Discrimination

  • March 04, 2025

    Trump Admin Can't Pause DEI Injunction, Judge Says

    President Donald Trump's administration cannot suspend a preliminary block on executive orders that scrap diversity, equity and inclusion programs in public and private sectors, a Maryland federal judge ruled, finding that the potential harm of the orders outweighs the president's policy priorities.

  • March 03, 2025

    DC Judge Calls For CFPB Official To Testify In Shutdown Suit

    A Washington, D.C., federal judge on Monday signaled skepticism of Trump administration claims that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau isn't going away, summoning a senior agency official to testify next week as she weighs a possible preliminary injunction.

  • March 03, 2025

    Jay-Z Files Fresh Defamation Suit Against Buzbee In Ala.

    Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter on Monday lodged malicious prosecution claims against attorney Tony Buzbee over a "false," "malicious" and "strategically and tactically calculated and timed" rape suit that has since been dropped, this time in Alabama federal court.

  • March 03, 2025

    Curaleaf Says Ex-VP Can't Be Kicked From C-Suite She Wasn't In

    Curaleaf Holdings Inc. has pushed back on a discrimination lawsuit filed by a former executive who claims she was forced out of the company, arguing not only did it not retaliate against her by ejecting her from the C-Suite but that she was never actually a part of it.

  • March 03, 2025

    EEOC Strikes Deal With Atty Who Called Out 'White Privilege'

    A Black attorney reached an agreement with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to end a retaliation suit claiming the agency passed her over for promotions because she asked to telework and chided a co-worker for her "white privilege," according to a Monday filing in Texas federal court.

  • March 03, 2025

    Fired NBA Ref Wants $178K Atty Fees After 2nd Circ. Win

    A former longtime NBA referee asked a Manhattan federal judge on Monday to approve an attorney fee of $179,000, after winning $2.9 million in pension benefits in a case over his termination for refusing to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

  • March 03, 2025

    Mich. Taco Bell Operator Ignored Sex Harassment, EEOC Says

    A Michigan-based Taco Bell franchisee failed to intervene when a regional manager repeatedly made sexual comments to and groped female colleagues, including several under 18, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleged in a federal lawsuit.

  • March 03, 2025

    NYT Seeks To Ax Baldoni's 'It Ends With Us' Defamation Suit

    The New York Times urged a New York federal court to toss defamation claims made by Justin Baldoni over the news organization's coverage of the "It Ends With Us" actor-director's legal battle with Blake Lively over the actress's sexual harassment complaints, saying it is legally protected reporting and opinion made without malice.

  • March 03, 2025

    8 Argument Sessions Bias Attorneys Should Watch In March

    The Second Circuit will hear from the National Football League and Black coaches who say their race discrimination class action shouldn't be forced into arbitration, and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is expected to appear as an amicus in a half-dozen cases involving hot-button issues. Here are eight argument sessions discrimination attorneys should keep tabs on in this month.

  • March 03, 2025

    9th Circ. Won't Revive Black Ex-Boeing Engineer's Bias Suit

    The Ninth Circuit on Monday backed Boeing's defeat of a former engineer's lawsuit claiming he was disciplined for minor issues and ultimately terminated because he's Black, ruling he hadn't provided evidence that the company's actions were based on his race.

  • March 03, 2025

    Sgt. Fired While On Leave For Amputation Nabs $400K Verdict

    A federal jury decided that a Tennessee county owes a former sergeant nearly $400,000 after it found he was fired from a sheriff's office for taking medical leave to have his leg amputated because of his diabetes.

  • March 03, 2025

    Co. Settles Hard-Of-Hearing Job Applicant's EEOC Suit

    A manufacturing company will pay $55,000 to resolve a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission suit alleging it pulled a manufacturing engineer's job offer after learning he had hearing loss.

  • March 03, 2025

    Accounting Firm Wants Out Of Fired Credit Union CEO's Suit

    A Connecticut credit union's former chief executive officer has no standing to sue accounting firm Whittlesey PC after following its financial advice allegedly got him fired because he was never its client to begin with, according to a dismissal bid the firm filed in state court.

