Discrimination

  • February 10, 2026

    Drexel Escapes Black Ex-Compliance Exec's Harassment Suit

    A Pennsylvania federal judge has backed Drexel University in a Black former compliance executive's harassment lawsuit, concluding the difficult relationship she had with a subordinate was brought on by her management style, not her race or gender.

  • February 10, 2026

    EEOC Employee's Suit Over Failed Promotion Ends In Mistrial

    A Louisiana federal judge has declared a mistrial in a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission employee's suit alleging she was unlawfully passed over for a promotion to full-time director of the agency's New Orleans field office, with court filings indicating that jurors stalemated over whether sex motivated the hiring choice.

  • February 10, 2026

    Ex-McDermott Atty Fights 'Harassing' Subpoena In Bias Suit

    A Black attorney accusing McDermott Will & Schulte LLP of firing her for calling out racial bias has urged an Illinois federal court to reject the firm's bid to get employment records from her previous employer, Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP, saying the request serves no other purpose than to harass her.

  • February 10, 2026

    Ex-Cop Claims Retaliation For Reporting Mayoral Misconduct

    A former assistant police chief in North Carolina says he was pushed out after accusing his boss of helping town officials cover up mayoral misconduct, including a traffic stop involving the mayor and a late night visit to town hall in which the mayor allegedly appeared on security footage without pants.

  • February 10, 2026

    6th Circ. Revives County Worker's FLSA Retaliation Suit

    A jury could reasonably find that a former Tennessee county employee was fired for complaining about unpaid overtime rather than for using profanity or because of a looming budget cut, the Sixth Circuit ruled Tuesday, reviving a Fair Labor Standards Act retaliation lawsuit.

  • February 10, 2026

    Pa. Hospital Settles Ex-Worker's ADA Suit Over CBD Gummy

    UPMC Pinnacle Hospitals has settled a former employee's disability discrimination suit claiming he was unlawfully fired when he tested positive for cannabis because he took cannabidiol gummies used to treat his spinal condition.

  • February 10, 2026

    Employment Group Of The Year: Duane Morris

    Duane Morris LLP helped Geico defang a sweeping collective action claiming it underpaid call center workers and defeated a harassment class action targeting tortilla maker El Milagro, allowing the companies to dodge millions in potential damages and earning it a spot among the 2025 Law360 Employment Groups of the Year.

  • February 10, 2026

    OpenText Used Layoff To Oust Older Exec, Suit Says

    Global software company OpenText laid off a 61-year-old senior account executive under the guise of a reduction in force while retaining younger, less qualified employees and withholding more than $50,000 in earned commissions, a lawsuit filed in Illinois federal court says.

  • February 09, 2026

    Deputies Say They Were Fired, Prosecuted For Opposing Bias

    Three former employees of the Custer County Sheriff's Office claimed they were fired and criminally prosecuted for opposing alleged discrimination and misconduct from the county sheriff and undersheriff, according to a pair of complaints filed in Colorado federal court.

  • February 09, 2026

    Background Check Co. Reported Outdated Info, Suit Says

    A California background check company "negligently and recklessly" reported consumers' outdated adverse criminal warrant information in violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, a proposed class action in Colorado federal district court alleges.

  • February 09, 2026

    EEOC, Trucking Co. Resolve Hearing Bias Suit For $50K

    A trucking company has agreed to pay a former applicant $50,000 as part of a consent decree to end a lawsuit in North Carolina federal court from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging that the company turned the job seeker away because he is deaf.

  • February 09, 2026

    Anti-Abortion Groups Say Mich. Law Impedes 1st Amendment

    Two Michigan-based anti-abortion organizations are suing several officials, alleging recent amendments to Michigan's civil rights law will force them to hire employees and volunteers who do not share or may openly oppose their religious beliefs and stance on abortion.

