Discrimination

  • August 29, 2024

    EEOC, Fruit Co. Ink $250K Deal To End Sex Harassment Suit

    A Washington-based fruit growing and packaging company will pay $250,000 to end a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission suit alleging that a manager sexually harassed a pregnant worker and retaliated against her and her spouse because she rebuffed his advances and complained.

  • August 28, 2024

    Disabled Radio Host's Discrimination Suit Gets Trimmed

    An Illinois federal judge has granted Midway Broadcasting Corp. summary judgment on a former radio host's Rehabilitation Act claim in a suit alleging his show was canceled because he has cancer, concluding the law didn't apply to the company.

  • August 28, 2024

    Co. Pushed Director To Work With Broken Fingers, Suit Says

    A military contractor forced a department head to work with broken fingers and a spinal injury following a serious fall, refused to provide short-term disability leave paperwork and ultimately fired him when he raised concerns, according to a complaint filed in Connecticut federal court.

  • August 28, 2024

    11th Circ. Trans Health Redo May Spark Supreme Court Fight

    The Eleventh Circuit's recent decision to rehear Georgia county officials' appeal seeking to exclude gender-confirmation surgery from its employee healthcare coverage rekindles an appellate debate on the extent to which Title VII protects transgender workers that could soon reach the U.S. Supreme Court, attorneys say.

  • August 28, 2024

    NLRB's BLM Ruling Shows Limits Of Protest Protections

    A National Labor Relations Board decision finding federal labor law did not protect three Alabama bar workers who claimed they were forced to quit after attending Black Lives Matter protests shows the limits of protections for employees' political protests, experts said, and illustrates how fact-specific such cases can be.

  • August 28, 2024

    In WNBA Pregnancy Bias Suit, Contract Tensions Emerge

    A recent pregnancy bias lawsuit by WNBA player Dearica Hamby highlights the challenges faced by professional athletes who are also parents, especially when it comes to the leeway teams have to trade players, experts said. Here, Law360 dives into Hamby's case and highlights three key things attorneys should know.

  • August 28, 2024

    Kaufman Dolowich Hires Longtime Employment Atty In LA

    Kaufman Dolowich has hired a labor and employment attorney as a partner in its Los Angeles office who has been practicing with a firm he helped launch in 2009 for over 14 years, his new firm announced Wednesday.

  • August 28, 2024

    Ex-Defender Opposes Bid To Fix Record In Harassment Case

    A former assistant public defender in North Carolina who lost her suit accusing the judiciary of botching her sexual harassment complaint has called out mistakes in the trial transcripts but opposed the government's method for correcting them, calling the proposal "fundamentally unfair."

  • August 28, 2024

    Ex-Assistant DA Can't Revive Retaliation Suit At 9th Circ.

    The Ninth Circuit declined Wednesday to reinstate a former assistant district attorney's suit claiming he was fired by the city of San Francisco for whistleblowing about what he alleged was misconduct, ruling there's not enough proof he was canned for going to the media with his concerns.

  • August 28, 2024

    8th Circ. Revives FMLA Interference Claim Against Pork Co.

    An Iowa federal judge correctly tossed a mechanic's claim that a pork processing plant discriminated against him for taking Family and Medical Leave Act leave by firing him, the Eighth Circuit said Wednesday, but it said the judge should have preserved a claim that the discharge constituted FMLA interference.

  • August 28, 2024

    SC Hospital Asks 4th Circ. To Reconsider Arbitration Denial

    A South Carolina hospital urged the Fourth Circuit to reconsider blocking arbitration in a job applicant's suit alleging she was screened out based on a discriminatory physical agility test, arguing an appeals panel overlooked key details when concluding the application portal was unclear about the arbitration pact.

  • August 27, 2024

    Walmart Has To Face EEOC Again After Losing Bias Trial

    The Seventh Circuit gave the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission another chance Tuesday to force Walmart to boost its disability accommodation training after a jury found it intentionally discriminated against an employee with Down syndrome, and affirmed what was originally a $125 million jury verdict later reduced to $419,000.

