Forms of protection from falling required by OSHA include, but may not be limited to:

• guardrail systems,
• stair railings and hand rails
• safety net systems,
• covers,
• toe-boards,
• fences,
• barricades,
• personal fall arrest systems.

The best form of protection depends on the situation. OSHA’s Fall Prevention Campaign and OSHA’s Fall Protection are good places for employers with questions about fall protection to start their research.  To  assist  in identifying , reducing, and eliminating construction-related hazards, OSHA has also published a number of Prevention Videos.

If you are a worker that believes your employer is not following OSHA standards or that there are serious hazards,  employees can file a complaint online with OSHA or by calling 1-800-321-OSHA (6742).

We have experience with accidents involving falls and lack of fall protection, and if you have been seriously injured or have lost a loved one and need a Texas accident attorney, please do not hesitate to give East Texas Attorney, Chris Jones, Board Certified Personal Injury Trial Law, a call at 903-236-4990 for a free initial consultation or send us a message at Contact Us.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention  is  investigating an outbreak of meningitis among patients who received epidural steroid injections (medication injected into the spine).  A case count by state can be found at  Persons with Meningitis Linked to Epidural Steroid Injections.

Signs and symptoms of fungal meningitis may include the following:

• Fever
• Headache
• Stiff neck
• Nausea and vomiting
• Photophobia (sensitivity to light)
• Altered mental status

New England Compounding Pharmacy, Inc. d/b/a New England Compounding Center (NECC) has announced a recall of all products currently in circulation that were compounded at and distributed from its facility in Framingham, Massachusetts:

According to the Tennessean, this firm confidentially settled a meningitis case in 2004.

The CDC has posted a Map of Healthcare Facilities which Received Three Lots* of Methylprednisolone Acetate (PF) Recalled from New England Compounding Center on September 26, 2012 with a List of Healthcare Facilities.  The FDA has made also available two lists of customers (consignees) who received products that were shipped on or after May 21, 2012 from New England Compounding Center’s Framingham, MA facility. The first list includes customer names and addresses, organized by state.  The second list contains the same basic information as the first list, but is organized alphabetically by customer name and also includes the specific products shipped, the quantities of product shipped, and the shipping date.  The FDA is unable to  vouch for the completeness or accuracy of the lists. The lists were prepared based on information provided by NECC.  there are several Texas entities on the lists.

The Food and Drug Administration is now reporting that the company’s products may have also caused other types of infections in patients who have had eye operations or open-heart surgery.

If you have any concerns about a recent epidural steroid injections or have any of the symptoms listed above, you should immediately contact your physician.

If you have been diagnosed with Meningitis after having an epidural steroid injections , please do not hesitate to give  Texas Attorney, Chris Jones, Board Certified Personal Injury Trial Law, a call at 903-236-4990 for a free initial consultation or send us a message at Contact Us.

I know this is a legal blog or “blawg” as some like to say, but there are things as important to us as practicing law. One of those is performing community service.  Early in our careers we were members of the Downtown Dallas Kiwanis Club. We met a lot of great people and raised many for some great causes.

Michelle served as President of the Junior League of Longview. Again, that is a great organization and helps a lot of people.

Recently, however, we became involved in our children’s schools. First, Michelle as a PTA member and officer. I became involved when I agreed to serve as a member of a school board appointed committee to study the needs of the school district and make recommendations for a potential bond. While serving on this committee, I came to realize the importance of being involved in my community.  I have since become involved booster clubs,  a PAC dedicated to excellence in the schools, and the school’s Education Foundation.  Some of my best friends have been made while working together to serve others.

Others have recognized the importance of being involved as a volunteer as follows:

No matter how big and powerful government gets, and the many services it provides, it can never take the place of volunteers.
Ronald Reagan

We make a living by what we do, but we make a life by what we give.
Winston Churchill

Everybody can be great because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love.
Martin Luther King Jr.

