Discrimination

  • February 24, 2025

    1st Circ. Won't Revive Dr.'s Retaliation Claim Against Hospital

    A radiologist can't reinstate a whistleblower and discrimination lawsuit against a Boston hospital she says sidelined her after she reported concerns about a colleague dubbed "the Boston Butcher," the First Circuit has ordered.

  • February 24, 2025

    3rd Circ. Says Discovery Defiance Dooms Vax Bias Suit

    The Third Circuit backed the dismissal of a Jehovah's Witness' suit claiming 3M fired her out of religious bias for opposing its COVID-19 vaccine mandate, saying it was a proper punishment for purposefully ignoring discovery orders probing whether her beliefs were sincere.

  • February 24, 2025

    EEOC Agrees To Deal In Amputee Refusal-To-Hire Suit

    An Atlanta-based company that contracts with mine sites will pay $25,000 to end a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission suit alleging it would not hire a worker to drive a dump truck because he's a right-arm amputee, according to a Georgia federal court filing.

  • February 24, 2025

    Penn Can't Escape Ex-Arabic Lecturer's Age Bias Case

    The University of Pennsylvania can't escape a former Arabic language lecturer's lawsuit claiming he was let go because he was in his 60s, a federal judge ruled Monday, saying his allegations were detailed enough to suggest his age may have been a factor in his removal.

  • February 24, 2025

    Museum Cleared To Fire Hurt Worker After 4 Leave Extensions

    A California appeals court declined to revive a former HVAC technician's suit claiming the J. Paul Getty Trust illegally fired him while recovering from an on-the-job leg fracture, saying terminating him instead of granting a fifth request for indefinite medical leave was reasonable.

  • February 24, 2025

    Fired IBM Workers Wrap Up Age Bias Lawsuit With Co.

    IBM Corp. and 16 former employees have resolved a lawsuit claiming the technology giant unlawfully fired older workers to make room for millennials, according to New York federal court filings.

  • February 24, 2025

    Justices Nix Whistleblower Suit Over Arbitral Vacatur Limits

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review a petition that raised questions about the standards under which courts can vacate or enforce arbitral awards, in a case brought by a whistleblower who sought to challenge an arbitral award favoring his former employer.

  • February 21, 2025

    Trump Blocked From Implementing Anti-DEI Orders, For Now

    A Maryland federal judge on Friday temporarily barred the Trump administration from implementing the bulk of his executive orders aiming to slash diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the public and private sectors, ruling that the orders are likely unconstitutionally vague and illegally restrict free speech.

  • February 21, 2025

    DOJ Hits Judge Weighing Trans Troops Ban With Complaint

    The U.S. Department of Justice on Friday filed a misconduct complaint against the D.C. federal judge overseeing litigation challenging President Donald Trump's executive order ostensibly banning transgender troops from serving in the military, accusing her of bias after she hammered government attorneys for answers they provided during a hearing earlier this month.

  • February 21, 2025

    Unions Lose Bid To Block Trump Admin Efforts To Gut USAID

    A Washington, D.C., federal judge Friday refused to grant a preliminary injunction barring the Trump administration from placing U.S. Agency for International Development employees on leave, halting funding and taking other steps that federal employee unions say are meant to illegally dismantle the foreign assistance agency.

  • February 21, 2025

    Up Next At High Court: Straight Discrimination & Trial Rights

    The U.S. Supreme Court will return to the bench Monday to debate whether majority-group plaintiffs should be held to higher evidentiary standards when bringing workplace discrimination claims and whether prisoners are entitled to jury trials when questions about pre-suit requirements are intertwined with the merits of their claims.

  • February 21, 2025

    11th Circ. Backs Ga. Military College In Race Bias Appeal

    The Eleventh Circuit on Thursday backed Georgia Military College's early win in a race bias suit brought by a laid off former human resources professional, finding that the college "advanced legitimate, nondiscriminatory" reasons for eliminating her position amid a round of budget cuts.

