Discrimination

  • June 10, 2025

    Longtime Reed Smith Employment Pro Joins Fisher Phillips

    An attorney who has focused his career on advising clients on employment and labor matters recently moved his practice to Fisher Phillips' Pittsburgh office after 13 years with Reed Smith LLP.

  • June 10, 2025

    Nev. Pension Plan Urges 9th Circ. To Ax DOJ Military Bias Suit

    Pension credits bought by military service members aren't an accrued benefit under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, Nevada's public employee retirement system argued, urging the Ninth Circuit not to revive the U.S. Department of Justice's suit alleging the state and system overcharged employees for the credits.

  • June 10, 2025

    Amazon Worker Says Military Class Ruling Needs Reopening

    The U.S. Supreme Court declined to weigh in on a case that would have had an impact on a former Amazon employee's request for class status in her military leave suit, the worker told a New York federal court, saying it should reopen her suit and approve class treatment.

  • June 10, 2025

    NY Homeland Unit Resolves Ex-Employee's Harassment Suit

    New York state and its homeland security agency struck a $250,000 deal to end a Hispanic former employee's suit alleging that her boss subjected her to humiliating comments because of her race, gender and sexual orientation until she felt compelled to quit, according to federal court filings.

  • June 10, 2025

    8th Circ. Mulls If Supervisor's Family Remark Signals Sex Bias

    The Eighth Circuit wondered Tuesday whether a Walmart supervisor's supposed rationale for promoting a male employee to a managerial role — that he had a "family to support" — lends credence to a female former employee's sex discrimination claim over the advancement decision.

  • June 10, 2025

    7th Circ. Won't Revive United Workers' Vax Mandate Suit

    A Seventh Circuit panel on Monday affirmed a district court's decision to throw out a lawsuit from former employees challenging United Airlines' COVID-19 vaccination mandate, agreeing that the workers' claims are "either improperly preserved or inadequately pled."

  • June 10, 2025

    Blue States Back Harvard In $2.2B Funding Freeze Fight

    A coalition of 20 states and the District of Columbia filed a brief supporting Harvard University's bid for a pretrial win in its challenge to the Trump administration's move to freeze $2.2 billion in funds, telling a Massachusetts federal judge that the president's attacks on universities are "an attack on the states themselves."

  • June 10, 2025

    Gov't Settles Asian ATF Agent's Bias Suit Over Job Transfer

    The federal government agreed to settle a suit from an Asian agent of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives who claimed his boss insinuated that Asian workers were better fit for administrative work, and then transferred him to a clerical position.

  • June 09, 2025

    Blake Lively, NYT Defeat 'It Ends With Us' Defamation Claims

    A New York federal judge on Monday threw out Justin Baldoni's defamation claims against his "It Ends With Us" costar Blake Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds and The New York Times, among others, ruling that Baldoni hasn't plausibly alleged any statements were made or reported maliciously.

  • June 09, 2025

    Florida Will Ask 11th Circ. To Revive Trans Health Suit

    The state of Florida indicated Friday it will ask the Eleventh Circuit to reopen its lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services challenging a rule setting coverage requirements on employers for gender-affirming care, despite the new administration's reversal on the rule.

  • June 09, 2025

    Emirates Ex-Workers Seek Class Certification In Layoff Suit

    A group of Emirates ex-employees who lost their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic asked a New York federal judge to certify their lawsuit against the airline as a class action, saying their discrimination, benefits and WARN Act claims apply to many ex-workers and should be processed collectively.

  • June 09, 2025

    Jury Awards Ex-Napoli Atty $6.1M In Lengthy Retaliation Battle

    A six-person jury in New York awarded more than $6.1 million in damages to the former general counsel of now-defunct firm Napoli Bern Ripka Shkolnik LLP on her claim that the firm attacked her reputation after she sued for sex discrimination 10 years ago.

  • June 09, 2025

    Mediation Fails To End 'Sham' Hiring Suit Against Wells Fargo

    Wells Fargo and a class of investors accusing the bank of conducting "sham" job interviews to meet diversity targets that later triggered a stock price drop have told a California federal judge that the mediation they attempted last month did not result in a settlement.

