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Employment
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September 24, 2024
Full 9th Circ. Vaporizes First-To-File Precedent For FCA Suits
The full Ninth Circuit on Tuesday overruled circuit precedent and held that the so-called first-to-file rule governing False Claims Act cases is not jurisdictional, meaning that courts can't toss a whistleblower action on jurisdictional grounds rooted in the first-to-file provision.
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September 24, 2024
Aristocrat Wins Injunction In Slot Machine Trade Secret Row
A federal judge in Las Vegas blocked gambling game company Light & Wonder Inc. from commercializing its Dragon Train video slot machine game, saying competitor Aristocrat Technologies Inc. is "extremely likely" to succeed in showing L&W misappropriated Aristocrat's trade secrets in developing the game.
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September 24, 2024
Chance Cognizant Didn't Discriminate Is '1 In A Billion,' Jury Told
An attorney for a class of former Cognizant Technology employees alleging the company discriminated against non-South Asian and non-Indian employees told a jury during opening statements of a retrial Tuesday that the probability Cognizant's behavior wasn't racially biased is about one in a billion.
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September 24, 2024
Fired United Rentals Worker Denies Competing In New Job
United Rentals Inc. cannot show that it suffered irreparable harm when an ex-employee started working for a new company after he was fired, and even if it could, his noncompete agreement is unenforceable, the worker said in a filing in Connecticut state court that seeks to stave off a preliminary injunction.
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September 24, 2024
Wash. Justices Dubious Of Moonlighting Ban Loophole
Washington state Supreme Court justices expressed doubt Tuesday that the state's moonlighting protections included an exception allowing companies to ban employees from other businesses in the same industry, saying that would contradict the noncompete statute's aim of supporting mobility for low-wage earners.
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September 24, 2024
Ex-Employee Sues Ga. Boiler Co., Alleging Retaliation
A Black former employee of Combustion and Controls LLC sued the boiler company in Georgia federal court Tuesday, claiming he was treated worse than white co-workers, racially insulted, threatened with violence and ultimately fired after reporting the hostility.
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September 24, 2024
2 Ex-American Airlines Workers Seek $8M Sex Assault Verdict
Counsel for two former American Airlines flight attendants urged a California federal jury during closing arguments Tuesday to make a retired pilot pay $8.1 million over allegations he sexually assaulted the pair at a hotel during a round-trip journey between Los Angeles and Sao Paulo, Brazil.
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September 24, 2024
10th Circ. Judge Wants More Info Before Arbitration Decision
A Tenth Circuit judge suggested Tuesday that the maker of Wonder bread wanted the court to set employment precedent without crucial information, saying the court lacked detail about a wholesaler's relationship with the food manufacturer.
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September 24, 2024
DuPont Employee Defends Mass Email In ERISA Trial
A DuPont employee was scrutinized on the witness stand Tuesday for the way a worker learned about how the chemical company's merger with Dow would impact their benefits, with a judge calling a heavily redacted trial exhibit useless and a plaintiffs' attorney quizzing her on basic email functions.
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September 24, 2024
'Salacious' Keches Spat With Ex-Partner Aired In Court
A former partner of Keches Law has asked a Massachusetts state court for permission to review the personal injury firm's financial records after he was told his shares in the firm are worthless, accusing another attorney of financial misdeeds.
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September 24, 2024
NLRB Office Signs Off On Near $450K Deal With Musk Brother
A Colorado nonprofit co-founded by Elon Musk's brother settled a union's unfair labor practice claims for close to $450,000, according to a National Labor Relations Board announcement Tuesday, with the organization agreeing to pay thousands to laid-off workers and make supervisors undergo federal labor law training.
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September 24, 2024
11th Circ. Unleashes Swarm Of 'Hypos' In Fla. Pronoun Case
An Eleventh Circuit panel on Tuesday peppered attorneys with hypothetical scenarios as they attempted to hammer out the bounds of public school teachers' free speech protections in the classroom, in a case by transgender and nonbinary Florida educators that could ultimately affect other state employees.
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September 24, 2024
Tractor Supply Co. Tobacco Fee Violates ERISA, Suit Says
Tractor Supply Co. illegally charged workers who used tobacco an extra fee through their health insurance plan without explaining they could dodge the charge if they participated in a smoking cessation program, according to a proposed class action filed in Pennsylvania federal court.
