Discrimination

  • March 21, 2025

    How King & Spalding Helped LGBTQ+ Vets Win Back Benefits

    More than a decade after the U.S. Department of Defense repealed its "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which kept LGBTQ+ troops in the closet, veterans who were kicked out for their sexual orientation have continued to suffer the effects of a scarlet letter placed on their discharge papers.

  • March 21, 2025

    Calif. Civil Rights Agency Advances Workplace AI Regulations

    California's civil rights agency voted Friday to finalize employment regulations governing the use of artificial intelligence tools, ending a monthslong process that included multiple rounds of public comment.

  • March 21, 2025

    1st Circ. Affirms Hold On Education Dept. Teacher Grant Cuts

    The First Circuit on Friday kept in place a Massachusetts federal judge's temporary block on $250 million in cuts to teacher training grants that were targeted by the Department of Education over their ties to diversity initiatives.

  • March 21, 2025

    Black Ex-Manager Hits Lowe's With Racial Bias Claims In NC

    A Black former manager at Lowes Companies Inc. has said that she was fired because of her race and that before her termination she was treated differently from white colleagues by her supervisor to the point that she was not given resources necessary to do her job.

  • March 21, 2025

    MGM Says Atty Fees Shouldn't Be Triple Mich. Worker's Award

    MGM Grand Casino said attorneys for a fired employee cannot recoup more than three times the $133,000 a Michigan federal jury awarded him earlier this year in his lawsuit alleging he was improperly denied religious accommodation from the company's COVID-19 vaccine policy.

  • March 21, 2025

    Harvard Grad Eyes New Complaint In Antisemitism Suit

    A former student on Thursday accused Harvard University of using "litigation tactics" to thwart an amended complaint in a suit over the Ivy League school's handling of antisemitic incidents on campus, after the school settled with some of the plaintiffs in the case.

  • March 21, 2025

    Religious Groups Say Reproductive Health Law Hinders Hiring

    A Catholic diocese and anti-abortion pregnancy center claim a new Illinois law impedes religious employers' ability to hire people aligned with their missions, urging a federal court to halt the law, which prohibits employers from discriminating against workers because of their reproductive health decisions.

  • March 21, 2025

    Pa. Attorney's Discovery Dispute Leads To Sanction Threat

    A plaintiffs attorney's discovery demands and insistence that a defendant follow his firm's "mandatory" electronic discovery procedures have led a Pennsylvania federal judge to threaten sanctions over the lawyer's alleged failure to try to resolve disputes in good faith, according to court filings in a pregnancy-discrimination case.

  • March 21, 2025

    NY Forecast: NFL Arbitration Bid In Race Bias Suit At 2nd Circ.

    This week, the Second Circuit will hear the National Football League's appeal of a lower court decision partially denying its bid to send former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores' racial bias suit to arbitration.

  • March 21, 2025

    4 Employer Takeaways From Google's $28M Pay Bias Pact

    A $28 million settlement in a suit accusing Google of violating California law by paying white and Asian workers better than some nonwhite colleagues should serve as a "wake-up call" for employers in the state, experts say. Here, experts who spoke to Law360 lay out four takeaways for employers.

  • March 21, 2025

    Calif. Forecast: Car Dealership Challenges NLRB Structure

    In the coming week, attorneys should keep an eye out for a ruling on a car dealership's attempt to halt National Labor Relations Board proceedings based on an argument that the board's structure is unconstitutional. Here's a look at that case and other labor and employment matters coming up in California.

  • March 21, 2025

    Lilly, Christian Worker Settle Bias Suit Over Bible Verse Posts

    Eli Lilly & Co. and a former sales representative told a New Jersey federal court Friday that they have resolved the ex-worker's religious bias suit alleging he was unlawfully fired after posting Bible verses to an internal message board that called homosexuality an "abomination."

  • March 21, 2025

    Teamsters Unit Wants Out Of Black UPS Worker's Bias Suit

    A Black UPS employee's claims against a Teamsters unit should be tossed, the union told a Mississippi federal court, saying that he cannot show the union treated him unfairly and that it cannot be held responsible for interfering with his medical leave rights.

