Several celebrations of Martin Luther King Day are taking place in Houston today.  For example, the 34th Annual "Original" MLK Birthday Parade organized by the Black Heritage Society began at 10 a.m. this morning at the intersection of Texas and Crawford.  The parade's grand marshal was Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee.

In addition, the MLK Grande Parade began at Elgin and San Jacinto at the same time.  After both parades, the BHF is continuing their celebration with a party at Discovery Green.  The party also includes a concert, and will last until 5 p.m. tonight.  

At 12 p.m., the Children's Museum of Houston held a peace rally with a reading of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s  "I Have a Dream" speech.  The speech was read by Pleansantville Elementary School's MLK Oratory winner, 10-year old Matthias McBride.  The museum has MLK Day events all day and is $5 to visit.

Rice University is celebrating MLK Day with a candlelight vigil at 5 p.m.  The event is being held at Rice Memorial Center Chapel, and will feature Rev. William Lawson of Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church.

The Houston employment lawyers of Ross Law Group hope everyone has a chance to enjoy these Martin Luther King Day events.  To read more about today's celebrations, see Culture Map Houston.

The University of Houston recently accepted an invitation to the 2012 TicketCity Bowl at the Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas.  The University of Houston Cougars will be playing the Penn State University Nittany Lions on January 2 at 11 a.m.

U of H football has a 12-1 record and Penn State has a 9-3 record.  The two teams have played each other twice before.

The Cougars have played at the Cotton Bowl four times and won in 1976 and 1979.  Tickets to the 2012 TicketCity Bowl can be purchased online through the Houston Athletics Ticket Office and in person at the Athletics Alumni Center.

The game will be televised on ESPNU. 

The Houston employment lawyers of Ross Law Group would like to congratulate the University of Houston and the football team on their success.

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A former Dollar General employee is suing the company, also known as Dolgencorp of Texas, for allegedly firing her in retaliation for taking family medical leave.  Susan K. Sizemore began working for the store in October 2008 and later promoted to store manager.  Sizemore's husband was diagnosed with Hodgkins lymphoma cancer and had to receive chemotherapy treatments every 14 days.  

The worker requested family medical leave time off to care for her husband periodically starting in May 2008.  The lawsuit claims that although the store's regional manager approved the FMLA time, he did not provide her any assistance in managing the store while she was away.  Since requesting the FMLA time, the regional manager tried to fire Sizemore on false accusations of stealing a company deposit and making discrimination complaints.

If an employer has failed to provide you with time off to care for a family member, contact the Houston Family and Medical Leave Attorneys of Ross Law Group at 713-482-6910 today to learn more about your rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act.  

Last month, Texas salesman Stephen T. Nourse filed a lawsuit against his former employer for breach of contract in the Eastern District of Texas.  Nourse worked for Kentucky-based global marketing and print media company Southern Graphic Systems Inc..

Nourse claims in the filing that he performed his job and obligations as requested in his employment contract but was fired on July 30th.  Nourse's employment agreement required that termination from his position have good cause which he feels did not.  

Nourse is seeking damages over $75,000 plus additional lawyer's fees, court costs, and interest.

If you or someone you know needs their employment contract reviewed, contact the Houston employment contract attorneys of Ross Law Group at 713-482-6910 to learn more about your rights. 

Last month, the Labor Department of the White House announced the expansion of the Family and Medical Leave Act to include gay employees.  This change will require U.S. employers to give gay employees the same twelve month period of unpaid leave to help a sick or injured family member that straight employees have had since the act was created in 1993.

 Brian Moulton of the Human Rights Campaign stated, "It's a small step, but it's an important one".

In order to qualify under the FMLA, you must have worked for a company for at least 12 months and for at least 1250 hours in that time period.  

If your employer is not following the FMLA, contact the Houston Family and Medical leave attorneys of the Ross Law Group at 800-634-8042 to learn more about your rights.