Mario Barrera (US)

Mario Barrera has over 25 years' experience handling first chair cases and trying those cases to verdict. As a labor and employment partner in Norton Rose Fulbright's San Antonio office, Mario has been involved in individual and class/collective actions.

Subscribe to all posts by Mario Barrera (US)

UPDATE: September 30, 2019 deadline for employer pay data reporting to EEOC will cover both 2017 and 2018 pay data

By Mario Barrera (US), David Gallai (US), James Hughes and Rachel Kurth (US) on May 3, 2019 Posted in North America, United States

September 30th deadline to provide pay data to EEOC will cover both 2017 and 2018 pay data As we previously reported in our articles Employers with 100 or more employees must provide pay data to the EEOC by September 30, 2019 and New EEOC pay data deadline: September 30, 2019, following an April 25, 2019 … Continue reading

Employers with 100 or more employees must provide pay data to the EEOC by September 30, 2019

By Mario Barrera (US), David Gallai (US), James Hughes and Rachel Kurth (US) on April 29, 2019 Posted in North America, United States

September 30th deadline to provide pay data to EEOC Following an April 25, 2019 federal court ruling, employers with 100 or more employees should begin to prepare to report pay data to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) by September 30, 2019. While there is a possibility that an appeals court could stay this … Continue reading

Texas federal judge puts the brakes on the DOL’s new overtime regulations

By Mario Barrera (US), Kimberly Cheeseman (US) and Matt Heller (US) on November 25, 2016 Posted in General, United States

Employers who had been searching for a way to best implement the Department of Labor’s new overtime regulations (the “Final Rule”), which are set to go into effect on December 1, 2016, received an early holiday gift on Tuesday, and from one of President Obama’s appointed jurists, no less. On November 22nd, Judge Amos Mazzant … Continue reading

Does Title VII cover sexual orientation claims? It depends.

By Mario Barrera (US) and Stephen Romero (US) on August 16, 2016 Posted in Discrimination and harassment, United States

In July 2015, the EEOC officially took the position that sexual orientation claims may be brought under the non-discrimination provisions of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. However, in the recent case of Hively v. Ivy Tech Community College, the Seventh Circuit refused to accept the EEOC’s position and affirmed the dismissal … Continue reading

DOL’s new salary rule is a mixed bag for employers

By Mario Barrera (US) and Stephen Romero (US) on May 19, 2016 Posted in United States

Adding to the recent flurry of federal regulatory activity, on May 18, 2016, the United States Department of Labor‘s Wage and Hour Division issued a final rule on overtime that raises the salary threshold for exempt employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Defining and delimiting the exemptions for executive, administrative, professional, outside sales and computer employees … Continue reading

Texas’ new open carry law

By Mario Barrera (US) and Stephen Romero (US) on January 15, 2016 Posted in United States

Effective January 1, 2016, licensed Texas residents are permitted to openly carry a handgun. Specifically, the new law authorizes individuals to obtain a license to openly carry a handgun in a shoulder or hip holster, but it continues to prohibit any weapons in 9 specific locations including schools, polling places, courts and court offices, secured … Continue reading

Notice rights – what rights do employees have to notice of termination of employment in the US?

By Mario Barrera (US) on October 8, 2015 Posted in United States

Employees in the United States are generally considered employed at-will in most jurisdictions, meaning that either the employee or the employer can terminate the relationship at any time, for any reason or no reason at all, without providing notice. The general rule gives way, however, in limited circumstances which trigger certain federal (and potentially state-specific) … Continue reading

The deeper meaning behind Abercrombie besides failing to ask about an accommodation

By Mario Barrera (US) and Stephen Romero (US) on July 1, 2015 Posted in Discrimination and harassment, United States

As widely reported in its recent EEOC v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc. decision, the United States Supreme Court held that employers cannot lawfully refuse to hire an applicant if the decision was motivated by the employer’s unwillingness to provide the applicant with an accommodation the applicant needs for religious reasons. However, in so holding, … Continue reading

The new college landscape: unionizing grad students

By Stephen Romero (US) and Mario Barrera (US) on February 25, 2015 Posted in United States

In a matter that could have far-reaching implications for private universities throughout the US, the NLRB’s Regional Director for Region 2 dismissed a petition filed by graduate students of The New School in New York City, New York in which they sought to form a union in affiliation with the United Auto Workers (UAW). In … Continue reading

Obamacare: does it hide a potent whistleblower pill?

By Mario Barrera (US) and James Hughes on May 29, 2014 Posted in United States, Whistleblowing

The Affordable Care Act (ACA)—or “Obamacare”—has gotten plenty of attention due to technical glitches with the HealthCare.gov website, consumers’ difficulties obtaining (or keeping) insurance through the exchanges, and Health Secretary Sibelius’s recent resignation. But some notable provisions of the ACA have gone largely unremarked—particularly an amendment to Title 29 of the U.S. Code. Added by … Continue reading

Top 30 whistleblowing statutes – from Ralph Nader to Edward Snowden

By Mario Barrera (US) and James Hughes on May 20, 2014 Posted in United States, Whistleblowing

In the 1970s, a particular brand of cigarettes geared towards women used the tag line “you’ve have come a long way baby,” and today, the same could be said for the term “whistleblower.” In the early to mid-20th century, individuals who reported illegal activity were often referred to in pejorative terms such as “rats” and … Continue reading