200+ Free TX Labor & Employment Law Specialist Practice Questions

Title VII & Discrimination

Disparate treatment under McDonnell Douglas burden-shifting; disparate impact under Griggs and business necessity; quid pro quo and hostile-work-environment harassment with the Faragher/Ellerth affirmative defense; retaliation (Burlington Northern v. White); religious accommodation under Groff v. DeJoy; Bostock sexual-orientation/gender-identity coverage; mixed-motive and the same-decision defense; PDA and Young v. UPS; Equal Pay Act defenses; Ledbetter paycheck-accrual rule; and the 1991 Act tiered damages caps. Employer coverage requires 15+ employees; EEOC charge within 300 days in Texas.

ADA, ADEA & FMLA

ADA reasonable accommodation and the interactive process; broad ADAAA construction; record-of and regarded-as prongs; direct-threat defense; pre-offer medical-inquiry limits. ADEA protects workers 40+ at employers with 20+ employees, requires but-for causation under Gross v. FBL, and governs OWBPA waiver requirements (45-day consideration, 7-day revocation). FMLA eligibility (12 months, 1,250 hours, 50 employees within 75 miles), serious health condition, 12-week and 26-week military-caregiver entitlements, intermittent leave, reinstatement, interference/retaliation, and ADA overlap after FMLA exhaustion.

FLSA Wage & Hour

Federal minimum wage of $7.25 (Texas adopts the federal rate); overtime at one and one-half times the regular rate over 40 hours; the white-collar exemptions (salary-basis test at $684/week after the 2024 DOL increase was vacated by a Texas federal court, plus duties tests); tip credit; nondiscretionary vs. discretionary bonuses in the regular rate; independent-contractor misclassification under the economic-realities test; hours worked, meal breaks, and off-the-clock work; the Portal-to-Portal Act (Integrity Staffing v. Busk); opt-in collective actions under 29 U.S.C. 216(b); two/three-year limitations and liquidated damages; and Kasten oral-complaint retaliation.

NLRA & Traditional Labor

Section 7 protected concerted activity (including in non-union workplaces and wage discussions); Section 8(a) unfair labor practices and the duty to bargain in good faith over mandatory subjects (wages, hours, terms and conditions); appropriate bargaining units and the community-of-interest test; economic vs. unfair-labor-practice strikes and striker replacement (Fleetwood/Laidlaw); impasse and lawful unilateral implementation; Weingarten representation rights; Gissel and Exchange Parts campaign limits; the Section 10(b) six-month charge period; statutory employee exclusions (supervisors, independent contractors, agricultural laborers); NLRB enforcement; and Texas right-to-work under Section 14(b).

Texas Labor Code, Workers' Comp Retaliation & TCHRA

TCHRA (Labor Code Chapter 21): protected classes (race, color, disability, religion, sex, national origin, age 40+); the 180-day general and 300-day sexual-harassment administrative deadlines; the 60-day right-to-sue window (and two-year outer limit); SB 45 expanded sexual-harassment coverage to employers with one or more employees; correlation with federal law. Workers' compensation retaliation under Section 451.001 (good-faith claim, but-for causation, reinstatement and reasonable damages under 451.002, two-year limitations); nonsubscriber loss of common-law defenses (406.033); exclusive remedy (408.001); the Texas Payday Law (Chapter 61); and the Texas Whistleblower Act (Government Code Chapter 554) for public employees.

Non-Competes, Contracts & Wrongful Discharge

Employment at will and its Texas exceptions; the narrow Sabine Pilot sole-cause wrongful-discharge claim for refusing to perform a criminally illegal act; covenants not to compete under Business & Commerce Code Section 15.50 (ancillary to an otherwise enforceable agreement, reasonable time/area/scope, Marsh USA and Sheshunoff consideration giving rise to a protectable interest); judicial reformation under Section 15.51(c); physician-specific criteria in Section 15.50(b) and the 2025 SB1318 health-care amendments; non-solicitation covenants; the Texas Uniform Trade Secrets Act (Civil Practice & Remedies Code Chapter 134A); employee handbooks and at-will disclaimers; promissory estoppel; definite-term contracts; and statutory jury-service protection.