  • August 27, 2024

    X Wins Dismissal of Former Workers' Sex Bias Suit, For Now

    A California federal judge agreed to throw out former X Corp. workers' suit claiming Elon Musk's takeover of the company formerly named Twitter caused women to lose their jobs, but the judge gave the workers another opportunity to amend their claims.

  • August 27, 2024

    Insurer Off The Hook For $1.8M Praying Coach Settlement

    A Washington state school district's insurer doesn't have to cover a nearly $1.8 million legal fee settlement the district reached with a high school football coach whom the U.S. Supreme Court found was wrongly suspended for praying on the 50-yard line after games, a state appeals court ruled.

  • August 27, 2024

    Plumbing Co. To Pay $1.6M To Settle EEOC Harassment Suit

    A plumbing and HVAC contractor has agreed to pay the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission $1.6 million to end a Florida federal suit claiming it created a racially hostile work environment by allowing the regular use of racial slurs and display of confederate flags.

  • August 27, 2024

    White Ex-Coach Asks 11th Circ. To Rethink Bias Suit Ruling

    A white former football coach has asked the Eleventh Circuit to rethink its choice not to reopen his case alleging that a Georgia school district unlawfully refused to renew his contract because he's white, arguing that the decision deprives him of his right to have his day in court.

  • August 27, 2024

    Teacher Sues Ga. School Over Ouster During Medical Absence

    A math teacher and state champion wrestling coach at a private school in Atlanta has claimed he was unlawfully forced out of a job after a hospitalization for a kidney infection, with one school official telling him to resign or be fired.

  • August 27, 2024

    Wells Fargo Seeks To Scrap Ex-Worker's $22M ADA Verdict

    Wells Fargo urged a North Carolina federal court to upend a jury's $22.1 million verdict in favor of a former investment director who alleged he was laid off so the company wouldn't have to accommodate his paralyzed colon and bladder, arguing the evidence presented doesn't support jurors' conclusions.

  • August 27, 2024

    Illinois Pushes Boundaries With Strong Caregiver Bias Law

    A newly signed Illinois law barring workplace discrimination against caregivers is a robust addition to the growing stack of state measures shielding workers with familial responsibilities from uneven treatment, experts say.

  • August 27, 2024

    Car Insurer Defeats Ex-Workers' Age Bias, Benefits Claims

    Two former employees of a Montgomery, Alabama, car insurance company didn't prove they lost their jobs because they were a few years away from retiring, an Alabama federal judge ruled, tossing the age discrimination and benefits lawsuit they filed after they were laid off.

  • August 27, 2024

    Reed Smith Calls Ex-Atty's Bid For Pay Data 'Frivolous'

    Reed Smith LLP has urged a New Jersey state court judge to reject a bid by a former attorney suing the firm for gender discrimination to obtain pay data going back nearly 20 years, arguing there is no legal basis to support expanding the scope of discovery.

  • August 27, 2024

    Croke Fairchild Adds Smith Gambrell Employment Partner

    Croke Fairchild Duarte & Beres LLC, one of the country's largest women-owned law firms, has added an employment attorney from Smith Gambrell & Russell LLP as a partner.

  • August 27, 2024

    Ex-Teacher Says District Forced Her To Resign Over COVID

    A former Fulton County School District teacher sued the district in Georgia federal court Monday, alleging she was denied reasonable accommodations and forced to resign from her job after contracting COVID-19 in 2020.

  • August 27, 2024

    6th Circ. Upholds Diver's Sex Harassment Verdict

    The Sixth Circuit backed a jury's verdict in favor of a commercial diver who accused an environmental cleanup company of subjecting her to weeks of belittlement and harassment, finding she'd presented sufficient evidence demonstrating that supervisors and colleagues ostracized her because of her gender.

  • August 27, 2024

    11th Circ. Allows Fla. Law Banning Trans Care To Take Effect

    The Eleventh Circuit has said a Florida law can take effect that bans gender-affirming care for transgender minors and restricts it for adults, granting the state's bid to scrap an injunction barring the law while it appeals a lower court ruling that found the statute unconstitutional.

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.