Discrimination

  • July 17, 2025

    Seminary Can't Fight Ministerial Exemption Order At 3rd Circ.

    A Pennsylvania federal judge rejected a Pittsburgh Presbyterian seminary's request to immediately appeal a ruling that the so-called ministerial exception doesn't bar a former interim director's sex discrimination suit, though the judge expanded upon her rationale for reaching that conclusion.

  • July 17, 2025

    6th Circ. Says VA Nurse's Firing Wasn't Motivated By Age

    The Sixth Circuit on Thursday upheld the dismissal of a former Veterans Affairs nurse's age discrimination suit, finding that the worker was fired for repeatedly flouting her supervisor's instructions rather than because of age discrimination.

  • July 17, 2025

    Tax Auditor's Disability Bias Suit Dismissed For Late Filing

    A federal judge tossed a tax auditor's suit claiming a North Carolina county yanked her intermittent leave disability accommodation for health flare-ups that made it hard to drive to work, rejecting her bid to toll the statute of limitations due to a lawyer's bad advice.

  • July 17, 2025

    5th Circ. Won't Reinstate Fired Officer's Age Bias Fight

    The Fifth Circuit refused to reopen a former deputy constable's lawsuit alleging that a Texas county fired him because he was a middle-aged man, ruling Thursday that it found no reason to disturb a lower court's dismissal of the case.

  • July 17, 2025

    Wisconsin Bar Settles Atty's Legal Challenge Over DEI Efforts

    The State Bar of Wisconsin has settled a lawsuit from a lawyer challenging its diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, with the agency agreeing to apply a tweaked definition of diversity to two leadership programs.

  • July 17, 2025

    6th Circ. Backs HR Director's $800K Disability Bias Jury Win

    The Sixth Circuit declined to upend an $800,000 jury win for a human resources director who claimed a Michigan commission failed to accommodate her vision condition and then retaliated against her for complaining about it, ruling the verdict was sound in the face of the evidence presented.

  • July 17, 2025

    Paralegal Fights Saltz Mongeluzzi's Bid To Dismiss Bias Suit

    Personal injury firm Saltz Mongeluzzi & Bendesky PC shouldn't escape an Afro-Latina former paralegal employee's lawsuit claiming she was forced to put up with colleagues' racist remarks and sexual advances, the worker told a Pennsylvania federal court Wednesday, arguing her allegations are detailed enough for the suit to advance.

  • July 16, 2025

    PR Consultant Wins Exit From Lively's 'It Ends With Us' Suit

    A New York federal judge Wednesday dismissed a public relations consultant and his company from actress Blake Lively's lawsuit that accuses her "It Ends With Us" co-star and director, Justin Baldoni, of sexual harassment on set and trying to orchestrate a public relations campaign to "destroy" her reputation.

  • July 16, 2025

    American Airlines Pushed Assault Victim Out, Suit Says

    American Airlines pushed a customer service agent out of her job after she reported that her supervisor repeatedly physically assaulted her at work by punching, pulling her hair and kicking her, according to a suit the airline removed to Washington federal court.

  • July 16, 2025

    4th Circ. Backs Va. County In Ex-Worker's Gay Bias Suit

    The Fourth Circuit refused to revive a former Virginia county worker's lawsuit claiming he was terminated for complaining about a job coach's homophobic remarks, ruling Wednesday he couldn't overcome the county's position that his poor performance justified termination.

  • July 16, 2025

    DOJ Settles With Recruiter Of Temporary Foreign Farmworkers

    The U.S. Department of Justice announced a settlement agreement with a Mississippi staffing consultancy Tuesday, closing an investigation into allegations that the company manipulated job orders to give preference to H-2A visa workers.

  • July 16, 2025

    Trump's Push To Prioritize English Treads 'A Fine Line'

    The Trump administration has introduced new federal guidance aimed at curbing the use of languages other than English in government programs, a move that experts caution could conflict with a prohibition on national origin discrimination under federal civil rights law. 

  • July 16, 2025

    Arby's Parent Says Workers' Tobacco Fee Suit Lacks Support

    The parent company of Arby's, Dunkin' and other fast-food chains urged a Georgia federal court to toss a proposed class action claiming employees in its health plan were unlawfully charged more for using tobacco, arguing workers didn't allege their premiums stayed elevated after completing a wellness program.