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September 24, 2024
Combs Accused Of Filming Woman's Rape In New Suit
Hip-hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs was hit with a civil suit in New York federal court Tuesday alleging he and his former head of security raped a woman in 2001, recorded the assault and later disseminated the video.
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September 24, 2024
Darden Committed 'Wage Abuse' Against Workers, Suit Says
Darden Restaurants failed to pay workers for their overtime hours and did not provide them with full, uninterrupted meal and rest periods, a former employee said in a Private Attorneys General Act lawsuit filed in California state court.
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September 24, 2024
Dems Urge Full 9th Circ. To Rethink Worker's Trafficking Loss
Democratic lawmakers urged the en banc Ninth Circuit to rethink a split decision tossing Cambodian workers' human trafficking suit against a California importer, arguing Congress specifically amended the federal law following another erroneous Ninth Circuit ruling in the case, and the majority's refusal to apply those amendments retroactively undermines congressional authority.
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September 24, 2024
Sheppard Mullin Adds Paul Hastings Employment Leader
The co-leader of Paul Hastings LLP's wage and hour practice group has jumped to Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP in California, the firm said Tuesday.
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September 24, 2024
EMS Workers Get Class Status In Sex, Race Pay Gap Suit
A New York federal judge approved on Tuesday emergency medical services workers to proceed as a class in their lawsuit alleging New York City paid them less in relation to their almost exclusively white, male counterparts at the fire department, despite differences in rank and responsibility.
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September 24, 2024
DC Circ. Says Arb. Board Must Handle Rail Union Grievance
Amtrak lost its appeal to a ruling that ordered an arbitration board to consider whether the rail company must use union labor on a newly acquired building, with the D.C. Circuit upholding a Washington, D.C., federal judge's decision Tuesday.
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September 24, 2024
Conn. Judge Sends Law Firm's Trade Secrets Case To Fla.
A Connecticut boutique law firm must go to Florida if it wants to continue pursuing its trade secrets case against a consultant it accused of making off with some of its confidential information because the Constitution State is an improper venue, a federal judge has ruled.
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September 24, 2024
Do GCs Even Know Company's AI Use? Survey Raises Doubts
Top legal officers appear badly misaligned with other executives or are misinformed on the use of artificial intelligence at their companies, especially in the human resources area, according to a new survey released Tuesday.
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September 23, 2024
Coinbase Brings On Ex-Citadel Legal Chief With SEC Chops
Coinbase announced on Monday it has hired Ryan VanGrack to serve as its vice president of legal, where he will be overseeing civil litigation, regulatory probes, employment and intellectual property matters for the crypto exchange after spending seven years with Citadel Securities as general counsel.
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September 23, 2024
Ex-Adviser Can't Seek Due Process Update, Justices Told
A Morgan Stanley unit on Friday urged the U.S. Supreme Court not to tackle a purported circuit split over whether "manifest disregard of the law" remains a valid reason for vacating an arbitral award, arguing that a former employee missed his chance to press the argument in the lower courts.
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September 23, 2024
Nonprofit, Union Say Janus Doesn't Apply To NYC Dues Fight
Two New York City public defenders cannot leverage the U.S. Supreme Court's Janus ruling to stop paying their union because the ruling only applies to public employees and they're technically employed by a nonprofit, argued their employer, union and the city in a motion to dismiss their lawsuit.
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September 23, 2024
Kroger Fights FTC's Bid To Move Constitutionality Case
Kroger is fighting to keep its challenge to the Federal Trade Commission's in-house courts in Ohio federal court, pushing back against the agency's effort to get it paused or moved to Oregon, where the FTC's case against the company's merger with Albertson's is already playing out.
Expert Analysis
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When Trauma Colors Testimony: How To Help Witnesses
As stress-related mental health issues continue to rise, trial attorneys must become familiar with a few key trauma-informed strategies to help witnesses get back on track — leaning in to the counselor aspect of their vocations, say Ava Hernández and Steve Wood at Courtroom Sciences.