  • March 20, 2025

    Trump Rescinds Paul Weiss Order After Firm Strikes Deal

    President Donald Trump on Thursday announced he will rescind an executive order suspending security clearances held by Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP employees after the law firm agreed to not adopt DEI hiring practices and to provide $40 million worth of pro bono services to support administration initiatives.

  • March 20, 2025

    'Epic Self-Own': Lively Says Baldoni Libel Suit Hikes Damages

    Blake Lively urged a New York federal judge on Thursday to toss Justin Baldoni's claims that she defamed him with sexual harassment allegations, saying the law prohibits such retaliatory libel suits and that he has committed an "epic self-own" that will put him on the hook for additional damages.

  • March 20, 2025

    CBS Nixes Bias Suit From Black Worker Fired Over Vacation

    A New York appellate court tossed on Thursday a Black CBS worker's state law claims that she was fired for being late to work out of race and sex bias, finding the allegations too similar to claims tossed by a federal judge who faulted her for returning late from an unauthorized vacation.

  • March 20, 2025

    Mortgage Co. Denied Legal Fees In EEOC Suit

    A Washington federal judge has rejected mortgage and financial services company Covius Services LLC's bid for attorney fees after it defeated an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission employment suit alleging that it unlawfully refused to hire a woman because she took pain medication, saying the mortgage company had not shown that the suit was ill-conceived.

  • March 20, 2025

    4th Circ. Skeptical Of Ex-Fire Captain's Free Speech Suit

    A former Lynchburg, Virginia, fire captain faced an uphill battle Thursday to persuade a Fourth Circuit panel to revive his suit alleging he was unconstitutionally fired for social media posts that citizens called transphobic and racist, with one judge saying his posts created an "appalling situation."

  • March 20, 2025

    4th Circ. Seems Open To Reviving Pregnant Worker's Bias Suit

    The Fourth Circuit seemed receptive Thursday to a former hospital worker's argument that she was unlawfully fired for a pregnancy-related disability, pondering whether the lower court had relied on an outdated interpretation of disability bias law when it tossed her case.

  • March 20, 2025

    5th Circ. Says Shell Worker's Religious Bias Suit Lacking

    The Fifth Circuit upheld a Shell subsidiary's win over a former offshore worker's suit claiming he was unlawfully denied a religious exemption from the company's COVID-19 vaccination mandate, saying he hadn't alleged the type of adverse action required for a bias case.

  • March 20, 2025

    7th Circ. Backs Chicago Rail In Canine Officer's ADA Suit

    The Seventh Circuit said Thursday it won't revive a Chicago rail officer's suit claiming he was removed from his canine handler role after testing positive for drugs he had been prescribed, faulting him for failing to respond to the agency's requests to clarify the results.

  • March 20, 2025

    Ex-Harvard Coach's Bias Suit Filed On Time, Judge Advises

    Harvard University shouldn't escape a former ice hockey coach's suit alleging she was forced into retirement for complaining that she was treated differently from her male colleagues, a Massachusetts federal judge recommended, saying her claims were filed within the statutory time limits.

  • March 20, 2025

    Disciplined Cop's Age Bias Suit Gains Traction At 6th Circ.

    A Sixth Circuit panel considering whether to reinstate a police officer's age discrimination suit over a disciplinary action appeared ready Thursday to lend some credence to an arbitrator's decision undermining the department's stated reason for the punishment.

  • March 19, 2025

    Ryan Reynolds Says Baldoni's Claims Are Just 'Hurt Feelings'

    Ryan Reynolds has urged a New York federal court to throw out Justin Baldoni's defamation suit against him, arguing that the "It Ends With Us" actor-director's complaint is devoid of any legitimate allegations and merely stems from Baldoni's "hurt feelings" in his ongoing beef with Reynolds and Blake Lively.

  • March 19, 2025

    Judge Tells DOJ To Alert All Agencies Of Perkins Coie Ruling

    A Washington, D.C., federal judge Wednesday directed the Trump administration to tell all federal agencies to rescind requests for disclosures about government and contractor relationships with Perkins Coie LLP, following an order last week blocking enforcement of the president's executive order against the Seattle-based law firm.