  • March 03, 2025

    Justices Turn Away Christian Worker Who Panned Pride Flag

    The U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to review the dismissal of a suit brought by a Christian worker who said he was unlawfully fired by a metal manufacturer after calling a Pride month rainbow on the company's website an "abomination."

  • March 03, 2025

    Justices Evade Circuit Split On Student Speech, Thomas Says

    The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to wade into a free speech advocacy group's suit challenging Indiana University's processes for reporting and investigating controversial speech, but Justice Clarence Thomas complained that the high court missed a chance to address a circuit split over student challenges to schools' "bias response teams."

  • March 03, 2025

    Justices Turn Down Suit By Worker Fired Over Online Post

    The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday it would not review a Sixth Circuit decision holding that a former CSX Transportation Inc. engineer waited too long to try to revive his wrongful termination suit stemming from an online post he made about a fatal train accident.

  • February 28, 2025

    CFPB Endgame Is Just 'Five Men And A Phone,' Filings Allege

    Current and former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau employees alleged in D.C. federal court filings that the Trump administration is much more aggressively trying to gut the agency than it has let on, warning it has already damaged vital functions.

  • February 28, 2025

    CVS, Catholic Nurse Settle Bias Suit Over Contraceptive Care

    CVS Health Corp. agreed to settle a former nurse's lawsuit alleging the company unlawfully tried to force her to provide contraceptive care to patients in violation of her Catholic beliefs, according to filings in Florida federal court.

  • February 28, 2025

    9th Circ. Says Risk Justified Firing Vax-Refusing Actor

    A split Ninth Circuit panel declined Friday to revive an actor's suit claiming she was illegally removed from a Starz Network show because she rejected its COVID-19 vaccine mandate on religious grounds, ruling her immunization status posed too much of a risk to the production.

  • February 28, 2025

    Advocates Step Up After EEOC About-Face On Gender Identity

    Two nonprofits taking up gender identity discrimination cases that the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is abandoning offers a preview of the role that advocacy organizations will play defending transgender workers as the Trump administration attacks their rights, experts said.

  • February 28, 2025

    Calif. Restaurant Faces $1.1M In Penalties Over Unpaid Wages

    The California Labor Commissioner's Office hit a restaurant with more than $1.1 million in penalties over unpaid wages and violations of paid sick leave, including supplemental leave during the coronavirus pandemic, the office said.

  • February 28, 2025

    8th Circ. Won't Reopen Ex-USDA Worker's Race Bias Suit

    The Eighth Circuit on Friday upheld the U.S. Department of Agriculture's defeat of a Black former employee's lawsuit claiming she was denied work assignments and promotions because of her race, finding the worker hadn't shown that her race motivated the federal government's actions.

  • February 28, 2025

    7th Circ. Says It's Too Early To Mull Fired ISU Coach's Suit

    A Seventh Circuit panel says it lacks the jurisdiction to consider if a lower court rightly denied dismissal of a lawsuit brought by an ex-Illinois State University football coach who claims he was unlawfully fired for posting an "All Lives Matter" sign on his office door, because the district judge postponed a decision on the school officials' qualified immunity argument.

  • February 28, 2025

    Mich. Atty Says Ex-Firm Foiling Cases Over Retaliation Suit

    A lawyer urged a Michigan federal judge to pause matters in several state court cases as she alleged her former law firm, Olsman MacKenzie Peacock PC, is using the proceedings to retaliate against her for filing a sexual harassment and hostile workplace suit against it and another firm run by a well-known mediator.

  • February 28, 2025

    DA Eyes Type Of Weinstein Evidence That Sank 1st Verdict

    Manhattan prosecutors preparing to retry Harvey Weinstein want a jury to hear about alleged sexual assaults by the jailed Hollywood mogul that are not part of his indictment — the same kind of testimony that doomed his original conviction on appeal.

Expert Analysis

  • Why Employers Should Heed High Court Web Designer Ruling

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    While not an employment law ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in the First Amendment case 303 Creative v. Elenis raises serious questions for employers that constitute public accommodations and have related anti-discrimination policies, says Tanner Camp at Foley & Lardner.

  • 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.