• Recognized as a Super Lawyer in Texas Monthly, 2007

• Member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum

• AV Peer Review Rated with Martindale-Hubbell

Whether you are an employee being sexually harassed, discriminated against or wrongfully deprived of overtime pay and seeking recovery, you will likely find the experience confusing, tedious and emotionally stressful.

I recognize that individuals need sound guidance in this often frustrating area of law. As an experienced San Antonio Employment Attorney, I have represented hundreds of employees in age discrimination lawsuits, retaliation cases, sexual harassment matters and others. I have tried these cases in state and federal courts throughout Texas.

I strive to provide superb legal guidance in all aspects of state and federal employment law issues, including:

• Age Discrimination
• Retaliation
• Gender Discrimination
• Race Discrimination
• Sexual Harassment
• Wrongful Termination
• Unpaid Wages
• Employment Laws
• Employee Rights
• Disability Discrimination
• Overtime Compensation 
• Defamation
• Severance Agreements
• Trade Secret Agreements
• Non-Competition Agreements
• Whistleblower Claims
• Administrative Law
• Injunctions

I am an aggressive litigator noted for my preparation, attention to detail and zealous advocacy on behalf of clients. As a skilled San Antonio Employment Attorney, I regularly appear before the trial and appellate courts of Texas. My service in two district attorneys' offices and as a  partner in a defense firm gave me extensive trial experience and an appreciation of how insurance companies and big corporations prepare for trial. I apply the training I received as a special-agent in the F.B.I. to every case I pursue. For the last 21 years of my 31-year career I have championed the rights of  aggrieved individuals and their families against  insurance companies and corporations like those I once represented.

For ten years I developed my trial and advocacy skills by prosecuting criminals in Beaumont and Houston and defending insurance companies and big corporations in El Paso. In 1987, I dedicated my practice to the representation of individuals and their families that were wronged by some of those same insurance companies and big corporations I had once represented. I learned first-hand the strategies employed and developed the work ethic required to compete with the big law firms representing the defendants I would pursue in litigation.

I became Board Certified in Civil Trial Law and Personal Injury Trial Law in 1983 and I have been recertified in both of these specialties every five years since 1983. Although the focus of my practice was El Paso and southern New Mexico, I handled cases in Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, San Angelo and Albuquerque. I was honored to be inducted as an advocate in the American Board of Trial Advocates, an organization of both plaintiff and defense trial lawyers dedicated to the preservation of the right to trial by jury. Admission into ABOTA is limited to the highest ethical standards and a substantial history of jury trials.

I was licensed in both Texas and New Mexico and admitted to practice before the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals, The Western District of Texas United States District Court and the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico. As a member of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association I have financially supported legislative efforts to balance the playing field for working men and women and their families. I have worked directly and personally with my clients to maximize their recovery of just compensation.

My membership in the Million Dollar Advocates Forum (membership limited to trial lawyers who have demonstrated exceptional advocacy skills by obtaining verdicts in excess of one million dollars) is a testament to the success I have accomplished in holding responsible parties accountable for their actions. As recently as October 2007, I was honored by my peers for selection as a Super Lawyer for the state of Texas. Based upon ethics, experience and reputation the designation as a Super Lawyer means that you are one of the finest attorneys in Texas, as selected by your peers.

If you or someone you know in Texas needs the assistance of an experienced San Antonio Employment Attorney, call Dennis Richard today at 866-307-5552, or use the contact form provided on this site to schedule your free consultation.

Practice Areas and Legal Definitions

Labor Laws:
Historically, labor laws have focused on such matters as eliminating unsafe workplace conditions, securing a living wage for employees, and eliminating, or at least, tempering the strife that often occurs between employee and employers. 

Labor and Employment attorneys can help employees with the following:

• Assisting with federal and state wage and hour law issues and claims
• Representing employees before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and state human rights agencies
• Representing employees in litigation against employers for violations of anti-discrimination laws.