Living is the art of loving. Loving is the art of caring. Caring is the art of sharing. Sharing is the art of living.
If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.
Booker T. Washington

This is not an advertisement for any particular service organization or need. There are many opportunities to serve, from church to service organizations, school foundations and booster clubs. The important thing is to find your niche and get involved. The personal rewards from helping others are endless.

East Texas Attorneys Chris Jones is Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and Michelle Jones is Board Certified in Labor and Employment Law .  Please contact us, Jones & Jones, Attorneys at Law, at 888-236-4878 or contact us by email.

Texas Tort Claims Act

In Texas, Sec. 101.02 of the The Texas Tort Claims Act provides a waiver and permission to sue Texas Governmental units -  the State of Texas and all the several agencies of government that collectively constitute the government of Texas as well as the political subdivisions of Texas.  However, the waiver is not unlimited:

Sec. 101.021.  GOVERNMENTAL LIABILITY. A governmental unit in the state is liable for:

(1)  property damage, personal injury, and death proximately caused by the wrongful act or omission or the negligence of an employee acting within his scope of employment if:

(A)  the property damage, personal injury, or death arises from the operation or use of a motor-driven vehicle or motor-driven equipment; and

(B)  the employee would be personally liable to the claimant according to Texas law; and

(2)  personal injury and death so caused by a condition or use of tangible personal or real property if the governmental unit would, were it a private person, be liable to the claimant according to Texas law.

As you can see, the waiver is generally limited to the operation or use of a motor-driven vehicle or motor-driven equipment and a condition or use of tangible personal or real property.  Additionally, Sec. 101.023 of the Act limits the amount of recovery in those situations that fall within the waiver.

The Act must be studied with an eye toward the type of governmental entity that caused the harm.  For example,  Sec. 101.051 limits the waiver with regard to school districts to motor vehicles.

It is very important to pay attention to the Notice requirements in Sec. 101.101 of the Act:

NOTICE. (a) A governmental unit is entitled to receive notice of a claim against it under this chapter not later than six months after the day that the incident giving rise to the claim occurred. The notice must reasonably describe:

(1)  the damage or injury claimed;

(2)  the time and place of the incident; and

(3)  the incident.

(b)  A city’s charter and ordinance provisions requiring notice within a charter period permitted by law are ratified and approved.

(c)  The notice requirements provided or ratified and approved by Subsections (a) and (b) do not apply if the governmental unit has actual notice that death has occurred, that the claimant has received some injury, or that the claimant’s property has been damaged.

One cannot assume that the Notice must be sent within six months.  There may be a city charter and ordinance requiring notice in a shorter time.  

In summary, the are limited situations where the Texas Tort Claims Act waives immunity, the Act must be examined closely for a particular fact scenario and special care must be taken to satisfy the Notice requirements.

It should also be noted that there are also other limited waivers of sovereign immunity.  For example, Sec. 180.006.  SOVEREIGN OR GOVERNMENTAL IMMUNITY WAIVED FOR CERTAIN CLAIMS provides a waiver for the back pay of firefighters and police officers.

Municipalities

Municipalities fall within the Texas Tort Claims Act, but have their own considerations.  I published an entire law review article on this subject while in law school, and it is a difficult subject to limit to a post.  However, the article can be found at Comment,  “Texas Municipal Liability: An Examination of the State and Federal Causes of Action,” 40 Baylor Law Review 595, 1988.

Texas Tort Claims Act

Sec. 101.0215.  LIABILITY OF A MUNICIPALITY separates the functions of a municipality into its governmental functions and its proprietary functions.  The governmental functions are those “enjoined on a municipality by law and are given it by the state as part of the state’s sovereignty…” and are covered by the Act.  On the other hand, proprietary functions,  those functions that a municipality may, in its discretion, perform in the interest of the inhabitants of the municipality, are not covered by the Act; and a municipality is not immune from suit for torts committed in the performance of its proprietary functions.