  • February 09, 2026

    Jury Awards $41K In Legal Assistant's Pregnancy Bias Suit

    A New Mexico federal jury has awarded a former legal assistant over $41,000 in damages in her suit alleging that a personal injury law firm forced her to resign after she disclosed her pregnancy.

  • February 09, 2026

    Funeral Home Segregates Bathrooms, EEOC Tells Court

    The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has accused a cemetery and funeral home operator of discriminating against Black employees by denying them access to "preferred" bathroom and break room spaces reserved for white employees and firing a supervisor who didn't block a bias charge.

  • February 09, 2026

    Guam Can't Appeal Military Leave Suit Loss At 9th Circ.

    A retirement fund for Guam government employees did not meet the standard for an immediate appeal of a ruling that its leave-sharing program violates federal military service protections, a federal judge ruled Monday, denying the territory's and fund's Ninth Circuit bid.

  • February 09, 2026

    11th Circ. Backs CBP's Female-Only Search Policy

    The Eleventh Circuit on Friday affirmed a jury verdict that found the U.S. Department of Homeland Security had a legitimate reason to create three women-only assignments at the Port of Tampa, because of a U.S. Customs and Border Protection policy mandating same-gender searches of passengers.

  • February 09, 2026

    EEOC, Law Students End Legal Battle Over Firm DEI Letters

    A proposed class action brought by law students last year challenging the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's requests for diversity data from 20 law firms ended Monday with the government agreeing compliance "was not mandatory, and that most law firms did not provide any of the requested information."

  • February 09, 2026

    Employment Group Of The Year: Seyfarth

    Seyfarth Shaw LLP's employment team locked in an arbitration win for an energy company accused of wage violations, successfully defended Seattle in a pandemic-related battle and shut down a long-running California labor code suit against Columbia Sportswear, earning the firm a place among the 2025 Law360 Employment Groups of the Year.

  • February 09, 2026

    Boeing Can't Escape Bias Suit Over $12K Bonus

    Boeing must face a proposed class action accusing it of excluding workers on long-term disability leave from a $12,000 bonus, as a Washington federal judge denied the company's dismissal motion and remanded the suit to state court, where it was originally filed.

  • February 09, 2026

    Connecticut Law Firm Can't Duck Title VII Suit Due To Size

    Connecticut law firm Vargas Chapman Woods LLC cannot escape from a harassment and retaliation suit based on the argument that it is not covered by Title VII due to its small size, a Connecticut federal judge has ruled, finding that the firm cast doubt on its own contention about its number of employees.

  • February 06, 2026

    Ex-MSU Employee Claims Retaliation For Harassment Reports

    A former assistant vice president at Michigan State University has sued the university and her former boss in Michigan federal court, alleging that she was fired as payback for reporting claims of sexual harassment.

  • February 06, 2026

    Starbucks Gets Mo.'s 'Speculative' DEI Bias Suit Thrown Out

    A Missouri federal judge dismissed the state's suit claiming that Starbucks' diversity policies discriminate based on race and gender, finding that its complaint is "devoid of non-conclusory and non-speculative allegations establishing any actual, concrete and particularized injuries to Missouri citizens."

  • February 06, 2026

    Trump Admin, States Reach Agreement In School DEI Fight

    The Trump administration has agreed not to condition federal education funding for state and legal education agencies on what a coalition of nearly 20 states alleged was an incorrect interpretation of law in relation to diversity, equity and inclusion, according to a Friday filing in Massachusetts federal court.

  • February 06, 2026

    Verizon Escapes Fired Worker's Suit Over Racial Slur

    A New York federal judge tossed Friday a white former Verizon worker's suit claiming he was discriminated against after he was fired for saying a racial slur on a lunch break, ruling his remaining claims are best left for a state court to resolve.

  • February 06, 2026

    Feds' Shift Doesn't Remove Disparate Impact Risk From RIFs

    The Trump administration has disclaimed disparate impact — a theory of liability that is often at the heart of bias claims arising from reductions-in-force — but employers still face legal jeopardy if reductions-in-force have an outsized impact on protected groups, attorneys say.