  • June 09, 2025

    Veteran Appeals VA Discontinuation Of Trans Health Coverage

    A transgender woman urged a veterans appeals court Monday to find that the Veterans Health Administration is wrongly refusing to refill her prescriptions for hormone therapy following a federal notice discontinuing gender-affirming care for veterans.

  • June 09, 2025

    Ex-Medical Co. Worker's Sex Harassment Verdict Cut To $1.3M

    A New York federal judge shrank a $7.5 million jury verdict in a former medical device company employee's lawsuit alleging she was sexually harassed for years and fired after complaining that an executive tried to assault her, saying the punitive damages award was five times higher than appropriate.

  • June 09, 2025

    FEMA Dodges Atty's Bias And Retaliation Suit, For Now

    A California federal judge dismissed an attorney's lawsuit alleging two federal agencies fired her after she complained that a male colleague harassed her, saying the excessive length and repetitiveness of her claims makes an adequate response a "practical impossibility." 

  • June 09, 2025

    Judge Tosses Whistleblower Suit Against Pot Tracking Co.

    An Oregon federal judge on Monday dismissed a whistleblower action against Metrc, a company that provides product tracking services for a majority of U.S. regulated cannabis markets, after determining that the issues in the dispute were in play in a prior lawsuit.

  • June 09, 2025

    WilmerHale Seeks Full Fed Compliance On Struck-Down Order

    WilmerHale is asking a D.C. federal judge to make clear that a ruling invalidating an executive order against the firm applies to all federal agencies subject to President Donald Trump's directives.

  • June 09, 2025

    Teacher's Attys Get Fee Award In Jan. 6 Free Speech Case

    A Pennsylvania federal judge awarded nearly $1 million in fees and costs to attorneys who scored a win for a teacher who claimed he was unlawfully pushed out for attending a Jan. 6, 2021, rally in Washington, D.C., rejecting a school district's argument that no fee award was warranted.

  • June 09, 2025

    School Board Narrows Vax Bias Trial With $255K In Deals

    The St. Louis Board of Education has agreed to pay out $255,000 to settle religious bias claims from three workers who said they were illegally fired for refusing to get vaccinated against COVID-19, paring down a trial that's slated to begin Wednesday.

  • June 09, 2025

    AMC 'Dark Winds' Worker Says Crew Member Harassed Her

    An entertainment company behind the AMC thriller series "Dark Winds" paid a female worker less than her male counterparts and then fired her after she complained that a male crew member had harassed her, she told a California state court.

  • June 06, 2025

    High Court Says Software Glitch Led To Early Order List Drop

    An "apparent software malfunction" caused the U.S. Supreme Court's order list to be issued early Friday, orders in which the justices granted certiorari in four cases and refused to take up a long list of other ones, including cases centered on Pennsylvania's election system and the Obama Presidential Center.

  • June 06, 2025

    Christian School Shuts Down Prof's Race, Sex Bias Claims

    A Minnesota federal judge dismissed discrimination claims from a Black former professor who said a Christian university failed to act when someone vandalized her car with a racial slur, ruling a carveout in anti-discrimination law for religious employers doomed the bias allegations.

  • June 06, 2025

    Employment Lawyers' Weekly DEI Cheat Sheet

    The U.S. Supreme Court handed down a hotly anticipated ruling that could amplify scrutiny on workplace diversity, equity and inclusion programs by knocking down a legal hurdle faced by plaintiffs in majority groups, and Indiana and Texas each took steps to call out the use of DEI programs in academic settings. Here, Law360 looks at DEI-related legal developments from the past week that employment attorneys should know.

  • June 06, 2025

    Calif. Says Nonprofit Can't Challenge Captive Meeting Law

    California's labor commissioner asked a federal court Friday to toss a lawsuit challenging the state's law prohibiting so-called captive audience meetings, arguing that the nonprofit that sued to block the law lacks standing because it hasn't sufficiently alleged an injury or "a credible threat of prosecution."

