Discrimination

  • May 30, 2025

    11th Circ. Revives Ex-Employment Agency Worker's Bias Suit

    The Eleventh Circuit reopened a former employment agency worker's lawsuit claiming she was unlawfully fired based on rumors she was having an affair with an executive, ruling Friday that a lower court should've given her a chance to amend her case before tossing it for good.

  • May 30, 2025

    What To Know As Trump's Vision Changes EEOC Partnerships

    The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently said it will stop reimbursing state and local regulators for investigating claims of gender identity and disparate impact discrimination. Here's what experts say workers and employers should know about the EEOC's partnerships and the impact President Donald Trump's directives may have on them.

  • May 30, 2025

    8th Circ. Sends Fired Diabetic Worker's FMLA Claim To Trial

    The Eighth Circuit revived Friday an ex-manager's claim that a Hardee's franchisee interfered with her right to medical leave when she was fired for missing work following a diabetic episode, ruling a jury needs to consider whether the company knew she needed leave when she was sacked.

  • May 30, 2025

    Insurance Cos. Can't Force Arbitration Of Race, Sex Bias Suits

    American Income Life Insurance Co. and a brokerage firm can't make Black and female former employees arbitrate several lawsuits claiming they were forced to endure rampant harassment, a New Jersey state appeals court ruled Friday, saying the workers' arbitration agreement didn't properly explain what they were giving up.

  • May 30, 2025

    Employment Lawyers' Weekly DEI Cheat Sheet

    A federal judge struck down a presidential executive order against the law firm WilmerHale in a forceful decision, the state of Missouri fought to keep its anti-DEI lawsuit against Starbucks alive and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management laid out a blueprint for steering the federal hiring system away from what it called bureaucratic "'equity' quotas." ​​​​​​​Here, Law360 looks at notable DEI-related legal developments over the past week.

  • May 30, 2025

    Ga. Panel Ends County Workers' Whistleblower Suit

    A Georgia appellate panel said that Fulton County should have been handed an early win in a whistleblower suit from two ex-employees who said they were canned for reporting corruption by an elected official, ruling the county was justified in firing them for their own financial indiscretions.

  • May 30, 2025

    6 Argument Sessions Bias Attorneys Should Watch In June

    The Eighth Circuit will hear from an ex-principal who said she was illegally pushed out after advocating for LGBTQ+ students and authorizing a Pride flag in an inclusivity display, while the Ninth Circuit will consider whether a religious employer can avoid having Washington state's anti-discrimination law enforced against it. Here, Law360 looks at six argument sessions discrimination attorneys should have on their radar.

  • May 30, 2025

    Atlanta Seeks Win In Ex-Building Officials' Age Bias Suit

    A former Atlanta building official has failed to show his age was the deciding factor in not being promoted to a chief inspector role, the city told a federal court, urging it to toss the man's discrimination lawsuit.

  • May 30, 2025

    Sikorsky Aircraft Workers Can't Back Bias Claims, Court Told

    Two Black ex-employees should lose their federal racial discrimination lawsuit against Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. because one was fired for stealing time, and the other has shown "no evidence of any adverse employment action," the company said in seeking summary judgment Thursday.

  • May 30, 2025

    Calif. Forecast: State Justices Weigh Good-Faith Wage Args

    In the coming week, attorneys should watch for California Supreme Court oral arguments regarding what an employer must show for a good faith defense in a wage case. Here's a look at that case and other labor and employment matters on deck in the Golden State.

  • May 30, 2025

    Jenner & Block Fights DOJ Motion Over Exec Order

    Jenner & Block LLP on Friday fought a bid from the U.S. Department of Justice to carve out part of a March executive order targeting the firm after the bulk of the order was tossed last week, in a dispute that could relate to future actions against the firm.

  • May 30, 2025

    Temple U., Cancer Center Can't Dodge Prof's Sex Bias Claims

    Temple University and its cancer research center can't shut down the bulk of a researcher's suit claiming her supervisor refused to support her after she complained about his unwanted advances, a Pennsylvania federal judge ruled, finding she plausibly alleged harassment interfered with her job.

