Discrimination

  • January 16, 2026

    Legal Nonprofit Settles EEOC Suit Over Atty Fired On Leave

    A Philadelphia legal services organization secured court approval Friday for a $240,000 deal to end a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lawsuit alleging it unlawfully fired a staff attorney who was on leave for post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.

  • January 16, 2026

    Security Guard Gets $5.5M Jury Win In Sex Harassment Case

    A federal jury in Atlanta said that a former security guard who alleged she was sexually harassed and assaulted by her ex-employer's vice president of operations should get $5.5 million in damages, attorneys for the ex-worker announced Friday. 

  • January 16, 2026

    Judge Backs Employment Law Firm's 'Harmless Flirting' Ad

    A New York federal judge said an employment law firm would probably win its constitutional challenge to the rejection of a billboard advertising its willingness to sue companies that dismiss sexual harassment as "harmless flirting," calling a Syracuse airport authority's concerns that the ad pushed false information "nonsense."

  • January 16, 2026

    Maurene Comey Fights DOJ Bid To Toss Firing Suit

    Former Manhattan federal prosecutor Maurene Comey has urged a New York federal court to reject the U.S. Department of Justice's bid to dismiss her firing suit, arguing her claims belong before the district court and not under the jurisdiction of a non-independent board now controlled by the president.

  • January 16, 2026

    J&J Largely Loses Bid To Toss Former Atty's NJ Bias Suit

    A New Jersey federal judge largely shot down Johnson & Johnson's bid to scrap a former company data privacy attorney's racial and gender discrimination suit and rejected its bid to sanction her over the case.

  • January 16, 2026

    11th Circ. Affirms Toss Of Worker's Bias Suit Against UPS

    The Eleventh Circuit has ruled that an Alabama district court rightly tossed a Black worker's discrimination suit against UPS, rejecting her arguments that she should have been allowed to revise her case.

  • January 16, 2026

    2nd Circ. Backs School Official In Librarian's Race Bias Suit

    A Black librarian could not show that race discrimination drove a New York school superintendent to pull a job offer from her, the Second Circuit ruled, affirming a federal judge's decision.

  • January 16, 2026

    La. State Court Greenlights Challenge To Gender Care Ban

    A Louisiana state judge sided with a group of transgender teenagers who argue the state's ban on gender-affirming care for minors is unconstitutional, denying the state's bid to dismiss the case, according to an announcement Friday from the minors' attorneys.

  • January 16, 2026

    NY Forecast: 2nd Circ. Weighs Arbitration Ban In TikTok Case

    This week, the Second Circuit will consider TikTok's bid to overturn a federal judge's decision keeping a former executive's age and gender bias suit in court instead of sending it to arbitration.

  • January 15, 2026

    Univ. Of Arkansas Drops New Law Dean, Reportedly Over Brief

    The ACLU of Arkansas and others Thursday criticized the University of Arkansas for reversing its decision to hire legal scholar Emily Suski as its law school dean, reportedly due to political pressure generated by her support for transgender student athletes in an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court.

  • January 15, 2026

    Air Force Asks Justices Not To Hear COVID Vax Back Pay Case

    The U.S. Air Force urged the U.S. Supreme Court to not hear a reservist's bid for back pay after he refused to follow its now-overturned COVID-19 vaccine mandate on religious grounds, arguing its sovereign immunity bars compensatory damages claims. 

  • January 15, 2026

    Verizon, Calif. Strike Diversity Deal In Frontier Takeover

    California utility regulators approved Verizon's takeover of Frontier Communications' fiber network Thursday, after the wireless giant has reached several agreements to support statewide diversity and digital equity initiatives.

  • January 15, 2026

    Inability To Work In Person Sinks Fired Employee's ADA Suit

    The Fourth Circuit backed the dismissal of a disability bias suit from a worker who claimed a private aircraft servicer fired her for seeking remote work to manage her breast cancer diagnosis, ruling her termination was fair game because she couldn't consistently perform in-person duties critical to her role.

  • January 15, 2026

    Ex-Coach Says NJ University's Gender Bias Led To Her Firing

    An award-winning Montclair State University softball coach told a New Jersey federal court that the university wrongfully fired her following an investigation into alleged misconduct that she said was tainted with gender bias and failed to let her respond.

  • January 15, 2026

    DOJ Targets Minnesota's Affirmative Action Hiring Policies

    The U.S. Department of Justice told a federal court that Minnesota's affirmative action hiring policies for government positions violate civil rights law by handing opportunities to workers based on their identity.

  • January 15, 2026

    2nd Circ. Seems Reluctant To Wrap Up EEOC Union Bias Suit

    The Second Circuit appeared skeptical Thursday of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's push to wind down a more than half-century-old race discrimination case against unions and apprenticeship programs, questioning whether bias still pervaded the organizations' practices.

  • January 15, 2026

    6th Circ. Says Cop's Rap Videos, Not Race Bias, Got Him Fired

    The Sixth Circuit declined to revive a suit from a Black cop who said race bias cost him his job, ruling he couldn't overcome evidence that he was actually terminated for creating and posting rap videos that depicted him brandishing guns and simulating shooting a homeless person.

  • January 14, 2026

    Full 5th Circ. Will Revisit PWFA's Constitutionality

    The Fifth Circuit late Wednesday vacated a split panel opinion allowing enforcement of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act against the state of Texas, granting an en banc rehearing to consider whether the U.S. Constitution required House lawmakers' physical presence to have a quorum when the statute was approved.