Expert Analysis

  • After Chevron: EEOC Status Quo Will Likely Continue

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    As the legal landscape adjusts to the end of Chevron deference, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s rulemaking authority isn’t likely to shift as much as some other employment-related agencies, says Paige Lyle at FordHarrison.

  • After Chevron: Various Paths For Labor And Employment Law

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    Labor and employment law leans heavily on federal agency guidance, so the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to toss out Chevron deference will ripple through this area, with future workplace policies possibly taking shape through strategic litigation, informal guidance, state-level regulation and more, says Alexander MacDonald at Littler.

  • FIFA Maternity Policy Shows Need For Federal Paid Leave

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    While FIFA and other employers taking steps to provide paid parental leave should be applauded, the U.S. deserves a red card for being the only rich nation in the world that offers no such leave, says Dacey Romberg at Sanford Heisler.

  • What 2 Rulings On Standing Mean For DEI Litigation

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    Recent federal court decisions in the Fearless Fund and Hello Alice cases shed new light on the ongoing wave of challenges to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, with opposite conclusions on whether the plaintiffs had standing to sue, say attorneys at Moore & Van Allen.

  • Eye On Compliance: A Brief History Of Joint Employer Rules

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    It's important to examine the journey of the joint employer rule, because if the National Labor Relations Board's Fifth Circuit appeal is successful and the 2023 version is made law, virtually every employer who contracts for labor likely could be deemed a joint employer, say Bruno Katz and Robert Curtis at Wilson Elser.

  • Top 5 Issues For Employers To Audit Midyear

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    Six months into 2024, developments from federal courts and regulatory agencies should prompt employers to reflect on their progress regarding artificial intelligence, noncompetes, diversity initiatives, religious accommodation and more, say Allegra Lawrence-Hardy and Lisa Haldar at Lawrence & Bundy.

  • Tailoring Compliance Before AI Walks The Runway

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    Fashion industry players that adopt artificial intelligence to propel their businesses forward should consider ways to minimize its perceived downsides, including potential job displacements and algorithmic biases that may harm diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, say Jeffrey Greene and Ivory Djahouri at Foley & Lardner.

  • Where Anti-Discrimination Law Stands 4 Years After Bostock

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    On the fourth anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark Bostock ruling, Evan Parness and Abby Rickeman at Covington take stock of how the decision, which held that Title VII protects employees from discrimination because of their sexual orientation and gender identity, has affected anti-discrimination law at the state and federal levels.

  • Politics In The Workplace: What Employers Need To Know

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    As the 2024 election approaches and protests continue across the country, employers should be aware of employees' rights — and limits on those rights — related to political speech and activities in the workplace, and be prepared to act proactively to prevent issues before they arise, say attorneys at Littler.

  • What High Court Ruling Means For Sexual Harassment Claims

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    In its recent Smith v. Spizzirri decision, the U.S. Supreme Court held that a district court compelling a case to arbitration is obligated to stay the case rather than dismissing it, but this requirement may result in sexual harassment cases not being heard by appellate courts, says Abe Melamed at Signature Resolution.

  • 5 Steps For Gov't Contractor Affirmative Action Verification

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    As the federal contractor affirmative action program certification deadline approaches, government contractors and subcontractors should take steps to determine their program obligations, and ensure any required plans are properly implemented and timely registered, say Christopher Wilkinson at Perkins Coie and Joanna Colosimo at DCI Consulting.

  • New OSHA Memo Helps Clarify Recordkeeping Compliance

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    Based on recent Occupational Safety and Health Administration guidance on whether musculoskeletal disorders are recordable injuries under the agency's recordkeeping regulation, it appears that OSHA may target active release techniques and stretching programs during its inspections, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Cos. Must Stay On Alert With Joint Employer Rule In Flux

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    While employers may breathe a sigh of relief at recent events blocking the National Labor Relations Board's proposed rule that would make it easier for two entities to be deemed joint employers, the rule is not yet dead, say attorneys at ​​​​​​​Day Pitney.