  • February 21, 2025

    Diddy Atty Says No Way He Can Continue As Defense Counsel

    A defense attorney representing Sean "Diddy" Combs' in his criminal sex-trafficking case on Friday asked a Manhattan federal judge to allow him to quit, saying in a carefully worded court filing that "under no circumstances" could he continue to represent the disgraced hip-hop mogul.

  • February 21, 2025

    What To Know As EEOC Pregnancy Rule Faces Uncertain Fate

    A recent Eighth Circuit ruling reviving a challenge to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's pregnancy accommodation rule, as well as the acting agency chair’s intention to overhaul the regulations, have created a ‘moving target’ for employers looking to stay in compliance, experts say. Here are three things to know with the rule in flux.

  • February 21, 2025

    City Housing Agency Supervisor To Face Some Claims In Bias Suit

    A North Carolina federal judge on Friday trimmed portions of a workplace retaliation and discrimination suit by a former Charlotte public housing authority coordinator, concluding that most of her punitive damage claims are barred by official immunity but that she can still pursue her ex-supervisor as an individual.

  • February 21, 2025

    4th Circ. Says Mill Worker's Dishonesty Dooms ADA Suit

    The Fourth Circuit refused Friday to revive a suit from a worker who said a paper product company illegally fired him over a disability, ruling that bias wasn't at play because he admitted to lying about a previous back injury.

  • February 21, 2025

    NY Forecast: 2nd Circ. Hears Harassment Retaliation Case

    This week, the Second Circuit will consider reviving a New York school district employee's lawsuit claiming she was retaliated against after she complained that an administrator at her school sexually harassed her. Here, Law360 looks at this and other notable cases on the docket in New York courts.

  • February 21, 2025

    6th Circ. Says Ex-Package Co. Worker Can't Revive ADA Suit

    The Sixth Circuit declined Friday to reinstate an ex-worker's suit claiming a packaging manufacturer wouldn't let him return to work following an injury because he asked for an accommodation, stating he couldn't overcome the company's position that the limitation he requested wouldn't allow him to do his job.

  • February 21, 2025

    Pumping Break Guidance For Airline Crews Falls Flat

    The long-awaited Federal Aviation Administration guidance on in-flight pumping breaks is milquetoast and keeps the onus on employers to devise their own practices, attorneys say, but the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act may fill the protection gap.

  • February 21, 2025

    LGBTQ+ Health Orgs Aim To Halt Trump DEI, Gender Orders

    Three executive orders by President Donald Trump barring federal contractors from pushing "gender ideology" and diversity-related programs violate the U.S. Constitution, a group of nonprofit LGBTQ+ organizations told a California federal court.

  • February 21, 2025

    Stop & Shop, Ex-Manager Agree To End Long COVID Suit

    A Connecticut federal judge on Friday agreed to dismiss a former Stop & Shop manager's lawsuit accusing the supermarket chain of firing him for taking medical leave due to long COVID-19 symptoms, one day after the parties said they wished to end litigation.

  • February 21, 2025

    Jackson Lewis Adds Hopkins Carley Employment Pro In Calif.

    Labor and employment firm Jackson Lewis PC is bringing in a Hopkins Carley employment law veteran as a principal in its Silicon Valley office.

  • February 20, 2025

    DOJ Says It Will Drop Immigrant Bias Case Against SpaceX

    The U.S. Department of Justice told a Texas federal judge Thursday that it plans to drop administrative proceedings alleging Elon Musk's Space Exploration Technologies Corp. refused to hire refugees and asylees.

  • February 20, 2025

    Landmark AI Legislation On Kids, Bias Introduced In Calif.

    A California lawmaker Thursday unveiled first-of-its-kind legislation aimed at protecting children from safety and privacy risks associated with artificial intelligence as well as a revised version of a bill addressing bias by AI tools.

  • February 20, 2025

    Ex-Kirkland IP Atty Asks To Fire Her Bias Suit Atty 'For Cause'

    A former Kirkland & Ellis LLP intellectual property associate suing Kirkland over bias claims has urged a California federal judge to fire her counsel at Filippatos PLLC and force Filippatos to hand over her client file, disputing Filippatos' assertion that her professional misconduct allegations are a contrived attempt to avoid paying fees.