42 U.S.Code §1983

Municipalities are also potentially liable for the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution – constitutional torts.  42 U.S.Code §1983  provides:

Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory … subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress…

In Monell v. New York City Dept. of Social Servs., 436 U. S. 658 (1978), the United States Supreme Court held that a municipal entity is a “person” under §1983  and is liable under §1983 if a municipal “policy or custom” causes a plaintiff to be deprived of a federal right.  In so holding,  the Supreme Court held that a municipality can not be held liable under §1983 solely because it employs a tortfeasor.

The analysis of whether a governmental entity has tort liability under a particular set of facts can be very involved and sometimes difficult.  An attorney with experience in governmental liability should be contacted as soon a practical to begin the analysis.

Injury Lawyer

We have experience with governmental liability cases, and if you or your family member has been seriously injured or killed by a governmental entity and need a Texas attorney, please do not hesitate to give East Texas Attorney, Chris Jones, Board Certified Personal Injury Trial Law, a call at 903-236-4990 for a free initial consultation or send us a message at Contact Us.

Texas is an employment at will state.  As recognized by the Texas Workforce Commission, absent a statute or an express agreement (such as an employment contract) to the contrary, either party in an employment relationship may modify any of the terms or conditions of employment, or terminate the relationship altogether, for any reason, or no particular reason at all, with or without advance notice.

However, there are limitations to the “employment at will” doctrine.  One exception is the “public policy” exception which protects employees from termination or adverse job action in retaliation for the employee having refused to commit a criminal act on the employer’s behalf.

In addition, an employer cannot discriminate against an employee. The Texas Workforce Commission Civil Rights Division (TWCCRD) enforces the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act, (TCHRA). Chapter 21 of the Texas Labor Code codifies the Texas Discrimination laws:

Sec. 21.051.  DISCRIMINATION BY EMPLOYER.  An employer commits an unlawful employment practice if because of race, color, disability, religion, sex, national origin, or age the employer:

(1)  fails or refuses to hire an individual, discharges an individual, or discriminates in any other manner against an individual in connection with compensation or the terms, conditions, or privileges of employment; or

(2)  limits, segregates, or classifies an employee or applicant for employment in a manner that would deprive or tend to deprive an individual of any employment opportunity or adversely affect in any other manner the status of an employee.

Sec. 21.055 also makes it an unlawful employment practice to retaliate or discriminate against a person who (1)  opposes a discriminatory practice; (2)  makes or files a charge; (3)  files a complaint; or (4)  testifies, assists, or participates in any manner in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing.

If you have suffered an employment harm, because of your race, color, religion, national origin, sex (including sexual harassment and pregnancy), age, disability, or retaliation, the TWCCRD may have jurisdiction to investigate your claim.

Texas is also a right to work state.  Under the Texas right to work laws, employment may not be conditioned or denied on the basis of membership or non-membership in a union.  See the Texas Labor Code  §§101.052-.053.

Federal Employment Law

There are also Federal laws prohibiting job discrimination which are enforced by the EEOC:

• Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin;
• the Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA), which protects men and women who perform substantially equal work in the same establishment from sex-based wage discrimination;
• the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA), which protects individuals who are 40 years of age or older;
• Title I and Title V of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended (ADA), which prohibit employment discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities in the private sector, and in state and local governments;
• Sections 501 and 505 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which prohibit discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities who work in the federal government;
• Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA), which prohibits employment discrimination based on genetic information about an applicant, employee, or former employee; and
• the Civil Rights Act of 1991, which, among other things, provides monetary damages in cases of intentional employment discrimination.

The federal laws prohibit employers from using neutral employment policies and practices that have a disproportionately negative effect on applicants or employees of a particular race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), or national origin, or on an individual with a disability or class of individuals with disabilities, if the polices or practices at issue are not job-related and necessary to the operation of the business.

After timely filing with the EEOC and/or TWCCRD and allowing the agencies to investigate, employees may receive a Notice of Right to Sue.  Please see our post EEOC Charge of Discrimination.