  • May 30, 2025

    NY Forecast: Judge Weighs Jury Trial Demand In Layoffs Suit

    This week, a New York federal judge will hear arguments over whether a class of former workers at a Four Seasons hotel can withdraw their request for a jury trial in their suit claiming the hotel did not provide required notices before laying them off.

  • May 30, 2025

    Judge Balks At Trimming Ex-GC's Bias Suit Before Arbitration

    A New York federal judge rejected a recommendation to narrow and then send to arbitration a Black former general counsel's suit claiming she was fired from The Palm steakhouse chain out of race bias after her cancer diagnosis, saying the whole dispute needs to go to an arbitrator.

  • May 30, 2025

    Bass Pro Reels In Final Approval For $5M Tobacco Suit Deal

    A Missouri federal judge has granted final approval to a $4.95 million settlement in a lawsuit that accused Bass Pro Shops of failing to tell employees who used tobacco how they could avoid incurring an extra $2,000-per-year charge for health insurance.

  • May 29, 2025

    Stellantis, UAW Accused Of Sex Discrimination In $1M Suit

    A Michigan woman is seeking at least $1 million in a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Michigan federal court against the U.S. subsidiary of Dutch automaker Stellantis and the United Auto Workers on allegations she was replaced as a team leader by less experienced male colleagues and that the union would not represent her — both due to her gender.

  • May 29, 2025

    OPM Memos Push Changes In Federal Hiring Based on 'Merit'

    The Office of Personnel Management on Thursday issued two memos outlining plans for hiring federal workers based on merit, following President Donald Trump's executive orders declaring that the federal hiring system focuses too much on anti-discrimination and not enough on employees willing to serve the executive branch.

  • May 29, 2025

    4 Tips For Employers To Support Doctors' Mental Health

    Studies show that many U.S. physicians are burned out and depressed but avoid asking for help for fear their high-stakes careers might be affected.

  • May 29, 2025

    2nd Circ. Backs Ambulance Co. In Ex-Worker's FMLA Suit

    The Second Circuit refused Thursday to revive a former paramedic's lawsuit claiming an ambulance operator unlawfully refused to return him to a supervisory job after he returned from medical leave, saying he wasn't able to work until three months after his federally protected leave expired.

  • May 29, 2025

    9th Circ. Restarts DMV Worker's Promotion Bias Suit

    The Ninth Circuit breathed new life into a Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles employee's lawsuit claiming he was passed over for promotion because he was a Black man in his 50s, saying a lower court misinterpreted the worker's allegations when it tossed the case.

  • May 29, 2025

    9th Circ. Wants Damages Tweaked In Staffing Co. FMLA Suit

    A former employee can't seek front pay or be reinstated to her role at a healthcare staffing firm after a federal jury found she was fired for exercising her rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act, but certain damages the jury awarded her should be given another look, the Ninth Circuit ruled.

  • May 29, 2025

    Car Dealership Settles Bias Case On Heels Of Recusal Bid

    A Philadelphia auto dealership has resolved a former manager's suit in Pennsylvania federal court claiming her boss made inappropriate sexual remarks and propositioned her nearly every day, days after the company said a magistrate judge was inappropriately pushing it to settle.

  • May 29, 2025

    3 Takeaways From The Judgments On Trump's Law Firm EOs

    Three federal judges have now weighed in on President Donald Trump’s executive orders targeting law firms, with each ruling in favor of the firms and deeming the orders unconstitutional. Here are three takeaways from the combined 227 pages of those judges’ conclusions.

  • May 28, 2025

    Flamin' Hot Cheetos Defamation Suit Snuffed Out, For Now

    A California federal judge Wednesday granted Frito-Lay Inc.'s motion to strike a former employee's discrimination and defamation suit claiming he invented Flamin' Hot Cheetos and had his livelihood destroyed when the company disavowed his story, finding he's unlikely to win his claims, but giving him another shot at amendment.

  • May 28, 2025

    4 Tips For Employers As NJ's Pay Range Requirements Kick In

    A New Jersey law requiring employers to include a pay range in both internal and external job postings goes into effect June 1, and businesses in the state should be sure they have their ducks in a row. Here, management-side lawyers offer four tips to help employers prepare.