Expert Analysis

  • What To Expect From The EEOC's Proposed Pregnancy Law

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    U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission regulations implementing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act require accommodations for many conditions related to pregnancy and childbirth, and while the final rule won't be published until the public comment period expires in October, employers should act promptly, says Amy Gluck at FisherBroyles.

  • Employer Best Practices For Pay Transparency Compliance

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    With conflicting pay transparency and disclosure laws appearing across the country, employers must carefully develop different strategies for discussing compensation with employees, applicants, and off-site workers, disclosing salaries in job ads, and staying abreast of new state and local compliance requirements, says Joy Rosenquist at Littler Mendelson.

  • Congress Must Level The Employer Arbitration Playing Field

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    Federal courts have largely eviscerated state bans on arbitration of employment claims through Federal Arbitration Act preemption holdings, and they are also limiting the impact of the federal Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act, so Congress needs to step in and amend both laws, says Alan Kabat at Bernabei & Kabat.

  • What 11th Circ. Revival Of Deaf Employee's Bias Suit Portends

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    The Eleventh Circuit's recent Beasley v. O'Reilly Auto Parts decision, which created a circuit split involving the issue of linking accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act to essential job functions, is a curiosity about the court's analysis at least and a potential game changer for employer duties at most, says John Doran at Sherman & Howard.

  • What To Watch As Justices Take Up Title VII Job Transfer Case

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    With its recent decision to hear Muldrow v. City of St. Louis, the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether an involuntary job transfer can count as employment discrimination under Title VII — an eventual ruling that has potential to reshape workplace bias claims nationwide, says Adam Grogan at Bell Law Group.

  • Parsing EEOC Guidance On Accommodating Low Vision

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    Employers need to examine recent Equal Employment Opportunity Commission guidance on provisions for employees who are blind or partially sighted, particularly on the consequences of terminating an employee with blindness or low vision without meeting obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act, says Amy Epstein Gluck at FisherBroyles.

  • 5 Tips For Employers Handling Generative AI Privacy Risks

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    Employers should carefully consider the privacy implications of using generative artificial intelligence tools, and employ steps to mitigate the risks, such as de-identifying data, providing notice and identifying data flows, say Zoe Argento and Amy Kabaria at Littler.

  • Water Cooler Talk: 'The Bear' Serves Up Advice For Managers

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    Tracey Diamond and Evan Gibbs at Troutman Pepper chat with Ernst & Young’s Laura Yehuda about Hulu's "The Bear" and the best practices managers can glean from the show's portrayal of workplace challenges, including those faced by young, female managers.

  • Recalling USWNT's Legal PR Playbook Amid World Cup Bid

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    As the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team strives to take home another World Cup trophy, their 2022 pay equity settlement with the U.S. Soccer Federation serves as a good reminder that winning in the court of public opinion can be more powerful than a victory inside the courtroom, says Hector Valle at Vianovo.

  • Mass. Age Bias Ruling Holds Employer Liability Lessons

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    The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s recent ruling in Adams v. Schneider Electric — upholding a laid-off employee’s age discrimination claim — is an important reminder that employers may face liability even if a decision maker unknowingly applies a discriminatory corporate strategy, say attorneys at Armstrong Teasdale.

  • Regulating AI: Litigation Questions And State Efforts To Watch

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    In view of the developing legal and regulatory framework for artificial intelligence systems in the U.S., including state legislation and early federal litigation, there are practical takeaways as we look toward the future, says Jennifer Maisel at Rothwell Figg.

  • Regulating AI: An Overview Of Federal Efforts

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    The U.S. has been carefully managing a national policy and regulatory ecosystem toward artificial intelligence, but as AI technology continues to expand into our everyday lives, so too has its risks and the need for regulation, says Jennifer Maisel at Rothwell Figg.

  • Justices' Job Transfer Review Should Hold To Title VII Text

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's upcoming decision in Muldrow v. City of St. Louis should hold that a job transfer can be an adverse employment action, and the analysis should be based on the straightforward language of Title VII rather than judicial activism, say Lynne Bernabei and Alan Kabat at Bernabei & Kabat.