Discrimination

  • April 15, 2025

    9th Circ. Backs Gold Mine's Win In Mechanic's Disability Suit

    The Ninth Circuit upheld on Tuesday a mining company's win in an ex-employee's suit alleging it fired him upon his return from disability leave, agreeing with a lower court that the mechanic was set to return with restrictions that left him unable to do required repair work.

  • April 15, 2025

    Food Service Co. Can't Escape Tobacco Surcharge Suit

    A food service company can't dodge a proposed class action alleging it unlawfully charges tobacco users an additional fee to obtain health insurance, an Illinois federal judge ruled Tuesday, rejecting the company's assertion that federal benefits law doesn't require retroactive reimbursement for completing a cessation program.

  • April 15, 2025

    LSU Must Face Former Attys' Retaliation Claim

    Louisiana State University cannot escape two former in-house attorneys' claim alleging their new job offers were rescinded after they raised concerns about gender equity, a federal judge ruled, rejecting the school's argument that the women forfeited their rights under federal discrimination laws.

  • April 15, 2025

    9th Circ. Backs Ex-Tax Office Worker's $110K Harassment Win

    The Ninth Circuit declined to undo sanctions leveled against a tax and accounting company or reduce a $110,000 jury win handed to a former worker who claimed the business's owner sexually harassed her, ruling the company's arguments fell flat against a lower court's orders.

  • April 15, 2025

    Jersey City, Mayor Can't Escape Fired Aide's Retaliation Suit

    Jersey City, New Jersey, and its mayor, Stephen Fulop, are now the lone defendants in a lawsuit by one of Fulop's former aides who was terminated for supporting his conservative sister's political campaign following a Garden State federal judge's dismissal of four city officials from the suit. 

  • April 15, 2025

    Law Students Say EEOC Overreached With DEI Info Demands

    A trio of law students sued the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in D.C. federal court Tuesday, claiming the agency "grossly overstepped" by demanding workplace diversity information, including personal details about applicants and workers, from prominent law firms.

  • April 15, 2025

    DC Judge Blocks Trump Order Against Susman Godfrey

    A D.C. federal judge on Tuesday largely blocked President Donald Trump's executive order over Susman Godfrey's handling of election litigation, saying the "Framers of the Constitution would see this as a shocking abuse of power."

  • April 15, 2025

    Ga. Plant Alleges Ex-CFO Tried To Bribe Atty In Bogus Letter

    The owner of a now-shuttered Atlanta plastics manufacturing plant has alleged it was the company's disgruntled former financial chief who authored a letter offering to pay off the attorney representing sibling plaintiffs in a federal discrimination lawsuit, in a response this week to a sanctions bid.

  • April 15, 2025

    Mail Delivery Contractor, EEOC Wrap Up Disability Bias Suit

    A South Dakota-based mail delivery contractor agreed to pay $45,000 to end a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lawsuit alleging it violated federal disability bias law when it fired an employee because of his physical disability. 

  • April 15, 2025

    NJ Law Firm Hit With Bias Suit From Cancer-Stricken Aide

    A former legal assistant at a New Jersey personal injury firm is suing the firm alleging that she was fired for requesting a workplace accommodation after she was diagnosed with and had surgery for ureter cancer.

  • April 15, 2025

    DOL Blocked From Forcing Contractors To Swear Off DEI

    The U.S. Department of Labor cannot force federal funding recipients to certify that they don't operate programs that violate recent executive orders targeting diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, an Illinois federal judge held, saying President Donald Trump's directive likely violates the First Amendment.

  • April 15, 2025

    DOJ Drops Equal Pay Suit Against Mississippi Senate

    A U.S. Department of Justice suit accusing the Mississippi state Senate of paying a Black attorney less than her white colleagues came to an end in federal court Tuesday after the government agreed to toss the case.

  • April 15, 2025

    5 Questions Employers Should Ask Before Buying An AI Tool

    Not all artificial intelligence tools are created equal, and employers should be sure to ask a few crucial questions before buying AI tools for resume screening or other decision-making to get the most out of the technology and avoid violating antidiscrimination law, experts say. Here are five questions employers should ask before buying AI tools for the workplace.