  • January 14, 2026

    Wells Fargo Brass Gets 1st OK For 'Fake' Diversity Suit Deal

    A California federal judge has granted the first green light to a settlement reached between Wells Fargo investors and executives in a derivative suit claiming the bank's leadership failed to address the company's discriminatory lending practices and engaged in "fake" interviews with diverse candidates.

  • January 14, 2026

    Judge Questions If Workers' Attys Can Handle AI Bias Class

    A California federal judge called out the attorneys for a proposed class of workers who accused human resources software company Workday of using biased artificial intelligence to screen out job applicants, saying Wednesday that evidence indicated they'd been "asleep at the wheel."

  • January 14, 2026

    JPMorgan's Tobacco-Use Health Fee Is Illegal, Employee Says

    A JPMorgan Chase & Co. employee has hit the financial giant with a proposed class action in a New York federal court accusing it of issuing health insurance plans including fee requirements for tobacco users that violate the antidiscrimination provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

  • January 14, 2026

    FAA Worker's Suspension Not Race-Based, 11th Circ. Affirms

    The Eleventh Circuit backed an early win Wednesday for the Federal Aviation Administration in a discrimination suit from an air traffic controller, ruling that "all evidence in the record" supports the conclusion that he was disciplined for failing to complete workplace training on time.

  • January 14, 2026

    Groups Seek To Halt EEOC Bid For Jewish UPenn Student Info

    A Jewish law student association and other groups urged a federal judge to let them step in and oppose the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's efforts to craft a "registry" of Jewish students and staff at the University of Pennsylvania, saying the agency's information push evokes "a terrifying history."

  • January 14, 2026

    EEOC Tees Up Debate On Harassment Guidance Repeal

    The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said Wednesday that it will meet next week to consider retracting workplace harassment guidance promulgated under former President Joe Biden's administration and address a resolution concerning the commission's litigation powers.

  • January 14, 2026

    EEOC Faces Headwinds In 8th Circ. Bid To Upend Jury Verdict

    The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission faced an uphill battle at the Eighth Circuit Wednesday as it sought a new trial in a suit accusing a chemical company of failing to stop a Black employee from being harassed, with one judge suggesting the agency's challenge to jury instructions is off-base.  

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • How States Are Approaching AI Workplace Discrimination

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    As legislators across the U.S. have begun addressing algorithmic discrimination in the workplace, attorneys at Reed Smith provide an overview of the status, applicability and provisions of 13 state and local bills.

  • The Risks Of Employee Political Discourse On Social Media

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    As election season enters its final stretch and employees increasingly engage in political speech on social media, employers should beware the liability risks and consider policies that negotiate the line between employees' rights and the limits on those rights, say Bradford Kelley and James McGehee at Littler.

  • 7th Circ. Rulings Offer Employee Vaccine Exemption Guidance

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    Dawn Solowey and Samantha Brooks at Seyfarth explain how two recent Seventh Circuit rulings in Passarella v. Aspirus and Bube v. Aspirus could affect litigation involving employee vaccine exemptions, and discuss employer best practices for handling accommodation requests that include both religious and secular concerns.

  • Employers Should Not Neglect Paid Military Leave Compliance

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    An August decision from the Ninth Circuit and the settlement of a long-running class action, both examining paid leave requirements under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, are part of a nationwide trend that should prompt employers to review their military leave policies to avoid potential litigation and reputational damage, says Bradford Kelley at Littler.

  • Old Employment Law Principles Can Answer New AI Concerns

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    Despite growing legal and regulatory concerns about how artificial intelligence tools may affect employment decisions and worker rights, companies should take comfort in knowing that familiar principles of employment law and established compliance regimes can still largely address these new twists on old questions, say attorneys at Foley & Lardner.

  • NYC Wage Info Bill Highlights Rise In Pay Transparency Laws

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    With New York City the latest to mull requiring companies to annually report employee wage data, national employers should consider adapting their compliance practices to comply with increasingly common pay transparency and disclosure obligations at state and local levels, says Kelly Cardin at Littler Mendelson.

  • Workday AI Bias Suit Suggests Hiring Lessons For Employers

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    As state laws and a federal agency increasingly focus on employment bias introduced by artificial intelligence systems, a California federal court's recent decision to allow a discrimination suit to proceed against Workday's AI-driven recruitment software, shows companies should promptly assess these tools' risks, say attorneys at Williams & Connolly.

  • How Anti-DEI Bill Could Affect Employers' Diversity Efforts

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    Sen. J.D. Vance's recently introduced Dismantle DEI Act would substantially limit employers’ ability to implement and promote workplace diversity, equity and inclusion, but there are still steps employers can take to support a diverse workforce, says Peter Ennis at Cozen O’Connor.

  • US Labor And Employment Law Holds Some Harsh Trade-Offs

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    U.S. labor and employment laws have evolved into a product of exposure-capping compromise, which merits discussion in a presidential election year when the dialogue has focused on purported protections of middle-class workers, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Water Cooler Talk: Immigration Insights From 'The Proposal'

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    Tracey Diamond and Evan Gibbs at Troutman Pepper chat with their colleague Robert Lee about how immigration challenges highlighted in the romantic comedy "The Proposal" — beyond a few farcical plot contrivances — relate to real-world visa processes and employer compliance.