Employment Law:
Employment law is a well-established body of statutes and judicial decisions covering all rights and obligations within the employer-employee relationship, including current employees, job applicants and former employees.  It covers a wide range of legal issues, ranging from employment discrimination and wrongful termination to matters involving wages and workplace safety.  Many employment law issues are governed by applicable federal and state employment law, but a number of issues are determined according to basic contract law.

Employee Rights:
All employees have basic rights arising from both state and federal laws.  Some of these rights include:  the right not to be subjected to discrimination on the basis of race, national origin, skin color, gender, pregnancy, religious beliefs, disability, age, and in some places, marital status or sexual orientation; the right to a workplace free of harassment; the right to be paid at least the minimum wage as provided by federal or state law; the right to overtime wages as provided by federal or state law; the right to a safe workplace and the right to take leave to care for a personal or family member's serious illness, or following the birth or adoption of a child.

Employment Discrimination:
Discrimination generally occurs when an employee is intentionally treated differently because of race, color, religion, national origin, disability, gender, age, and in some states, sexual orientation.  Employment discrimination claims may be prosecuted under various state and federal statutes.  Even if the employee’s evidence is sufficient to show discrimination, an employer may be able to justify a particular job action by demonstrating that such treatment arose out of business necessity, or that a legitimate job qualification required consideration of factors that had an unintentional discriminatory effect.  When the employer makes such a legitimate justification, the employee must show that discrimination, not the employer’s justification, was the true reason for the action.

Age Discrimination:
It is unlawful for an employer, employment agency or labor union to discriminate in employment on the basis of age.  This includes refusing to hire an individual or firing an employee.  It also includes an individual’s compensation, the terms, conditions, and privileges of his or her employment, and all employee benefits.

Disability Discrimination:
Both the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 protect individuals with disabilities from employment discrimination.  An individual with a disability is defined as someone who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity, has a record of having such a physical or mental impairment, or is regarded as having such impairment.  The term is broadly defined to include any physiological, mental or psychologically-based impairment, but it does not include mere physical characteristics or cultural, environmental, or economic impairment—the impairment must cause a substantial limitation to a major life activity.  Temporary conditions, such as a broken arm or the flu, would not be considered substantial limitations amounting to a disability entitled to statutory protection.

Wrongful Termination:
Termination of employment cannot be classified as "Wrongful Termination" unless it is in violation of some fundamental public policy, as set forth in a state or federal statute, regulation or constitutional provision.  Examples of Wrongful Termination include situations where:

• An employee is discharged for failure to comply with an order to perform an act that violates some law, ordinance or regulation, or
• An employee is discharged in retaliation for complaints about conduct by the employer that he or she believes to be unlawful, e.g., failure to pay overtime, or failure to comply with safety regulations.

Sexual Harassment:
Sexual harassment is any unwanted and unwelcome sexual behavior.  It involves a broad range of conduct, including such verbal harassment as derogatory comments, explicit sexual comments and descriptions of sexual exploits, leering or requesting sexual favors.  The term also describes physical harassment, ranging from inappropriate touching to outright sexual assault. In order to be classified as illegal the conduct in question must be both unwelcome and offensive to the victim.

Sexual harassment is a form of sexual discrimination, prohibited in employment settings under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  Title IX of the 1972 Education Act makes sexual harassment in schools or other educational settings unlawful.  The Federal Fair Housing Act also provides protection against sexual harassment, and most states have enacted legislation making it unlawful.

Overtime Compensation:
Under both State and Federal law employers are required to pay additional compensation to eligible employees who work more than forty hours during any seven-day period.  For every hour over forty hours in any given workweek the employer must pay the eligible employee at least one and one-half times the employee's ordinary hourly rate.

Defamation (Libel & Slander):
Defamation is the communication of a false and unprivileged statement that exposes another to hatred, contempt or ridicule, or which causes him or her to be shunned or avoided, or which has a tendency to injure him or her in his or her trade or occupation.  The defamatory statement must be communicated to someone other than the person to whom it refers and it must refer to a living person.

