who was discriminated against based on his national origin. At trial, we provided evidence of racial slurs, retaliation, and disparate wages in comparison to white professors. After two days of deliberation, the jury returned a verdict in favor of the professor and awarded mental anguish damages in excess of $150,000.
$250,000 Jury Verdict in a Racial Discrimination suit against Montgomery County Sheriff's Department
The jury found the Lieutenant was demoted from a Detective to Recruiting because he is black. He was terminated six months after complaining to authorities. The jury agreed the termination was a form of retaliation and awarded him lost wages past and future.
$229,268 Jury Verdict in a Reverse Discrimination suit against the Houston Metropolitan Transit Authority ("Metro")
A white male employee sued the Houston Metropolitan Transit Authority ("Metro") alleging race discrimination in violation of Chapter 21 of the Texas Labor Code. The employee was denied a promotion to the position of Superintendent despite being the most qualified person for the position. The jury found that the interview panel was tainted by a person on the panel, the second term president of the local chapter of the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials ("COMTO"), and an organization which promotes the creation of opportunities for minorities.
Same-Sex Sexual Harassment Settlement in excess of $150,000
Our firm represented a male employee who was sexually harassed by another male employee at a construction company. We were able to open dialogue with the construction company and bring about a quick resolution for our client.
Wage & Hour Settlement in excess of $149,000
Our firm represented 16 current and former waitresses at two popular bars that required their waitresses to work off-the-clock and to share a portion of their tips with members of management. The bar also failed to pay its waitresses overtime for hours they worked in excess of 40 in a work week. Our firm was able to demonstrate that the bar's actions were in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act, which resulted in settlement.
Arbitration award in excess of $120,000 in a Breach of Employment Contract suit.
An employee of a Houston based company was terminated in breach of his employment contract. The company alleged that the employee had performance issues which allowed the company to terminate the employee under its "for cause" provision. Our firm was able to show that the alleged performance issues were false and that the company breached the employment agreement by terminating the employee prior to the expiration of the term of the agreement.
$115,000 Jury Verdict in a Racial Discrimination suit against the INS
The jury found the INS discriminated against a black inspector. The inspector filed a complaint with authorities in the department for being passed over for promotion. The jury determined that passengers were solicited and asked to prepare written complaints against the employee to be used against him as a basis for termination. . The jury found the INS acted with prejudice toward the inspector.
$106,000 Jury Verdict in Wrongful Termination suit against the City of Houston
The jury found the city acted with malice in firing a dog-catcher for reporting instances of animal cruelty and racial discrimination of Hispanic workers to a supervisor. Jurors concluded the city violated the state whistle-blower law, which prevents government agencies from retaliating against employees simply for reporting problems.
Wage & Hour Settlement in the amount of $100,000
We filed suit on behalf of six servers of a fine dining establishment under the Fair Labor Standards Act, arguing that the restaurant's requirement that its servers share a percentage of their tips with the restaurant's manager was in violation of federal law. The parties were able to reach resolution of the matter at mediation.
Wage & Hour Settlement in the amount of $100,000
The firm filed a collective action under the Fair Labor Standards Act on behalf of five current and former servers of a fine dining establishment, arguing that the restaurant violated federal law by failing to pay its servers overtime, requiring them to work off-the-clock, and requiring that its servers share a portion of their tips with the restaurant's manager on duty. After notice of the lawsuit was mailed to other current and former servers, an additional seven servers joined the lawsuit. The parties settled the case at mediation.
Wage & Hour Settlement in the amount of $95,000
An employee of a communications company was terminated when he complained to management that he was not receiving overtime pay for hours he worked in excess of 40 in a work week. The company alleged that the employee was not entitled to overtime because he was exempt under the computer professional exemption to the Fair Labor Standards Act, and that the employee was terminated because he refused to sign a non-competition agreement. Our firm was able to demonstrate that the employee did not meet the duties of an exempt computer professional, which resulted in settlement of the matter.

Shellist | Lazarz | Slobin is not affiliated with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Please click on the link to contact the EEOC.

The law firm of Shellist | Lazarz | Slobin in Houston, Texas specializes in employment law. We have a nation-wide practice that represents employers and employees across the United States and throughout Texas including Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio, Austin, Galveston, Pasadena, Bellaire, Arcola, Baytown, Port Arthur, College Station, Brownsville, Beaumont, Orange, Vidor and McAllen.

FirmSite® by FindLaw, a Thomson Reuters business.