Elsa Alcala has spent the last nine years on Houston’s 1st Court of Appeals and the previous three-and-a-half years presiding over a Houston criminal district court. Now she has been called up to the big leagues: On March 22, Gov. Rick Perry appointed her to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Alcala will replace CCA Judge Charles Holcomb , who stepped down at the end of 2010, because he reached the statutory age limit for serving on the bench. “My first love is criminal law, but I grew to love civil law,” says Alcala, a former prosecutor in the Harris County District Attorney’s Office . “Going back to exclusively criminal law was a hard decision. It is an extremely important court . . . and it seems as though I can have a real positive impact on that court,” Alcala says. She also is proud to be the first Hispanic female appointed to the CCA. “I think it’s important that we have minorities on all courts. But I think it’s also extremely important that the minority be very qualified,” Alcala says. “You need to be very, very qualified, and then it has meaning. To that extent I felt I was the right person for the job.”
Big D Biz Sued
Location, location, location — for one prominent real estate firm, that location is Dallas’ 192nd District Court. Nancy Norman, a former listing coordinator for Ebby Halliday Realtors Inc., sued the Dallas-based residential real estate firm on March 3. She alleges in her petition in Norman v. Ebby Halliday Realtors Inc. that she was fired after 10 years of service — and only 37 days after she disclosed her skin disorder. Norman alleges Ebby Halliday Realtors Inc. discriminated against her by failing to reasonably accommodate her diagnosed disability in violation of Texas Labor Code §21.051, et seq. and the defendant’s actions constituted retaliation in violation of Texas Labor Code §21.055, et seq. Norman seeks damages for back pay, emotional pain, suffering, inconvenience, mental anguish and loss of enjoyment of life, as well as punitive damages resulting from malice or reckless indifference to her state-protected rights. Kent Newsom , a partner in Dallas’ Newsom Terry & Newsom who is regular outside counsel for Ebby Halliday Realtors Inc., declines comment on pending litigation. In her petition, Norman alleges she informed office administrator Linda Callicutt of Norman’s July 2010 diagnosis and of her doctor’s recommendation that she avoid becoming overheated by, among other things, wearing shorts to work, then changing once she got to the office. When Norman followed that procedure, however, office manager Don Davis allegedly told her, “You know, you can’t wear shorts to work.” Norman alleges Davis subsequently gave her a written warning that contained “very general allegations of incompetence” and took issue with her for being “improperly dressed.” Norman alleges the warning was at odds with commendation letters she previously received. Norman alleges that on Aug. 25, 2010, after Davis sent her home and complained that she did not attend a fellow employee’s shower during the lunch hour, Davis telephoned her to tell her she was fired. Callicutt did not return a telephone call seeking comment, and Davis declines comment. The defendant has not yet filed a response to the suit. Norman’s lawyer, Lockhart solo Paul Schorn , says he believes a jury will be concerned about his client’s claims of discrimination based on a disability and about the stigma of certain illnesses such as hers.
