Discrimination

  • March 21, 2025

    Stifel Ends Sex Harassment Suit That Went Up To 2nd Circ.

    Stifel Nicolaus & Co. has resolved a lawsuit from a banker who alleged her supervisor made sexual comments and touched her inappropriately, about six months after the Second Circuit found a law barring the mandatory arbitration of sexual harassment claims shielded her case.

  • March 21, 2025

    Ex-Jefferies Employee Says Age Bias Led To Termination

    Investment bank Jefferies LLC has been sued by a former assistant vice president who alleged he was fired under the pretext of working from home too much and that he was actually a victim of age 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    More than a decade after the U.S. Department of Defense repealed its "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which kept LGBTQ+ troops in the closet, veterans who were kicked out for their sexual orientation have continued to suffer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.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • Eye On Compliance: ADA Accommodations For Obesity

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    As the classification of "obesity" as a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act continues to evolve, employers should note federal district and state court deviations from U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission guidelines, which have deemed obesity to be a qualifying impairment, no matter the cause, says Lauren Stadler at Wilson Elser.

  • 3rd. Circ. Ruling Shows Employers Where To Put ADA Focus

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    A recent Third Circuit decision in Morgan v. Allison Crane & Rigging, confirming that the Americans with Disabilities Act protects some temporarily impaired employees, reminds employers to pursue compliance through uniform policies that head off discriminatory decisions, not after-the-fact debates over an individual's disability status, says Joseph McGuire at Freeman Mathis.

  • 11th Circ. Ruling Offers Refresher On 'Sex-Plus' Bias Claims

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    While the Eleventh Circuit’s recent ruling in McCreight v. AuburnBank dismissed former employees’ sex-plus-age discrimination claims, the opinion reminds employers to ensure that workplace policies and practices do not treat a subgroup of employees of one sex differently than the same subgroup of another sex, say attorneys at Bradley Arant.

  • Employment Verification Poses Unique Risks For Staffing Cos.

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    All employers face employee verification issues, but a survey of recent settlements with the U.S. Department of Justice's Immigrant and Employee Rights Section suggests that staffing companies' unique circumstances raise the chances they will be investigated and face substantial fines, says Eileen Scofield at Alston & Bird.

  • What To Expect As Worker Bias Suit Heads To High Court

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    The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services, which concerns how courts treat discrimination claims brought by majority group plaintiffs, and its decision could eliminate the background circumstances test, but is unlikely to significantly affect employers' diversity programs, say Victoria Slade and Alysa Mo at Davis Wright.

  • Mitigating Construction Employers' Risks Of Discrimination

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    Recent heightened government scrutiny of construction industry employment practices illustrates the need for nondiscriminatory recruitment and proactive assessment of workforces and worksites, including auditing for demographic disparities and taking documented steps to address such issues, say attorneys at Seyfarth.

  • Cos. Should Focus On State AI Laws Despite New DOL Site

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    Because a new U.S. Department of Labor-sponsored website about the disability discrimination risks of AI hiring tools mostly echoes old guidance, employers should focus on complying with the state and local AI workplace laws springing up where Congress and federal regulators have yet to act, say attorneys at Littler.

  • How The Tide Of EEOC Litigation Rolled Back In FY 2024

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    An analysis of the location, timing and underlying claims asserted in U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission-initiated cases during fiscal year 2024 shows that the commission saw a substantial decrease in litigation activity after a surge last year, but employers should not drop their guard, say Christopher DeGroff and Andrew Scroggins at Seyfarth.

  • The Key Changes In Revised FDIC Hiring Regulations

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    Attorneys at Ogletree break down the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s new rule, effective Oct. 1, that will ease restrictions on financial institutions hiring employees with criminal histories, amend the FDIC's treatment of minor offenses and clarify its stance on expunged or dismissed criminal records.

  • Employer Tips For PUMP Act Compliance As Law Turns 2

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    Enacted in December 2022, the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act requires employers to provide reasonable break time and a private space for employees to express breast milk, but some companies may still be struggling with how to comply, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • What To Know About Ill. Employment Law Changes

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    Illinois employers should review their policies in light of a number of recent changes to state employment law, including amendments to the state’s Human Rights Act and modifications to the Day and Temporary Labor Services Act, say attorneys at Kilpatrick.

  • Mich. Whistleblower Ruling Expands Retaliation Remedies

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    The Michigan Supreme Court's recent Occupational Health and Safety Act decision in Stegall v. Resource Technology is important because it increases the potential exposure for defendants in public policy retaliation cases, providing plaintiffs with additional claims, say Aaron Burrell and Timothy Howlett at Dickinson Wright.