Board Certified Labor and Employment Lawyer

East Texas Attorney, Michelle Jones is Board Certified in Labor and Employment Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and has over 23 years experience helping employers.  If you are an employer in need of a Labor and Employment Lawyer, please do not hesitate to call Michelle at 903-236-4990 or toll-free at 888-236-4878.

Sexual abuse is unwanted sexual activity, with perpetrators using force, making threats or taking advantage of victims not able to give consent.

Child sexual abuse is particularly egregious.  In Texas, child sexual abuse is defined in the Family Code in CHAPTER 261. INVESTIGATION OF REPORT OF CHILD ABUSE OR NEGLECT.   Examples of child sexual abuse are fondling a child’s genitals, masturbation, oral-genital contact, digital penetration, and vaginal and anal intercourse.  Child sexual abuse also includes exposure, voyeurism, and child pornography.  Notably, “abuse” in the Texas Family Code  includes the failure to make a reasonable effort to prevent sexual conduct harmful to a child.

Sexual abuse often emotionally scars its victims for life.

If you or your child have been sexually abused, you should report it to the appropriate authorities and obtain professional help as soon as possible.

There are a number of resources for those that have been abused or are aware of abuse.  For example, see the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the Texas Attorney General and other online resources.

Those with pedophilia – a sexual perversion in which children are the preferred sexual object – are referred to as pedophiles.  Unfortunately, pedophiles are often clever at infiltrating organizations that give them exposure to their victims.  Parents should take steps to protect their children.  Child Safety for Parents has some interesting suggestions.

Examples of sexual abuse are not hard to find.  A popular camp in Missouri, Kanakuk Kamp, has been struck by pedophiles;  the first time by a Christian camp director that worked at the camp for 10 years, only to have another counselor charged with sexually abusing several campers less than 2 years later.   For as much good as they do, the Boy Scouts of America and Catholic Church have had to deal with pedophiles.  Colleges and schools have had pedophiles.  Businesses and governmental entities must protect their employees and customers from sexual abuse and sexual harassment.  Any organization that cares for children must concern itself with protecting those children from sexual abuse.

The schools, churches and various activities in which your children participate should have policies, procedures and background checks to help prevent sexual abuse.

Business and governmental entities should have policies, procedures and background checks to help prevent sexual abuse and sexual harassment.

An organization that identifies a pedophile or suspects child sexual abuse should report it to the proper authorities immediately.  The abuse should never be ignored.  A pedophile that goes unreported is likely to strike again.

We have experience with civil (as opposed to criminal) sexual abuse cases, and if you need a Texas attorney, please do not hesitate to give East Texas Attorney, Chris Jones, Board Certified Personal Injury Trial Law, or Michelle Jones,  Board Certified in Labor and Employment Law a call at 903-236-4990 for a free initial consultation or send us a message at Contact Us.

Aviation Accidents are relatively rare, but are usually catastrophic. Personal Injury Lawyer Chris Jones is a Private Pilot. Chris owned and operated his own airplane, and spends time around local airports and pilots giving him insight into the potential causes of an airplane crashes. Chris also practiced law with John Howie (deceased) in Dallas. John was one of the preeminent aviation lawyers of his time. The causes of most aviation accidents primarily fall with 4 general categories : 1. pilot error; 2. controller errors; 3. maintenance problems; and 4 product defects. The Federal Aviation Administration has an online Accident/Incident Data System (AIDS) database containing incident data records for all categories of civil aviation.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent federal agency that investigates and determines the probable cause of transportation accidents, including aviation accidents. The NTSB is now publishing the Aircraft Investigation Reports online.

Pilot Error

Title 14: Aeronautics and Space, PART 91 — GENERAL OPERATING AND FLIGHT RULES of the Code of Federal Regulations prescribes rules governing the operation of aircraft within the United States, including the waters within 3 nautical miles of the U.S. coast. The pilot in command of an aircraft is directly responsible for, and is the final authority as to, the operation of that aircraft.

