Discrimination

  • January 27, 2026

    Starbucks VP Says She Was Fired For Flagging 'Siren' System

    A former Starbucks vice president who oversaw new equipment testing claims the company terminated her for raising concerns about the debut of the "Siren" drink-making system, including that maggots spawned in the machine without proper cleaning, according to a lawsuit launched Monday in Washington state court.

  • February 12, 2026

    Law360 Seeks Members For Its 2026 Editorial Boards

    Law360 is looking for avid readers of our publications to serve as members of our 2026 editorial advisory boards.

  • January 27, 2026

    Citi Pushes For Arbitration In Ex-Exec's Discrimination Case

    Citigroup moved Tuesday to compel arbitration of a former high-ranking director's sexual harassment and workplace discrimination claims, filing a petition in Texas federal court the day after the former executive sued the bank in New York.

  • January 27, 2026

    Taco Bell Franchisees Ink $100K EEOC Sex Harassment Deal

    Two Taco Bell franchisees agreed to pay $100,000 to end a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission suit claiming they did not act swiftly enough to remove a supervisor who sexually harassed underage workers, according to a filing Tuesday in Michigan federal court.

  • January 27, 2026

    3rd Circ. Backs Duquesne University's Win In Age Bias Suit

    The Third Circuit on Tuesday upheld Duquesne University's win over a suit by a former gift officer in his 60s who claimed he was discriminated against when his boss shifted work to a younger colleague, saying he failed to point to a comparable co-worker who received more favorable treatment.

  • January 27, 2026

    Ex-GOP Aide's Work Never Changed, Bias Suit Judge Told 

    The Connecticut General Assembly's House Republican Office on Tuesday urged a state court judge to issue quick wins on a former Republican press secretary's discrimination and retaliation claims, saying neither an adverse employment action nor discipline occurred before the aide took an approved medical leave and resigned.

  • January 27, 2026

    Tyson Worker Fights To Keep Bulk Of OT Suit Alive

    Tyson Foods Inc. shouldn't dodge a proposed class action accusing the company of flouting meal and rest break requirements and not paying workers correctly, a worker told a Washington federal court Monday, arguing that she supported her claims well enough at this stage of the litigation.

  • January 27, 2026

    Ex-NJ Judge Wants To Revive Civil Rights Suit Over Arrest

    A former New Jersey state court judge urged a federal court to reconsider the dismissal of her federal civil rights claims against a municipality and its police director, arguing that the court wrongly imposed an excessive evidentiary bar and misread a record of constitutionally deficient internal affairs investigations.

  • January 27, 2026

    Ex-Wells Fargo Director Urges 4th Circ. To Keep $22M Verdict

    A former Wells Fargo director has asked the Fourth Circuit not to scrap his $22.1 million Americans with Disabilities Act verdict, arguing the bank failed to address one of his state law claims on appeal and can't rewrite how the jury weighed conflicting evidence and testimony.

  • January 27, 2026

    Clinic Workers' Vax Bias Suit Needs 2nd Look, 3rd Circ. Says

    A split Third Circuit panel reinstated a religious bias suit claiming Geisinger Medical Center illegally required workers who opposed its COVID-19 vaccine mandate to undergo nasal testing, saying the employees should have been allowed to explore whether a chemical in the nasal swabs made that accommodation unreasonable.

  • January 27, 2026

    Divisions Emerge At 2nd Circ. Over Reproductive Rights Law

    A Second Circuit panel appeared split Tuesday on whether an anti-abortion group challenging a New York state law that bars employers from penalizing workers based on their reproductive health decisions has standing to challenge the law as unconstitutional.

  • January 27, 2026

    House Democrat Accuses EEOC Of Abandoning Mission

    A key House Democrat warned that policy shifts by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission are taking the agency in the wrong direction, calling out the rescission of harassment guidance, an about-face on disparate impact enforcement and a call for white men to lodge bias claims.