Expert Analysis

  • EEOC Wearable Tech Guidance Highlights Monitoring Scrutiny

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    The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's recent fact sheet on wearable technologies cautions against potential issues with federal anti-discrimination laws and demonstrates growing concern from regulators and legislators about intrusive technologies in the workplace, say attorneys at Littler.

  • 4 Employment Law Areas Set To Change Under Trump

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    President Donald Trump's second term is expected to bring significant changes to the U.S. employment law landscape, including the potential for updated worker classification regulations, and challenges to diversity, equity and inclusion that are already taking shape, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • What Employment Bias Litigation Looks Like After Muldrow

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    Nine months after the U.S. Supreme Court created an undemanding standard for discrimination claims in Muldrow v. St. Louis, Eric Schnapper at the University of Washington discusses how the Title VII litigation landscape has changed and what to expect moving forward.

  • 10 Key Worker-Friendly California Employment Law Updates

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    New employment laws in California expand employee rights, transparency and enforcement mechanisms, and failing to educate department managers on these changes could put employers at risk, says Melanie Ronen at Stradley Ronon.

  • How PAGA Reform Can Inform Employer Strategies In 2025

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    While recent changes to California's Private Attorneys General Act will not significantly reduce PAGA claims, employers can use the new law to potentially limit their future exposure, by taking advantage of penalty reduction opportunities and more, say attorneys at Thompson Coburn.

  • How Deregulation Could Undermine Trump's Anti-DEI Agenda

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    While rolling back federal agency power benefited conservative policies during the Biden administration, it will likely undermine President Donald Trump's ability to wield agencies like the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives beyond the federal workforce and into the private sector, says Ally Coll at the Purple Method.

  • Trump Should Pass On Project 2025's Disparate Impact Plan

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    The Trump administration should reject Project 2025's call to eliminate the disparate impact doctrine because, as its pro-business Republican creators intended, a focus on dismantling unnecessary barriers to qualified job candidates serves companies' best interests more successfully than the alternatives, says Susan Carle at American University.

  • Expect A Big Shake Up At The EEOC Under 2nd Trump Admin

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    During President-elect Donald Trump’s second term, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is likely to significantly shift its focus and priorities, especially where workplace DEI initiatives, immigration enforcement, LGBTQ+ rights and pregnancy protections are concerned, say attorneys at Stoel Rives.

  • 4 Novel Issues From The Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni Suits

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    A series of lawsuits arising from actress Blake Lively's sexual harassment and retaliation complaint against her "It Ends With Us" co-star, Justin Baldoni, present novel legal issues that employment and defamation practitioners alike should follow as the litigation progresses, say attorneys at Dorsey & Whitney.

  • Religious Accommodation Lessons From $12.7M Vax Verdict

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    A Michigan federal jury’s recent $12.7 million verdict against Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan starkly reminds employers of the risks they face when assessing employees’ religious accommodation requests, highlighting pitfalls to avoid and raising the opportunity to consider best practices to follow, say attorneys at Williams & Connolly.

  • Lessons From United's Axed Win In Firing Over Online Pics

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    In Wawrzenski v. United Airlines, a California state appeals court revived a flight attendant’s suit over her termination for linking photos of herself in uniform to her OnlyFans account, providing a cautionary tale for employers navigating the complexities of workplace policy enforcement in the digital age, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • How Trump Admin May Approach AI In The Workplace

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    Key indicators suggest that the incoming Trump administration will adopt a deregulatory approach to artificial intelligence, allowing states to fill the void, so it is critical that employers pay close attention to developing legal authority concerning AI tools, say attorneys at Littler.

  • Lessons Learned From 2024's Top FMLA Decisions

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    Last year's major litigation related to the Family and Medical Leave Act underscores why it is critical for employers to understand the basics of when leave and accommodations are required, say attorneys at Dechert.