Pilots receive extensive training and there are a number of certifications and ratings ranging from Private Pilot to Airline Transport Pilots. PART 61—CERTIFICATION: PILOTS, FLIGHT INSTRUCTORS, AND GROUND INSTRUCTORS sets forth the requirements for issuing pilot, flight instructor, and ground instructor certificates and ratings; the conditions under which those certificates and ratings are necessary; and the privileges and limitations of those certificates and ratings.  Furthermore, PART 67—MEDICAL STANDARDS AND CERTIFICATION prescribes the medical standards and certification procedures for issuing medical certificates for airmen and for remaining eligible for a medical certificate, which pilots must keep current.

Like drivers, there are a number of errors pilots can make that result in accidents. It would be impossible to list them all. However, there are some errors that show up time and time in accident reports – flying into bad weather, improperly loading the aircraft and fuel starvation.

Checking the weather before the flight leaves the ground is one of the most important pilot responsibilities. In private aircraft, bad weather is a killer and should be avoided if possible. Icing and thunderstorms have no mercy when it comes to bringing down an airplane. Overloading and improperly loading an airplane can make the airplane uncontrollable. Considering the fact that there are no shoulders on the highways in the sky, checking the fuel and managing it during flight is extremely important.

Pilots should always have and use aircraft specific checklists. Above all, pilots should take their time, avoid get “homeitis”, and refuse to cut corners. As a passenger, always let the pilot take his or her time and decide whether to take off or not. It may save your life.

Controller Error

Air traffic controllers work in control towers, approach control facilities, and route centers coordinating the movement of air traffic. They ensure that planes stay safe distances apart. Their job requires total concentration 100% of the time, making it stressful and exhausting. They are an important part of a safe aviation system.

Please visit the National Air Traffic Controllers Association and the FAA Air Traffic 101 to learn more about controllers. Air Traffic Control Tapes is a very interesting FAA resource allowing you to listen to actual pilots and controllers during incidents and accidents.

Air Traffic Controllers are human and do make mistakes. Considering their responsibility to keep separation between aircraft, their mistakes can be catastrophic.

Maintenance Problems

Again, you cannot pull an airplane to the side of the road when there is a mechanical problem in flight. Preventive maintenance and discovering potential problems before they occur are some of the keys to airworthiness and avoiding crashes. The Federal Regulations require a number of inspections on an aircraft. In additional to the regulations and manufacturer recommendations, a team made up of manufacturers, owners, their representative organizations, and FAA engineers and inspectors wrote Best Practices Guide for Maintaining Aging General Aviation Airplanes to help owners of aging aircraft.

Only qualified mechanics should perform the inspections and do the maintenance. The regulations are very specific in requiring the inspection and maintenance records to be kept. The log books are critical when purchasing an aircraft or investigating a crash.

Products Liability

Aviation accidents can and do occur as a result of design defects, manufacturing defects and marketing defects. Please see our post concerning Texas Products Liability, with the understanding that the law of another state may apply to the accident.

To reduce crashes caused by product defects, the FAA issues Airworthiness Directives addressing the unsafe condition and product when the FAA finds that: (a) an unsafe condition exists in a product; and (b) the condition is likely to exist or develop in other products of the same type design. A look through the directives reveals some of the defects that can lead to problems.

Board Certified Personal Injury Lawyer

Chris Jones is a Lawyer and Private Pilot and if you or your family member has been seriously injured or killed in an aviation accident and you need a Texas attorney, please do not hesitate to give East Texas Attorney, Chris Jones, Board Certified Personal Injury Trial Law, a call at 888-236-4878 for a free initial consultation or send us a message at Contact Us.

It should be noted that landowners may also be liable for negligent activities when a person has been injured by or as a contemporaneous result of the activity itself, rather than by a condition created by the activity.  Keetch v. Kroger Co., 845 S.W.2d 262 (Tex.1992).        

In premises liability cases, the scope of the duty turns on the plaintiff’s status.