  • April 14, 2025

    Susman Godfrey Asks To Block 'Unconstitutional' Order

    Susman Godfrey LLP on Monday asked a D.C. federal judge to immediately restrain the federal government from enforcing President Donald Trump's "unconstitutional" executive order revoking the firm's access to government resources, saying the directive is blatant retaliation for the firm's representation of clients and causes the president doesn't like.

  • April 14, 2025

    Worker Says Accenture's DEI Goals Cost Him His Job

    Accenture LLP refused to promote a male employee and eventually fired him in order to make room for less-qualified women in the name of gender parity, according to a sex discrimination suit the worker filed Monday in Illinois federal court.

  • April 14, 2025

    Akerman Calls Back Labor And Employment Atty As Partner

    Management-side firm Akerman LLP added a partner to its labor and employment practice group in Chicago who is returning to the firm after seven years and called going back "a homecoming."

  • April 14, 2025

    Musk's X Sued Over Wash. Worker Severance Pay, Bonuses

    About 150 former Twitter workers in Washington have sued X Corp., saying that since Elon Musk took over and slashed its workforce, the social media platform has illegally refused to engage in arbitration over claims from laid-off workers who say they have been stiffed on promised severance pay and bonuses.

  • April 14, 2025

    Tesla's Arbitration Win Upended In Ex-Exec's Defamation Case

    A Ninth Circuit panel on Monday said a lower court judge wrongly confirmed a zero-dollar arbitration award in favor of Tesla and Elon Musk that dismissed a former Tesla engineer's defamation claims, saying the federal court didn't have jurisdiction because no money was awarded.

  • April 14, 2025

    Quinn Emanuel, King & Spalding Rep Harvard In Trump Letter

    Harvard University on Monday turned to a pair of high-powered lawyers from Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP and King & Spalding LLP as the school pushed back on the Trump administration's policy demands linked to nearly $9 billion in federal funding — a move that prompted the government to freeze more than $2 billion in grants for the school.

  • April 14, 2025

    8th Circ. Says Wheelchair User Can't Revive Hiring Bias Suit

    The Eighth Circuit declined Monday to reinstate a job applicant's suit claiming an Arkansas school district hired a less-experienced candidate out of disability bias because he uses a wheelchair, ruling he failed to show the district's preference for an internal candidate was a cover-up for discrimination.

  • April 14, 2025

    NY AG Seeks Toss Of Seventh-Day Adventist's Bias Suit

    New York Attorney General Letitia James has asked a federal judge in Manhattan to toss a potential class action brought by a former state disability office employee against the state and her labor union claiming she was fired for demanding specific days off for religious observances.

  • April 14, 2025

    CWA, Verizon Dispute Fired White Worker's Race Bias Claims

    The Communications Workers of America and Verizon challenged a worker's suit alleging he was fired for using the N-word because he is white, with the union and company arguing that the CWA hadn't breached its duty of fair representation by not advancing a grievance over the firing to arbitration.

  • April 14, 2025

    Ex-GC's Retaliation Claim Survives Early Exit Bid In ADA Case

    A North Carolina federal judge has ruled that a former associate general counsel at a historically Black college in North Carolina can pursue a retaliation claim, but not a discrimination claim, in her Americans with Disabilities Act suit alleging she was fired after seeking accommodation for her disability.

  • April 14, 2025

    Post-COVID, Questions Linger On State Laws And Telework

    The Eighth Circuit recently declared that Minnesota's antidiscrimination law doesn't cover remote workers who don't have a physical presence in the state, taking a decisive stance on a tricky issue that experts said will continue bedeviling courts even now that the worldwide COVID-19 crisis has ended.

  • April 14, 2025

    Ex-Reed Smith Atty Gets Review Of NJ Bias Damages Limit

    The New Jersey state appeals court has said it will consider a former Reed Smith LLP labor and employment lawyer's appeal of a ruling that damages in her gender discrimination suit against the firm can only go as far back as the start date of a New Jersey equal pay law.