Defamation communicated verbally it is called "Slander," but if it is communicated in writing, it is called "Libel".  As a general rule it is easier to recover damages in a lawsuit for libel than in a slander lawsuit.  Most defamation litigation in the employment arena concerns the employer’s “qualified privilege” to defame.  Under this concept, employers and former employers are often protected from liability for defaming employees or former employees.  By its very definition, however, the privilege is “qualified,” and not “absolute”.  It is generally limited to situations in which the employer or former employer is making a good faith communication of information to someone who has a legitimate interest in receiving it.  A good example of this is a former employer’s good faith response to a new or prospective employer’s inquiry about the job performance of a former employee.  Generally speaking, even if the information given is false and damaging and would otherwise give rise to a defamation lawsuit, it will be protected under the “qualified” privilege.

If the communication exceeds the scope of the privilege, the privilege is not available.  For example, if the communication to your new or prospective employer is not in response to an inquiry, but a voluntary and unsolicited communication, liability for defamation will attach if the information is untrue.  Even if the communication is made in response to prospective employer’s inquiry, false and damaging information will not be protected by the privilege if it is made with knowledge or reckless disregard of its falsity, or with the intent to cause injury to the former employee.  It is important to remember that however damaging it may be, a truthful statement cannot form the basis of a defamation lawsuit.  This legal truism is often expressed in the phrase:  "The Truth is a complete defense to a defamation action".

Non-competition Agreements:
Non-competition agreements are provisions contained within an employment contract which restrict the activities of an employee after leaving the service of the company.  Courts treat non-competition agreements with suspicion—with an eye toward preventing unnecessary and unreasonable interference with a person’s livelihood after severance of the employer/employee relationship.

The Courts will often decline to enforce “unreasonable” non-competition agreements.  A non-competition clause in the agreement under which a used car lot employs an auto mechanic will likely be summarily rejected by the court as unreasonable.  The agreement must be reasonable in duration.  A non-competition agreement barring the sales manager of a used car lot from engaging in the used car business for the rest of his or her life, or for 50 years, would probably be denied enforcement, while one with a 2-year term might well be enforced.  Non-competition agreements must be reasonable in the area covered.  If the agreement precludes the sales manager from engaging in the used car business anywhere in North America, it will almost certainly be denied enforcement as unreasonable.  If the area is limited to San Antonio, for example, it would probably withstand court scrutiny.

Whistleblower Claims:
Whistleblower Claims involve employer retaliation, sometimes to the extent of Wrongful Termination, against an employee who reports the improper or unlawful conduct of another employee or of management itself to government authorities.  It is illegal for an employer to retaliate against a “whistleblower.” Whistleblower claims are not available to employees of private sector employers.

Workers’ Compensation:
Workers’ Compensation is a state-run system under which employees receive various types and levels of compensation for on-the-job injuries.  Texas Law prohibits discrimination against an employee for pursuing, in good faith, a workers compensation claim.

If you or someone you know in Texas needs the assistance of an experienced San Antonio Employment Attorney, call Dennis Richard today at 866-307-5552, or use the contact form provided on this site to schedule your free consultation.

If you or someone you know in Texas needs the assistance of an experienced San Antonio Employment Attorney, call Dennis Richard today at 866-307-5552, or use the contact form provided on this site to schedule your free consultation.

ADDRESS OF THE FIRM:
Law Offices of Dennis L. Richard
85 N. E. Loop 410, Suite 200
San Antonio, TX 78216
Telephone: 866-307-5552
Fax: 210-308-6939

MEMBERS OF THE FIRM:

Dennis L. Richard

EDUCATION:

• Tulane University, B.A. 1973
• The University of Houston, J.D. 1976

JURISDICTIONS:

• Texas
• New Mexico

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS AND ACHIEVEMENTS:

• Phi Beta Kappa at Tulane, cum laude at The University of Houston
• Advocate in the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA)
• Texas Bar Association
• New Mexico Bar Association
• American Bar Association
• Texas Trial Lawyers Association
• Million Dollar Advocates Forum
• Designation as a Texas Super Lawyer by my peers
• Former Special Agent in the FBI

BOARD CERTIFICATIONS:

• Board Certified in Civil Trial Law and Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization beginning in 1983 and recertified every five years since 1983