Discrimination

  • 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.

  • February 28, 2025

    Calif. Forecast: 9th Circ. Hears NLRB, UPS, Teamsters Dispute

    In the coming week, attorneys should watch for Ninth Circuit oral arguments in a labor dispute involving the National Labor Relations Board, a UPS subsidiary and an International Brotherhood of Teamsters local. Here's a look at that case and other labor and employment matters on deck in California.

  • February 28, 2025

    Morgan & Morgan Fired Worker For Vax Refusal, Suit Says

    Morgan & Morgan PA illegally fired a case manager who asked to be excused from the firm's COVID-19 vaccination mandate because of his Christian beliefs and autoimmune disorder, the former employee said in a suit filed in Florida federal court.

  • February 28, 2025

    Adobe Hit With Age Bias Claim By Former Sales Manager

    A former Adobe sales manager was sidelined and then fired after reporting a supervisor's comments on his age to human resources, according to a lawsuit filed in Massachusetts state court.

  • February 28, 2025

    Fired Welder Drops Sex Bias Suit Against Bezos' Blue Origin

    A former welder for Jeff Bezos' aerospace company, Blue Origin, dropped her sex bias suit claiming that she was paid less by the company because she's a woman and that a supervisor told her she was a "welder in a man's world."

  • February 27, 2025

    States Say DOD Transgender Ban Puts Public Safety At Risk

    Twenty-one states on Wednesday threw their support behind transgender service members and human rights organizations challenging the Trump administration's executive order banning transgender people from serving in the military, arguing that it will harm their efforts to protect their communities.

  • February 27, 2025

    Unions Can Depose DOGE In Agency Access Suit, Judge Says

    The Department of Government Efficiency must tell a group of unions whom it's sent into the Department of Labor, the Department of Health & Human Services and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and what computer systems they've accessed, a D.C. federal judge ruled Thursday.

  • February 27, 2025

    Advance Auto Can't Nix EEOC Race Harassment Claims

    A Florida federal judge said Thursday that Advance Auto Parts can't toss race harassment claims from a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission suit claiming LGBTQ and Black workers faced mistreatment at one of its stores, ruling the agency didn't need to limit the suit to an initial charge's allegations.

  • February 27, 2025

    6th Circ. Upholds Tenn. Utility Co.'s Disability Bias Suit Win

    The Sixth Circuit backed a Tennessee utility company's win over a former power-line repairman's lawsuit claiming he was unlawfully forced to retire because he experienced occasional seizures, finding Thursday that his health condition posed a serious safety issue and couldn't be accommodated.

  • February 27, 2025

    2nd Circ. Won't Revive School Psychologist's Vax Bias Suit

    The Second Circuit backed the dismissal of a school psychologist's suit claiming her school district illegally placed her on leave when she objected to its COVID-19 vaccination and testing policies on religious grounds, ruling her request to work remotely to get around the policy would have been too burdensome.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • Employer Tips For Fighting Back Against Explosive Verdicts

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    Massive jury verdicts are a product of our time, driven in part by reptile tactics, but employers can build a strategic defense to mitigate the risk of a runaway jury, and develop tools to seek judicial relief in the event of an adverse outcome, say Dawn Solowey and Lynn Kappelman at Seyfarth.

  • Handbook Hot Topics: Changing Status Quo In A Union Shop

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    A recent administrative law decision concerning a dispute between Fortune Media and the NewsGuild of New York is an important reminder to employers with unionized workforces to refrain from making unilateral updates to employee handbooks that will change the terms and conditions of employment, says Jennifer Hataway at Butler Snow.

  • What EEOC's 2023 Stats Mean For Future Enforcement

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    The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s unusual burst of spring lawsuits and its new Democratic majority should cue employers and HR personnel to expect EEOC enforcement activity to ramp up to pre-pandemic rates, especially in regions where filings are on the rise and in those areas the agency appears to be targeting, such as workplace discrimination, say Andrew Scroggins and James Nasiri at Seyfarth Shaw.

  • Eye On Compliance: A Shift In Religious Accommodation Law

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    The recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Groff v. DeJoy is making it more difficult for employers to deny religious accommodations, and there are three takeaways employers should keep in mind, say William Cook and Matthew High at Wilson Elser.

  • Tick Tock: When Punctuality Raises Employee ADA Questions

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    A recent viral TikTok video — where a user claims they were disrespected by a potential employer when inquiring about accommodations for difficulty with being on time — shows that even in the most seemingly questionable situations, there may be legitimate issues that require Americans with Disabilities Act considerations, says Daniel Pasternak at Squire Patton.

  • Tips For Making And Maintaining Employee Resource Groups

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    Employers should consider creating employee resource groups to create a workplace that can flourish in the new remote work reality, and keep in mind three best practices to avoid potential legal pitfalls and challenges that come with them, say Tyler Paetkau and Catarina Colón at Husch Blackwell.

  • Employer Pointers From Tiger Woods' Legal Dispute With Ex

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    Ex-girlfriend Erica Herman's sexual harassment suit against Tiger Woods, which was recently sent to arbitration, highlights the need for employers to understand their rights and responsibilities around workplace relationships, nondisclosure agreements and arbitration provisions, say Stephanie Reynolds and Sean McKaveney at Fisher Phillips.

  • Equinox Bias Verdict Shows Swift Employer Response Is Key

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    A nearly $11.3 million jury verdict against Equinox in New York federal court shows just how high the stakes are for employers dealing with harassment and discrimination in the workplace, and how important consistent investigation and discipline are when responding to individual internal complaints, says Jennifer Huelskamp at Porter Wright.

  • A Midyear Review Of EEOC's Gender-Related Priorities

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    The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s 2023-2027 strategic enforcement plan focuses on various gender-related issues such as the enactment of pregnancy discrimination and pay transparency laws, and now, more than halfway through the fiscal year, the EEOC's enforcement of such laws is set to surpass previous years, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • Employer Drug-Testing Policies Must Evolve With State Law

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    As multistate employers face ongoing challenges in drafting consistent marijuana testing policies due to the evolving patchwork of state laws, they should note some emerging patterns among local and state statutes to ensure compliance in different jurisdictions, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.