Yearly Archives: 2022

Doyle Dennis Avery LLP filed suit in August of 2020 in Harris County District Court under the Texas Labor Code against Republic Manufacturing Group INC. d/b/a Republic Bag Co. and Alpha Industries Management Inc. d/b/a Republic Bag Co. The suit alleges that Republic Bag Co. retaliated with discrimination against Doyle Dennis Avery LLP ’s client and then fired her after she filed a workers’ compensation claim.

Texas workers have certain rights after suffering an injury in the course and scope of their employment. Under Texas law, an injured worker who reports and files a workers’ compensation claim and/or seeks benefits, including medical treatment, is entitled to protection under Texas Labor Code § 451.001. This is the law that the suit alleges Republic Bag Co. violated.

According to the legal filing, Republic Bag Co. knew of our client’s compensable on the job injury. Republic Bag Co. responded to the employee’s report of injury by first harassing and then firing her, fabricating various pretextual grounds for wrongfully and maliciously firing Doyle Dennis Avery LLP ’s client as a result of her on the job injury and resulting claim for lawful benefits. Republic Bag Co. retaliated and terminated the injured worker because Doyle Dennis Avery LLP ’s client filed an on the job injury claim, sought worker’s compensation benefits, and instituted a proceeding or caused to be instituted a proceeding under the Texas Worker’s Compensation laws, including reporting that she suffered an injury to her employer under Texas Labor Code § 409.001

Texas’ workers’ compensation laws, including Texas Labor Code Section 451.001, provide a cause of action for discriminatory misconduct and retaliation against a worker injured on the job. Doyle Dennis Avery LLP ’s client was a loyal and hard-working employee of Republic Bag Co., who was injured while working on the job on or about April 15, 2020. Doyle Dennis Avery LLP ’s client was retrieving a roll of bags from a machine as she frequently did before, but the machine pulled her right hand, resulting in injuries to her left middle finger, back, neck, arm, and body generally. The employee reported this work injury to her employer and received medical treatment, as permitted by Texas workers’ compensation laws. By making that report to her supervisor and employer as required by Texas Labor Code § 409.001, the injured worker instituted a proceeding under the Texas Workers’ Compensation laws, as protected by Texas Labor Code § 451.001.

In response to her report of injury and treatment as protected by Texas Labor Code § 451.001 Doyle Dennis Avery LLP ’s client faced discriminatory actions from Republic Bag Co. and was ultimately wrongfully fired on or about June 15, 2020. Employers such as Republic Bag Co. are prohibited from firing or otherwise discriminating against employees for filing workers’ compensation claims, as identified in both Texas Labor Code §451.001 or 29 U.S.C § 215. Doyle Dennis Avery LLP ’s client did not receive the proper protections or rights guaranteed under the Texas Labor Code for injured workers, but was met ultimately with retaliatory and discriminatory firing from her job.

If you have suffered from discrimination, retaliation, termination, or firing after reporting a work place injury to your employer, filing workers’ compensation claim, or other protected actions please contact us. Texas employees, including you, may have the right to pursue a claim against your employer under the Texas Labor Code or Fair Labor Standards Act. The lawyers at Doyle Dennis Avery LLP have decades of experience in representing injured workers under these laws. Doyle Dennis Avery LLP Trial attorneys will ensure you receive the utmost care and we will fight all the way for what you deserve. Our attorneys have decades of successful trial experience and can lend that expertise to you. For a no-cost evaluation of your potential legal claim, contact the lawyers at Doyle Dennis Avery LLP .

Texas employers often tell their employees that they are working “at will” as a means to suggest Texas employers are free at any time to take any action against an employee, including firing them. However, Texas law has various protections for injured workers, including Texas Labor Code, Section 451.001. The protections and legal analysis of a potential wrongful termination or discrimination claim does not stop there and includes various protections for employees injured while on the job.

Specifically, the Texas Labor Code forbids an employer from wrongfully terminating or retaliating against an employee for initiating and/or filing a workers’ compensation claim. Based upon this law, Doyle Dennis Avery LLP has recently filed suit against Michael McCreery d/b/a B-Mac Company. Doyle Dennis Avery LLP ’s client was a loyal and hard-working employee of B-Mac company who on or about August 21,2018 sustained a lifting injury to his neck and back while working on the job. Doyle Dennis Avery LLP ’s client reported this injury to his superiors and employer as is required for Texas workplace injuries. Texas employees who are injured while performing their work duties are granted certain protections for workers’ compensation. Under Texas law, a workers’ compensation claim is the primary way that Texas workers’ receive benefits, including medical and income benefits after they are injured at work. Without these protections and benefits guaranteed under the Texas Labor Code, Texas workers would have to fend for themselves after an injury they sustained on the job that may impair their ability to continue work in the near future or long-term.