Expert Analysis

  • 10 Steps To Reduce Risks From AI Employment Tools

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    In light of the White House’s recent executive order on responsible use of artificial intelligence, companies using AI tools to make employment decisions should take steps to understand and mitigate the legal risks posed by these products and keep up with the rapidly evolving regulations that govern them, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • What Employers Can Learn From EEOC's 2023 ADA Priorities

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    Between a spike in Americans with Disabilities Act suits filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2023 and the agency’s newly released priorities, the EEOC has provided employers a preview of several ADA issues — like web accessibility, pregnancy discrimination and inflexible policies — it will likely focus enforcement on next year, says Stacy Bunck at Ogletree.

  • Eye On Compliance: EEOC Focus On Workplace AI

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    With the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s recent guidance and enforcement focus on the use of artificial intelligence tools during the hiring process and other job-related assessments, companies should be mindful that anti-discrimination laws apply equally to both human- and AI-generated decisions, say Laura Stutz and Lisa Ackerman at Wilson Elser.

  • 5th Circ. Ruling Sets Bostock, Faith Exemption Up For Review

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    The Fifth Circuit's Braidwood v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission decision could tee up U.S. Supreme Court review of whether employing an individual to whose protected class the employer objects infringes on the employer's religious beliefs, potentially narrowing LGBTQ worker protections from the high court's 2020 Bostock v. Clayton County decision, says Adam Grogan at Bell Law.

  • Legal Profession Gender Parity Requires Equal Parental Leave

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    To truly foster equity in the legal profession and to promote attorney retention, workplaces need to better support all parents, regardless of gender — starting by offering equal and robust parental leave to both birthing and non-birthing parents, says Ali Spindler at Irwin Fritchie.

  • Why Employers Should Refrain From 'Quiet Firing'

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    While quiet firing — when an employer deliberately makes working conditions intolerable with the goal of forcing an employee to quit — has recently been identified in the news as a new trend, such constructive discharge tactics have been around for ages, and employers would do well to remember that, comparatively, direct firings may provide more legal protection, says Robin Shea at Constangy.

  • 5 New Calif. Laws Employers Need To Know

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    Now is a good time for employers to evaluate personnel rules to keep pace with California’s newly adopted employee protections, which go into effect early next year and include laws regarding reproductive loss leave, cannabis use, workplace violence prevention and noncompete agreements, say attorneys at Farella Braun.

  • 3 Employer Strategies To Streamline Mass Arbitrations

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    Workers under arbitration agreements have gained an edge on their employers by filing floods of tedious and expensive individualized claims, but companies can adapt to this new world of mass arbitration by applying several new strategies that may streamline the dispute-resolution process, says Michael Strauss at Alternative Resolution Centers.

  • How AI 'Cultural Fit' Assessments Can Be Analyzed For Bias

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    Attorneys at Sanford Heisler explore how the use of artificial intelligence to assess workplace cultural fit may provide employees with increased opportunities to challenge biased hiring practices, and employers with more potential to mitigate against bias in algorithmic evaluations.

  • High Court's Old, Bad Stats Analysis Can Miss Discrimination

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    Courts and practitioners should reconsider a common statistical test for evidence of employment discrimination, created by the U.S. Supreme Court for its 1977 Castaneda and Hazelwood cases, because its “two or three standard deviations” criteria stems from a misunderstanding of statistical methods that can dramatically minimize the actual prevalence of discrimination, says Daniel Levy at Advanced Analytical Consulting Group.

  • Transparency And Explainability Are Critical To AI Compliance

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    Although there is not yet a comprehensive law governing artificial intelligence, regulators have tools to hold businesses accountable, and companies need to focus on ensuring that consumers and key stakeholders understand how their AI systems operate and make decisions, say Chanley Howell and Lauren Hudon at Foley & Lardner.

  • In Focus At The EEOC: Emerging And Developing Issues

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    The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's recently finalized strategic enforcement plan highlights how the agency will prioritize its limited resources over the next four years, and the most notable emerging issues include ensuring protections for pregnant workers and those dealing with long-term COVID-19 effects, says Jim Paretti at Littler.

  • Employer Takeaways From 2nd Circ. Equal Pay Ruling

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    The Second Circuit 's recent decision in Eisenhauer v. Culinary Institute of America reversed a long-held understanding of the Equal Pay Act, ultimately making it easier for employers to defend against equal pay claims brought under federal law, but it is not a clear escape hatch for employers, say Thelma Akpan and Katelyn McCombs at Littler.