Louisiana Personal Injury Lawyer Blog
Discrimination in the workplace should never be accepted. If you feel that you have been discriminated against for age or disability reasons, the law allows you to seek damages. A lawsuit of that nature is not unlike others; proof and evidence are required to proceed with your claims. The following case out of New Orleans shows why sufficient evidence is required to proceed with a discrimination or hostile workplace claim.
Dr. Gerald Lahoste is a tenured associate professor in the Psychology Department at the University of New Orleans (UNO) Psychology Department. Dr. Lahoste filed a lawsuit against the Board of Supervisors of Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College (LSU), asserting his rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act were violated. Dr. Lahoste alleged LSU did not provide him with reasonable accommodations for his major depressive disorder. He argued he had been harassed and discriminated against, and his journal articles and grant had decreased due to his request for accommodations.
LSU filed a motion for summary judgment, as they believed Dr. LaHoste could not prove discrimination or that a violation of Title VII. LSU also alleged that Dr. LaHoste failed to provide documentation regarding his diagnosis. Dr. LaHoste responded to the motion for summary judgment by arguing that LSU did not meet to discuss his condition. The trial court granted summary judgment for LSU, effectively ending his lawsuit. Dr. LaHoste appealed the trial court’s decision in hopes of overturning it.
The legal system is complicated, with many “dos-and don’ts.” Whether or not you can have your case heard in court first requires following the rules guiding the sufficiency of your claim. If your complaint fails to show that you have a right to bring the case against your defendant, your case might be dismissed. But how strictly interpreted is this rule? What does it look like when a cause of action is sufficient to be heard or ripe for dismissal?
Claims involving both state and federal law can be extremely complicated; however, what happens when there are questions surrounding the state law itself? In this situation, the district court may actually abstain from exercising its jurisdiction until the state law concerns have been resolved—the following case involving law enforcement officers in New Orleans discusses these issues.
There are many ways that someone can be denied workers’ compensation benefits. Sometimes it is determined that the accident giving rise to the injury never occurred, other times the claim is filed too late, and in other cases the capacity in which the worker was hired determines eligibility for benefits. The last scenario is illustrated in a case brought to the New Orleans Office of Workers’ Compensation (“OWC”) in 2016.
Workers in the State of Louisiana are protected by laws that prohibit employment-based discrimination. But often, the litigation process is complicated; employees who believe they are victims of discrimination and harassment face a challenging burden of proof in order to recover from their employer.
There are multiple federal laws that affect the employer-employee relationship. Two such laws are the
Trees can add aesthetic value to your property and provide benefits such as shade in the summer heat and place for birds to nest. However, under certain circumstances, property owners can be held liable for injuries resulting from a fallen tree limb. This is exactly the situation homeowners and the Town of Delhi, Louisiana found themselves in after a tree limb fell on a car, causing severe injuries to a passenger. 
In a civil case, you do not have the classic “speedy trial” right. Instead, courts will seek expediency by granting summary judgments when appropriate. The purpose of summary judgment is to avoid frivolous and unnecessary trials, or at a minimum, to simply reduce trial time by dispensing of some claims. A motion for summary judgment may be granted upon a finding that there is “no genuine issue as to material fact and that the mover is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” 
It’s almost impossible to watch a movie or TV show about the police or crime without hearing the phrase “Miranda Rights.” Even if most viewers don’t know the U.S. Supreme Court case 
When a lawsuit is filed for an injury, most people assume that the claim will be sorted out in court in a timely manner. Sometimes, however, a case can get significantly delayed by years, even before a trial has occurred. In these instances, it is also possible that the case becomes “abandoned” if neither side takes any action towards furthering the course of the lawsuit. For one West Feliciana woman, the defense tried to do just that and claimed case abandonment.