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Series
Being An Opera Singer Made Me A Better Lawyer
My journey from the stage to the courtroom has shown that the skills I honed as an opera singer – punctuality, memorization, creativity and more – have all played a vital role in my success as an attorney, says Gerard D'Emilio at GableGotwals.
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How Law Firms Can Avoid 'Collaboration Drag'
Law firm decision making can be stifled by “collaboration drag” — characterized by too many pointless meetings, too much peer feedback and too little dissent — but a few strategies can help stakeholders improve decision-making processes and build consensus, says Steve Groom at Miles Mediation.
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Workday AI Bias Suit Suggests Hiring Lessons For Employers
As state laws and a federal agency increasingly focus on employment bias introduced by artificial intelligence systems, a California federal court's recent decision to allow a discrimination suit to proceed against Workday's AI-driven recruitment software, shows companies should promptly assess these tools' risks, say attorneys at Williams & Connolly.
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When The Supreme Court Gives You Lemons, Make Lemonade
Instead of grousing about the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decisions overturning long-standing precedents, attorneys should look to history for examples of how enterprising legal minds molded difficult decisions to their advantage, and figure out how to work with the cards they’ve been dealt, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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What BIPA Reform Law Means For Biometrics Litigation
A recently signed Illinois law amending the Biometric Information Privacy Act limits defendants' liability exposure on a per-scan basis and clarifies that electronic signatures constitute a valid written release, establishing additional issues that courts will need to address in future BIPA litigation, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.
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How Anti-DEI Bill Could Affect Employers' Diversity Efforts
Sen. J.D. Vance's recently introduced Dismantle DEI Act would substantially limit employers’ ability to implement and promote workplace diversity, equity and inclusion, but there are still steps employers can take to support a diverse workforce, says Peter Ennis at Cozen O’Connor.
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Opinion
Proposed Law Would Harm NYC Hospitality Industry
A recently proposed New York City Law that would update hotel licensing and staff coverage requirements could give the city commissioner and unions undue control over the city's hospitality industry, and harm smaller hotels that cannot afford full-time employees, says Stuart Saft at Holland & Knight.
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Opinion
Litigation Funding Disclosure Key To Open, Impartial Process
Blanket investor and funding agreement disclosures should be required in all civil cases where the investor has a financial interest in the outcome in order to address issues ranging from potential conflicts of interest to national security concerns, says Bob Goodlatte, former U.S. House Representative for Virginia.
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Comparing 5 Administrators' Mass Arbitration Procedures
Attorneys at DLA Piper compare the rules for mass arbitrations at five different arbitration providers — Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services, American Arbitration Association, National Arbitration and Mediation, FedArb and New Era ADR — including their triggers, claim screening procedures, how and when they assess fees, and more.
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What NFL Draft Picks Have In Common With Lateral Law Hires
Nearly half of law firm lateral hires leave within a few years — a failure rate that is strikingly similar to the performance of NFL quarterbacks drafted in the first round — in part because evaluators focus too heavily on quantifiable metrics and not enough on a prospect's character traits, says Howard Rosenberg at Baretz+Brunelle.
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Calif. Ruling Clarifying Paystub Compliance Is Win For Cos.
In rare good news for California employers, the state Supreme Court recently clarified that workers couldn’t win extra penalties in wage and hour cases by claiming their employer intentionally violated state paystub law if the employer believed it had complied in good faith, say Drei Munar and Kirk Hornbeck at Hunton.
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Considering Noncompete Strategies After Blocked FTC Ban
A Texas district court's recent decision in Ryan v. Federal Trade Commission to set aside the new FTC rule banning noncompetes does away with some immediate compliance obligations, but employers should still review strategies, attend to changes to state laws and monitor ongoing challenges, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.
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Replacing The Stigma Of Menopause With Law Firm Support
A large proportion of the workforce is forced to pull the brakes on their career aspirations because of the taboo surrounding menopause and a lack of consistent support, but law firms can initiate the cultural shift needed by formulating thoughtful workplace policies, says Barbara Hamilton-Bruce at Simmons & Simmons.
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Planning Law Firm Content Calendars: What, When, Where
During the slower month of August, law firms should begin working on their 2025 content calendars, planning out a content creation and distribution framework that aligns with the firm’s objectives and maintains audience engagement throughout the year, says Jessica Kaplan at Legally Penned.