  • January 27, 2026

    Reporting Duty Doesn't Nix Whistleblower Status, Court Finds

    Massachusetts' top appellate court ruled Tuesday that a former employee of a Boston community college was entitled to whistleblower protections for reporting that the college had not told the U.S. Department of Education about an alleged sexual assault, even though he shared in the reporting responsibility.

  • January 27, 2026

    Fast Food Franchisee Wraps Up EEOC Sex Harassment Suit

    A Jack in the Box franchisee will pay $50,000 to end a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sexual harassment suit claiming the business stood by while a male general manager masturbated in front of female workers and groped them on the job.

  • January 26, 2026

    Ex-Citi Exec Says Rampant Misogyny Was A 'Price Too Steep'

    A former high-ranking director at Citigroup says she was "debased and humiliated" by false workplace rumors that she pursued sexual relations with a superior in order to secure a promotion, alleging in a lawsuit filed in New York federal court on Monday that persistent misogynistic culture at the investment bank forced her out of a job.

  • January 26, 2026

    Flooring Co. Can't Nix EEOC's Homophobic Harassment Suit

    An Illinois federal judge refused to toss a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission suit alleging a flooring company allowed a gay employee to endure frequent harassment that included co-workers tying him to a chair, ruling the suit had enough detail to stay in court.

  • January 26, 2026

    Teamsters Seek Exit From Ex-Worker's Bias Suit

    The International Brotherhood of Teamsters urged a D.C. federal court to dismiss a former employee's suit alleging she was subjected to a hostile work environment and forced to resign due to her age and disability, arguing that a release in a separation agreement she signed "unambiguously covers" her claims.

  • January 26, 2026

    Tampa Bay Lightning Owners Face Racial Discrimination Suit

    A Black ticketing staffer for the Tampa Bay Lightning has faced retaliation and a hostile work environment because of his race, he alleged in a federal lawsuit against the hockey team's ownership group.

  • January 26, 2026

    ​​​​​​​Fast-Food Franchisee, EEOC Ink Deal In Teen Harassment Suit

    A McDonald's franchisee in Oklahoma has agreed to pay $80,000 to end a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission suit accusing it of failing to remove a manager who sexually harassed and threatened to rape a female teenage employee, according to an Oklahoma federal court filing.

  • January 26, 2026

    Ill. Jury Rejects Ex-CTA Worker's Vax Bias Claims

    An Illinois federal jury sided with the Chicago Transit Authority on Monday over a former employee's claim that he was illegally terminated for noncompliance with the agency's COVID-19 vaccine mandate after the agency flatly rejected his religion-based exemption request without meaningfully trying to accommodate it.

  • January 26, 2026

    NJ Court Says Security Co.'s Harassment Suit Needs 2nd Look

    A New Jersey state appeals panel ruled Monday that despite a valid arbitration pact, a worker who said security logistics company Brink's failed to take action when colleagues called her gendered slurs may still be entitled to her day in court.

  • January 26, 2026

    Foley & Lardner Can't Dodge Pro-Palestinian Atty's Bias Suit

    A Chicago federal judge on Monday denied Foley & Lardner LLP's bid for an early win against claims brought by a former summer associate who said discrimination led to the firm's decision to rescind a job offer after she publicly supported Palestinians amid Israel's war with Hamas.

  • January 26, 2026

    Federal Contractor Opexus Sued Over EEOC Data Breach

    D.C.-based government software contractor Opexus is facing a class action alleging that its negligence allowed two former employees — both of whom had been convicted for hacking previously — to copy more than 1,800 U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission files onto USB drives and take the data.

  • January 26, 2026

    Ex-Calif. Judge Takes Aim At Sex Assault Charge

    A former California judge said a count of a federal indictment accusing him of sexual assault should be tossed since the alleged victim viewed him as a friend.

  • January 26, 2026

    School District Settles Suit Over Trans Student Name Policy

    An Indiana school district struck a deal to end a suit from a Christian former music teacher who said requiring him to call transgender students by their preferred names violated his religious beliefs, about six months after the Seventh Circuit revived the case.

