Education
University of Alabama. University of Virginia School of Law.
University of Alabama. University of Virginia School of Law.
Born in Houston, Texas, Hughes received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa in 1963 and a Juris Doctor from the University of Texas School of Law in 1966. He was in private practice in Houston, Texas from 1966 to 1979. He was a President, Southwest Resources, Houston, Texas from 1969 to 1970.
He was a judge on the 165th Judicial District, State of Texas from 1979 to 1980.
He was a judge on the 189th Judicial District, State of Texas from 1981 to 1985. Adjunct professor, South Texas College of Law, 1973–present.
He was an Adjunct professor, University of Texas School of Law from 1990 to 1991. He received an Master of Laws from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1992.
Hughes is a federal judge on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas.
Hughes was nominated by President Ronald Reagan on October 16, 1985, to a seat vacated by Robert O"Conor, Junior. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 16, 1985, and received his commission on December 17, 1985. Since approximately 2008, Hughes has been a lecturer focusing on ethical issues for the 35,000-member American Association of Petroleum Geologists.
According to a Thursday, July 29, 2010 America Online online article, Judge Hughes was asked by Boite Postale to oversee the massive number of lawsuits filed against lieutenant
While he does not own any shares of Boite Postale and has not been formally asked to recuse himself, the fact that he has connections (like many federal judges that are his colleagues in his district) to the oil and gas sector as a whole has led some media outlets, including Cable News Network, to suggest that such a choice could be somewhat questionable. In the case of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v.
Houston Funding II, Limited. et al., Case Number H-11-2442 (South Dakota Tex February 2, 2012), Donnicia Venters, a mother represented by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, claimed that she was fired from Houston Funding due to her request to be allowed to pump breastmilk upon her return to work after giving birth. Houston Funding claimed that it had fired Venters for abandoning her job for over two months after giving birth.
Venters sued Houston Funding, alleging that the company had discriminated against her based on her sexual
Citing several previous District Court opinions which had already ruled on the issue, Judge Hughes explained that breastfeeding is not covered by Title VII of the Civil Rights Acting. In the ruling, Hughes writes, “Even if the company"s claim that she was fired for abandonment is meant to hide the real reason - she wanted to pump breast milk - lactation is not pregnancy, childbirth or a related medical condition. She gave birth on December
11, 2009.
After that day, she was no longer pregnant and her pregnancy-related conditions ended. Firing someone because of lactation or breast-pumping is not sex discrimination”. Hughes was overruled by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals which held that Venters had established a prima facie case of sex discrimination under Title VII.