A jury found in the employee’s favor and awarded her $1.8 million in damages, which the district court later reduced to $1 million.
Affirming in part and reversing in part a district court’s entry of final judgment, after a jury trial, in favor of a state correctional officer who sued her employer under the ADA and Rehab Act, the Fifth Circuit found her ADA claims should have been dismissed because they were made solely against the Executive Director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) in his official capacity. The appeals court also found sufficient evidence for a reasonable jury to find in the employee’s favor on her Rehab Act discrimination and retaliation claims. And while her failure-to-rehire discrimination claim failed as a matter of law, sufficient evidence supported her failure-to-rehire retaliation claim. The court remanded to assess the appropriate amount of damages that may be included as backpay and to determine whether attorney fees should be reduced. Judges Dennis and Ho, in separate opinions, concurred in the court’s judgment in part and dissented in part (Harmon v. Collier, No. 23-40342 (5th Cir. Oct. 14, 2025)).
LWOP. The employee, who had worked for the TDCJ for about 18 years at the time of her termination, suffered from diabetes, hypertension, and chronic lower-back pain. The TDCJ allows employees to take up to 180 days of leave without pay (LWOP) on a 12-month rolling basis and in August 2017, the employee, while on leave, was informed...
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