Expert Analysis

  • What Employers Should Consider When Drafting AI Policies

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    As generative artificial intelligence continues to evolve and transform the workplace, employers should examine six issues when creating their corporate AI policies in order to balance AI's efficiencies with the oversight needed to prevent potential biases and legal pitfalls, say attorneys at Jackson Lewis.

  • Eye On Compliance: When Calif. Jobs Require Driver Licenses

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    With a California law banning unnecessarily requiring job applicants to have driver's licenses rolling out Jan. 1, employers should take to heart the law's goal of preventing discriminatory barriers while they assess and revise their employment materials for compliance, says Ani Khachatryan at Wilson Elser.

  • Ring In The New Year With An Updated Employee Handbook

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    One of the best New Year's resolutions employers can make is to update their employee handbooks, given that a handbook can mitigate, or even prevent, costly litigation as long as it accounts for recent changes in laws, court rulings and agency decisions, say attorneys at Kutak Rock.

  • 5 Employer Defenses To Military Status Discrimination Claims

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    A Colorado federal court's recent ruling, finding a Navy reservist wasn't denied promotion at his civilian job due to antimilitary bias, highlights several defenses employers can use to counter claims of violations of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, say attorneys at Littler Mendelson.

  • Justices Mull Sex-Based Classification In Trans Law Case

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    After the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in U.S. v. Skrmetti this week, it appears that the fate of the Tennessee law at the center of the case — a law banning gender-affirming healthcare for transgender adolescents — will hinge on whether the majority read the statute as imposing a sex-based classification, says Alexandra Crandall at Dickinson Wright.

  • Pa. Ruling Highlights Challenges Of Employer Arb. Appeals

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    A Pennsylvania federal court's recent ruling in Welch Foods v. General Teamsters Local Union No. 397 demonstrates the inherent difficulties employers face when seeking relief from labor arbitration decisions through appeals in court — and underscores how employers are faced with often conflicting legal priorities, says Daniel Johns at Cozen O'Connor.

  • 7 Ways To Prepare For An I-9 Audit Or Immigration Raid

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    Because immigration enforcement is likely to surge under the upcoming Trump administration, employers should take steps to ensure their staff is trained in employment eligibility verification requirements and what to do in the event of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement I-9 audit or workplace raid, say attorneys at Littler.

  • California Supreme Court's Year In Review

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    Attorneys at Horvitz & Levy highlight notable decisions on major questions from the California Supreme Court's last term, including voter initiatives, hostile work environment and the economic loss rule.

  • Disentangling Various Forms Of Workplace Discrimination

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    Pay inequity can be missed where it exists and misidentified due to incorrect statistics, leaving individuals to face multiple facets of discrimination connected by a common root cause, meaning correct identification and measurement is crucial, says Daniel Levy at Advanced Analytical.

  • Key Requirements In New Maryland Pay Transparency Laws

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    Although several jurisdictions now require pay transparency in job advertisements, Maryland's new law is among the broadest in the country, both in terms of what is required and the scope of its applicability, says Sarah Belger at Quarles & Brady.

  • Lessons From EEOC Case Of Fla. Worker Fired After Stillbirth

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    A recent federal court settlement between a Florida resort and a fired line cook shows that the U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission sees stillbirth as protected under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, also providing four other important lessons, says Gordon Berger at Pierson Ferdinand.

  • Advising Employers As AI Meets DEI And Discrimination

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    Though companies can use artificial intelligence tools to develop more diverse and inclusive workforces, counsel should also prepare employers for how AI can stymie these efforts, provoke discrimination claims and complicate resulting litigation, says Emily Schifter at Troutman Pepper.

  • A Look At The Hefty Demands In Calif. Employer AI Draft Regs

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    California's draft regulations on artificial intelligence use in employment decisions show that the California Privacy Protection Agency is positioning itself as a de facto AI regulator for the state, which isn't waiting around for federal legislation, says Lily Li at Metaverse Law.