Expert Analysis

  • Justices Mull Sex-Based Classification In Trans Law Case

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    After the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in U.S. v. Skrmetti this week, it appears that the fate of the Tennessee law at the center of the case — a law banning gender-affirming healthcare for transgender adolescents — will hinge on whether the majority read the statute as imposing a sex-based classification, says Alexandra Crandall at Dickinson Wright.

  • Pa. Ruling Highlights Challenges Of Employer Arb. Appeals

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    A Pennsylvania federal court's recent ruling in Welch Foods v. General Teamsters Local Union No. 397 demonstrates the inherent difficulties employers face when seeking relief from labor arbitration decisions through appeals in court — and underscores how employers are faced with often conflicting legal priorities, says Daniel Johns at Cozen O'Connor.

  • 7 Ways To Prepare For An I-9 Audit Or Immigration Raid

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    Because immigration enforcement is likely to surge under the upcoming Trump administration, employers should take steps to ensure their staff is trained in employment eligibility verification requirements and what to do in the event of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement I-9 audit or workplace raid, say attorneys at Littler.

  • California Supreme Court's Year In Review

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    Attorneys at Horvitz & Levy highlight notable decisions on major questions from the California Supreme Court's last term, including voter initiatives, hostile work environment and the economic loss rule.

  • Disentangling Various Forms Of Workplace Discrimination

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    Pay inequity can be missed where it exists and misidentified due to incorrect statistics, leaving individuals to face multiple facets of discrimination connected by a common root cause, meaning correct identification and measurement is crucial, says Daniel Levy at Advanced Analytical.

  • Key Requirements In New Maryland Pay Transparency Laws

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    Although several jurisdictions now require pay transparency in job advertisements, Maryland's new law is among the broadest in the country, both in terms of what is required and the scope of its applicability, says Sarah Belger at Quarles & Brady.

  • Lessons From EEOC Case Of Fla. Worker Fired After Stillbirth

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    A recent federal court settlement between a Florida resort and a fired line cook shows that the U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission sees stillbirth as protected under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, also providing four other important lessons, says Gordon Berger at Pierson Ferdinand.

  • Advising Employers As AI Meets DEI And Discrimination

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Though companies can use artificial intelligence tools to develop more diverse and inclusive workforces, counsel should also prepare employers for how AI can stymie these efforts, provoke discrimination claims and complicate resulting litigation, says Emily Schifter at Troutman Pepper.

  • A Look At The Hefty Demands In Calif. Employer AI Draft Regs

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    California's draft regulations on artificial intelligence use in employment decisions show that the California Privacy Protection Agency is positioning itself as a de facto AI regulator for the state, which isn't waiting around for federal legislation, says Lily Li at Metaverse Law.

  • Federal Salary History Ban's Reach Is Limited

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    Though a newly effective Office of Personnel Management rule takes important steps by banning federal employers from considering job applicants' nonfederal salary histories, the rule's narrow applicability and overconfidence in the existing system's fairness will likely not end persistent pay inequities, says Margaret House at Kalijarvi Chuzi.

  • 2nd Circ. Hostile Workplace Ruling Widens Arbitration Pitfalls

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    The Second Circuit’s recent decision, affirming the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act applies to a worker whose workplace hostility claims arose before the law’s 2022 enactment, widens the scope of the law — and the risks of unenforceable arbitration agreements for employers, say attorneys at Hinshaw.

  • Title VII Compliance Lessons From Raytheon Age Bias Suit

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    A Texas federal court’s recent refusal to dismiss age discrimination claims from a former Raytheon employee, terminated after he admitted to acts that Raytheon says violated its harassment policy, nonetheless illustrates strategies employers can use to protect themselves when facing competing Title VII workplace obligations, say attorneys at Segal McCambridge.

  • How The Presidential Election Will Affect Workplace AI Regs

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    The U.S. has so far adopted a light-handed approach to regulating artificial intelligence in the labor and employment area, but the presidential election is unlikely to have as dramatic of an effect on AI regulations as it may on other labor and employment matters, say attorneys at Littler.