Generally, store customers are invitees, and a property owner owes invitees a duty to use ordinary care to reduce or eliminate an unreasonable risk of harm created by a premises condition about which the property owner knew or should have known.

In Corbin v. Safeway Stores, Inc., 648 S.W.2d 292 (Tex.1983) the Texas Supreme Court set forth the elements of a premises liability in a slip and fall case:

(1) Actual or constructive knowledge of some condition on the premises by the owner/operator;

(2) That the condition posed an unreasonable risk of harm;

(3) That the owner/operator did not exercise reasonable care to reduce or eliminate the risk; and

(4) That the owner/operator’s failure to use such care proximately caused the plaintiff’s injuries.

As far as licensees, the landowner owes a duty to warn of or to make safe hidden dangers known to the landowner and a duty not to intentionally, wilfully, or through gross negligence cause injury.

As to trespassers, a landowner owes only a duty not to intentionally, wilfully, or through gross negligence cause injury.

It should also be noted that Texas has a recreational use statute which limits the liability of who open their land for recreational purposes. TEX. CIV. PRAC. & REM. CODE §§ 75.001 -.004. 

A general contractor in control of the premises may be liable for two types of negligence in failing to keep the premises safe: that arising from an activity on the premises, and that arising from a premises defect.” Clayton W. Williams, Jr., Inc. v. Olivo, 952 S.W.2d 523 (Tex. 1997).

Examples of potential premises liability and negligent activity cases against landowners would be, among others, a slip and fall on ice as a result of an ice dispenser, falling objects or merchandise, failure to remove rowdy customers, misapplication of wax on a floor, unstable platforms or stairs, rotten wood allowing a fall through a floor.

We have experience with premises liability cases, and if you or your family member has been seriously injured or died on a dangerous premises or as a result of a premises owner’s negligent activity and need a Texas attorney, please do not hesitate to give East Texas Attorney, Chris Jones, Board Certified Personal Injury Trial Law, a call at 903-236-4990 for a free initial consultation or send us a message at Contact Us.

The Act sets forth the criteria for the enforceability of Covenants Not to Compete in Texas:

[A] covenant not to compete is enforceable if it is ancillary to or part of an otherwise enforceable agreement at the time the agreement is made to the extent that it contains limitations as to time, geographical area, and scope of activity to be restrained that are reasonable and do not impose a greater restraint than is necessary to protect the goodwill or other business interest of the promisee.

There are additional requirements for Physicians:

A covenant not to compete relating to the practice of medicine is enforceable against a person licensed as a physician by the Texas Medical Board if such covenant complies with the following requirements:

(1)  the covenant must:

(A)  not deny the physician access to a list of his patients whom he had seen or treated within one year of termination of the contract or employment;

(B)  provide access to medical records of the physician’s patients upon authorization of the patient and any copies of medical records for a reasonable fee as established by the Texas Medical Board under Section 159.008, Occupations Code; and

(C)  provide that any access to a list of patients or to patients’ medical records after termination of the contract or employment shall not require such list or records to be provided in a format different than that by which such records are maintained except by mutual consent of the parties to the contract;

(2)  the covenant must provide for a buy out of the covenant by the physician at a reasonable price or, at the option of either party, as determined by a mutually agreed upon arbitrator or, in the case of an inability to agree, an arbitrator of the court whose decision shall be binding on the parties; and

(3)  the covenant must provide that the physician will not be prohibited from providing continuing care and treatment to a specific patient or patients during the course of an acute illness even after the contract or employment has been terminated.

Non compete agreements were once held to be unenforceable in Texas on the basis that they were in restraint of trade and contrary to public policy.  Later, “people and the courts” came to recognize that “it was in the interest of trade that certain covenants in restraint of trade should be enforced.” Addyston Pipe & Steel Co., 85 F. 271, 280  (6th Cir. 1898), aff’d 175 U.S. 211 (1899).