Expert Analysis

  • Big Business May Come To Rue The Post-Administrative State

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    Many have framed the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decisions overturning Chevron deference and extending the window to challenge regulations as big wins for big business, but sand in the gears of agency rulemaking may be a double-edged sword, creating prolonged uncertainty that impedes businesses’ ability to plan for the future, says Todd Baker at Columbia University.

  • A Timeline Of Antisemitism Legislation And What It Means

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    What began as hearings in the House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce has expanded to a House-wide effort to combat antisemitism and related issues, with wide-ranging implications for education, finance and nonprofit entities, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Colo. Ruling Adopts 'Actual Discharge' Test For The First Time

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    After a Colorado court’s recent decision in Potts v. Gaia Children, adopting for the first time a test for evaluating an actual discharge claim, employers must diligently document the circumstances surrounding termination of employment, and exercise particular caution when texting employees, says Michael Laszlo at Clark Hill.

  • It's Time For Nationwide Race-Based Hair Protections

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    While 24 states have passed laws that prohibit race-based hair discrimination, this type of bias persists in workplaces and schools, so a robust federal law is necessary to ensure widespread protection, says Samone Ijoma and Erica Roberts at Sanford Heisler.

  • After Chevron: EEOC Status Quo Will Likely Continue

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    As the legal landscape adjusts to the end of Chevron deference, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s rulemaking authority isn’t likely to shift as much as some other employment-related agencies, says Paige Lyle at FordHarrison.

  • After Chevron: Various Paths For Labor And Employment Law

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    Labor and employment law leans heavily on federal agency guidance, so the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to toss out Chevron deference will ripple through this area, with future workplace policies possibly taking shape through strategic litigation, informal guidance, state-level regulation and more, says Alexander MacDonald at Littler.

  • FIFA Maternity Policy Shows Need For Federal Paid Leave

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    While FIFA and other employers taking steps to provide paid parental leave should be applauded, the U.S. deserves a red card for being the only rich nation in the world that offers no such leave, says Dacey Romberg at Sanford Heisler.

  • What 2 Rulings On Standing Mean For DEI Litigation

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    Recent federal court decisions in the Fearless Fund and Hello Alice cases shed new light on the ongoing wave of challenges to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, with opposite conclusions on whether the plaintiffs had standing to sue, say attorneys at Moore & Van Allen.

  • Eye On Compliance: A Brief History Of Joint Employer Rules

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    It's important to examine the journey of the joint employer rule, because if the National Labor Relations Board's Fifth Circuit appeal is successful and the 2023 version is made law, virtually every employer who contracts for labor likely could be deemed a joint employer, say Bruno Katz and Robert Curtis at Wilson Elser.

  • Top 5 Issues For Employers To Audit Midyear

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    Six months into 2024, developments from federal courts and regulatory agencies should prompt employers to reflect on their progress regarding artificial intelligence, noncompetes, diversity initiatives, religious accommodation and more, say Allegra Lawrence-Hardy and Lisa Haldar at Lawrence & Bundy.

  • Tailoring Compliance Before AI Walks The Runway

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    Fashion industry players that adopt artificial intelligence to propel their businesses forward should consider ways to minimize its perceived downsides, including potential job displacements and algorithmic biases that may harm diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, say Jeffrey Greene and Ivory Djahouri at Foley & Lardner.

  • Where Anti-Discrimination Law Stands 4 Years After Bostock

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    On the fourth anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark Bostock ruling, Evan Parness and Abby Rickeman at Covington take stock of how the decision, which held that Title VII protects employees from discrimination because of their sexual orientation and gender identity, has affected anti-discrimination law at the state and federal levels.

  • Politics In The Workplace: What Employers Need To Know

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    As the 2024 election approaches and protests continue across the country, employers should be aware of employees' rights — and limits on those rights — related to political speech and activities in the workplace, and be prepared to act proactively to prevent issues before they arise, say attorneys at Littler.