After Doyle Dennis Avery LLP ’s client suffered the work injury and reported it to his employer he was met with hostility, harassment and ultimately terminated on or about September 28,2018. Simply pursuing a workers’ compensation claim for an on the job injury under Texas law cannot be met with negative actions or termination. Doyle Dennis Avery LLP has filed suit on behalf of this injured worker to protect his right against wrongful termination under the Texas Labor Code. The suit seeks lost wages, future lost earning capacity, mental anguish damages, pain and suffering, and punitive damages arising from the wrongful firing.

Doyle Dennis Avery LLP ’s lawyers strongly believe in the importance of protecting injured workers, who suffer from retaliation or discrimination. Nobody should lose their job or face further repercussions for simply doing their job and what is legally allowed of them after a workplace injury. If you have been the victim or workplace discrimination or wrongful termination, call us today for a no-cost initial evaluation of your potential legal rights and remedies.

On June 3^rd, 2021 The Texas Fourteenth Court of Appeals affirmed a $1.7 million dollar judgement in favor of Doyle Dennis Avery LLP ’s client Joseph Ball against Alleyton Resource Company LLC. Doyle Dennis Avery LLP ’s team of attorneys in Ball v. Alleyton Resource Company LLC had successfully presented the case to a Fort Bend County District Court Jury who on July 26,2019 awarded Mr. Ball with $1,706,187 in damages, including $164,168 in past wages, $675,519 in future lost wages, $100,000 in past mental anguish, $16,500 in future mental anguish, and $750,000 in punitive damages. The judgement also will come with a substantial amount of interest owed on the $1.7 million dollar judgement over the last couple years. The jury found that Alleyton Resources retaliated and wrongfully terminated Mr. Ball for instituting procedures under the Texas Worker’s Compensation Act.

Doyle Dennis Avery LLP ’s client drove a ready-mix concrete truck and worked for Alleyton for nearly a decade. After suffering a workplace injury, Mr. Ball instituted worker’s compensation proceedings. As a result, Doyle Dennis Avery LLP ’s client was fired. Doyle Dennis Avery LLP ’s team presented evidence in the prior trial that Alleyton Resource Company LLC violated its internal policies, concealed the reason for Ball’s termination, contradicted its basis for the firing, and failed to timely and accurately document the termination.

The Fourteenth Court of Appeals found no error in the previous jury trial and their final judgement in Ball v Alleyton. It further rejected Alleyton’s arguments such as that the admissible evidence is factually insufficient to support the jury’s findings that Alleyton terminated Ball because he had instituted a proceeding under the Texas workers’ compensation statute. Alleyton also asserted that a trial court abused its discretion when it admitted the claims diary into evidence over a hearsay objection, but this argument too was rejected by the Appeals Court. Furthermore, Alleyton in their appeal objected to the jury’s exemplary damages award and its inability to offer certain instructions in the jury charge. The Texas Fourteenth Court of Appeals further rejected these arguments in upholding the prior judgement in favor of Doyle Dennis Avery LLP ’s client.

Doyle Dennis Avery LLP ’s client will now be owed not only the initial $1.7 million dollar judgement but also significant interest earned on that amount as well. Doyle Dennis Avery LLP ’s team of experienced trial attorneys and staff are proud of their work once again in helping their clients receive adequate compensation and financial support after a life changing work accident. Doyle Dennis Avery LLP is proud of their track record in not just this case but the hundreds of cases over previous decades successfully pursued by our team. If you suffer a workplace injury then are retaliated against as a result, please contact the experienced trial attorneys at Doyle Dennis Avery LLP to help you pursue the justice you deserve. Our team is eager to continue fighting for clients we believe in their quest for justice. Call today and schedule a free consultation with our team of experienced trial attorneys!

In January 2021, Doyle Dennis Avery LLP and co-counsel filed a suit on behalf of our clients who are nationals of the Republic of Kosovo. The suit was filed against CIGNA Defendants, including Life Insurance Company of North America et al, and AECOM Defendants, including AECOM and AC FIRST LLC. The lawsuit filed in the Superior Court of The State of California County of Los Angeles pertains to our clients’ work in Afghanistan for AECOM as part of AECOM’s contracts to provide support services to the United States military personnel. We are proud to assist our clients seeking the compensation and benefits owed to them for their support of American military in Afghanistan.