Recently, the Texas Supreme Court examined Texas Non Compete Agreements subject to the Act in Marsh USA Inc. v. Cook and found that a non competition agreement is enforceable if it is reasonable in time, scope and geography and, as a threshold matter, “if it is ancillary to or part of an otherwise enforceable agreement at the time the agreement is made.” TEX. BUS. & COM. CODE § 15.50(a).  The Supreme Court set forth a two-step inquiry to determine the threshold requirement for enforceability under the Act:

First, a determination is made as to whether there is an “otherwise enforceable agreement” between the parties.

Second, a determination is then made as to whether the covenant is “ancillary to or part of” that agreement.

If these two threshold requirements are met, then the Court looks to whether the non compete is reasonable in time, scope and geography.

When an employee subject to an employment agreement with a non compete leaves an employer, it often results in a contentious situation.  Even though the Texas Supreme Court set forth the guidelines for covenants not to compete, interpretation and application of the guidelines can be difficult. Reasonableness is often in the eye of the beholder and depends on whether you are the Employer or Employee.

If you are in need of a Board Certified Labor and Employment Lawyer in East Texas or local counsel in Gregg County or the Eastern District of Texas,  please contact Michelle Jones, Jones & Jones, Attorneys at Law, at 888-236-4878 or contact us by email.

LIABILITY INSURANCE

One issue that seems to come up in voir dire is insurance. The rules state that “[e]vidence that a person was or was not insured against liability is not admissible upon the issue whether the person acted negligently or otherwise wrongfully.” Rule 11. There are circumstances where the existence of insurance coverages is allowed in evidence, but the general assumption by Defendants is that the jury is more likely to find liability if they know the Defendant is insured. Watch the lawyers in the courtroom freeze when insurance is mentioned by a witness, jury panel member or anyone. In fact, courts will go so far as to prevent the lawyers from asking if anyone works for an insurance company during voir dire – hence the question “is anyone involved in the claims handling process”.

CHARACTER EVIDENCE

Character Evidence is another area that can cause a fight “outside the presence of the jury”. Rule 404 provides ” [E]vidence of a person’s character or character trait is not admissible for the purpose of proving action in conformity therewith on a particular occasion”. In other words, the jury should not find that a person or entity is guilty of a wrongful act on a particular occasion on the basis that they had done it before. Character evidence may be admissible if it is a habit or to prove defect in a product where there have been other similar instances.

SUBSEQUENT REMEDIAL MEASURES

After an accident, the defendant may take measures that, if taken before the accident, would have made the injury or harm less likely to occur. Although there are circumstances where such measures are admissible, Rule 407 provides that evidence of the subsequent remedial measures is not admissible to prove negligence, culpable conduct, a defect in product, a defect in product’s design, or a need for a warning or instruction. The rationale behind the rule is that you do not want to penalize or prevent a Defendant from doing what is necessary to prevent others from being injured.

OPINIONS AND EXPERT TESTIMONY

Rule 702 seems like a simple rule: “[i]f scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue, a witness qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education, may testify thereto in the form of an opinion or otherwise.” In cases involving experts, huge amounts of time are spent dealing with whether an expert should be allowed to testify. Ultimately, it is up to the jury to decide whether to believe an expert, but case-law requires the Court to act as a gatekeeper and examine the qualifications of an expert and the opinions they are giving before allowing them to testify.

Obviously, there are many Rules of Evidence, but these are examples of areas that may come up during a trial that require the court to dismiss the jury to the jury room so that rulings can be made.

It may seem that the Court and lawyers are wasting the jury’s time or hiding evidence from the jury, but what they are doing is following the rules in an effort to see that “the truth may be ascertained and proceedings justly determined.”  In you are on a jury, simply follow the Court’s instructions, require the other jurors to do the same, and justice should be served.

If you are in need of a Personal Injury or Labor and Employment Lawyer in East Texas or local counsel in Gregg County or the Eastern District of Texas,  please contact Chris Jones or Michelle Jones, Jones & Jones, Attorneys at Law, at 888-236-4878 or contact us by email.