In 2016, AECOM was awarded the EAGLE-AFG contract by the Army Contracting Command – Rock Island. The EAGLE-AFG is a cost-plus-fixed-fee contract valued at $429 million with 1 base year and 4 option years. Under this contract, AECOM was to provide maintenance, supply, and transportation services to the U.S. and Coalition partners at several locations in Afghanistan, including Kandahar and Bagram Airfields. AECOM used its entities GSS and AC First to supply this labor and fulfill the contract.

Doyle Dennis Avery LLP ’s clients were employed in Afghanistan from 2012 through 2017 by AECOM. The clients were nominally employed at the time by GSS, but were actually the employees of AC First and AECOM. As part of these contracts for employment, the AECOM defendants represented that they would offer and procure long-term disability insurance for employees working in Afghanistan. Indeed, each of our client’s contract with GSS included, upon agreement of employment, the offer of a benefits plan including Long Term Disability Coverage. The AECOM Defendants told our clients that they had contracted with CIGNA to provide long-term disability insurance. Doyle Dennis Avery LLP ’s clients accepted the coverage with the AECOM defendants and paid monthly for the CIGNA disability insurance coverage through payroll deductions. AECOM after procurement of the policy through CIGNA was provided coverage to employees, like Doyle Dennis Avery LLP ’s clients, who worked for either AC First or, nominally, for GSS. This policy went into effect on January 1, 2017.

Despite this promise of coverage, after our clients sustained disabling injuries, they submitted claims to CIGNA for disability coverage. In response, CIGNA closed the claims and alleged that foreign nationals, like Doyle Dennis Avery LLP ’s clients, were not covered by the CIGNA Policy. Doyle Dennis Avery LLP therefore has filed this lawsuit against both the AECOM Defendants and the CIGNA defendants. Doyle Dennis Avery LLP ’s clients left the safety of their homes in Kosovo to travel into an active war zone in Afghanistan. Our clients provided necessary support for U.S. Military’s operations in the area. During their employment, Doyle Dennis Avery LLP ’s clients were exposed to repeated life-threatening and graphic events, including mortar, rocket, suicide, and ground attacks. These incidents and other work-related accidents left our clients with very severe and permanent pain, disfigurement, injuries and damage. Due to Defendants’ conduct and failure to procure or pay disability benefits, Doyle Dennis Avery LLP ’s clients suffered significant economic damage, humiliation, worry, distress, and continuing economic and physical damage. In denying these claims, misrepresenting our clients’ insurance coverage, and /or failing to produce coverage, Defendants additionally acted with oppression, fraud, and malice.

Doyle Dennis Avery LLP is proud to support our foreign clients as they supported our US Military. Countless Americans and thousands of civilians, like our clients from Kosovo, support American Military operations across the world. If you are one of these individuals and suffered serious injury and suffering due to the gross negligence of American corporations you may have a claim to recover damages for injuries and associated damages. American companies at fault due to gross negligence can be held liable for their behavior if you were seriously injured or harmed as a result. Doyle Trial Lawyers can help you understand your rights and how to pursue a claim against defendants whose negligent behavior results in severe injuries and damage to individuals. Doyle Dennis Avery LLP will not charge you to complete an initial evaluation of your claim. Call us today to discuss your potential claim.

Texas employers often tell their employees that they are working “at-will” in order to suggest that they may take any action against them, including firing them for any reason. However, Texas law provides protections to a variety of employees, including health care workers who suffer from retaliation, termination, or firing by their employer. Doyle Dennis Avery LLP’s lawyers have dedicated years to protecting employees across the United States. Based upon this experience, Doyle Dennis Avery LLP was hired to file suit against a home dialysis company located in Texas for alleged violations of the Texas Occupations Code, Section 301.413.
This home dialysis company provides dialysis services to patients who require kidney disease management. The dialysis procedures involve the use of reverse osmosis machines to clean patients’ blood. Because patients’ blood comes in contact with the dialysate solution, the water used to make the dialysate must be extremely clean. The lawsuit alleged that three home dialysis company nurses began reporting to their supervisors that they believed the home dialysis company’s reverse osmosis machines were not cleaned properly and would consequently endanger patients’ health and that the Texas-based home dialysis company failed to take action. The lawsuit also alleged that for seven months, the dialysis company received complaints about the cleanliness of their machines and still did nothing. Instead, the home dialysis company fired the three employees, claiming false bases for their terminations, in violation of the Texas Occupations Code. According to Section 301.4025 of the Texas Occupations Code, an employer may not retaliate against a nurse who reports in good faith that she had reasonable cause to believe that a given situation exposed a patient to substantial risk of harm. Thus, the three home dialysis nurses pursued protected activity under the Texas Occupations Code.

Doyle Dennis Avery LLP is proud to represent employees who were wrongfully terminated by their employer. If you have experienced discrimination or wrongful termination, call us for a free evaluation of your potential legal claim.