  • July 16, 2025

    Legal Aid Union Avoids Bias Claims Over Disciplinary Attempt

    A legal aid attorneys' union didn't violate antidiscrimination laws by moving to discipline three members after they sued to block a controversial pro-Palestine resolution, but it may have violated labor law, a New York federal judge said, letting a trimmed version of the members' lawsuit against the union proceed.

  • July 16, 2025

    Booz Allen Hit With Retaliation, Wrongful Firing Suit

    Booz Allen Hamilton has been sued for race discrimination and retaliation in Georgia federal court by the Black former chief technologist of its global converged resilience practice, who said he was discriminated against and then fired for raising concerns about fraudulent billing.

  • July 16, 2025

    EEOC Pick Echoes Trump's Stances On DEI, Agency Limits

    President Donald Trump's pick to join the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission indicated support Wednesday for the administration's opposition to workplace diversity, equity and inclusion programs and for its limited view of the commission's authority.

  • July 16, 2025

    Fast Food Workers Settle Trans Bias Case Dropped By EEOC

    Three former workers for a Culver's franchisee agreed to settle claims that the business fired them for opposing the harassment of a transgender employee, resolving a Michigan federal court case that the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission abandoned because of Trump administration orders.

  • July 16, 2025

    Paramount Fired VP For Return-To-Office Concerns, Suit Says

    Paramount fired an executive for raising concerns that the company's return to in-person work during the COVID-19 pandemic put her at risk because of her autoimmune condition and then replaced her with a less experienced man, she said in a disability and gender bias suit filed in California state court.

  • July 15, 2025

    Trump Admin Seeks Win In Harvard $2B Funding Freeze Case

    The Trump administration urged a Massachusetts federal judge Monday to grant it summary judgment in Harvard University's lawsuit challenging the government's effort to freeze $2.2 billion in funding, arguing the dispute is a contract fight that belongs in the Federal Claims Court and the allegations fail on the merits.

  • July 15, 2025

    9th Circ. Won't Revive SAG-AFTRA Vax Mandate Challenge

    The Ninth Circuit declined Tuesday to reinstate a suit claiming SAG-AFTRA shirked its duties to union members by greenlighting a COVID-19 vaccine mandate to get actors back to work during the pandemic, ruling their claims are either untimely or preempted by federal labor law.

  • July 15, 2025

    Feds Urge Calif. Judge To End Suit Over Border Patrol Sweep

    The U.S. government moved Tuesday to end a proposed class action alleging Border Patrol agents conducted race-based stops and warrantless arrests of people who appear to be farmworkers, arguing the government has required agents to evaluate flight risks and reasonable suspicion for stops, which renders the suit's claims moot.

  • July 15, 2025

    9th Circ. Backs United Airlines In Worker's Diabetes Bias Suit

    The Ninth Circuit upheld United Airlines' win over a lawsuit claiming it refused to accommodate a diabetic employee's restriction barring her from operating a jet bridge, ruling Tuesday that the airline wasn't required to modify the worker's duties to meet her needs.

  • July 15, 2025

    Ex-Navistar Worker Sues Over Tobacco Health Fee

    A former employee sued International Motors LLC, formerly Navistar, in Illinois federal court Monday, saying it imposes "discriminatory and punitive health insurance surcharges" on workers who smoke without offering an alternative that would allow them to recoup the additional $600 they pay annually.

  • July 15, 2025

    Pa. Judge Updates Damages In School District Pay Bias Case

    A Pennsylvania federal judge on Tuesday adjusted the amount of back pay two female teachers should receive after a jury handed them a win on their claims that a Pennsylvania school district paid them less than men, and also signed off on liquidated damages.

  • July 15, 2025

    Harrah's Accused Of Firing Supervisor Over Health Issues

    A housekeeping supervisor said Harrah's Resort Atlantic City used flimsy reasoning to fire her after she sought time off for multiple health problems in a complaint filed in New Jersey federal court.

Expert Analysis

  • 2nd Circ. Hostile Workplace Ruling Widens Arbitration Pitfalls

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    The Second Circuit’s recent decision, affirming the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act applies to a worker whose workplace hostility claims arose before the law’s 2022 enactment, widens the scope of the law — and the risks of unenforceable arbitration agreements for employers, say attorneys at Hinshaw.

  • Title VII Compliance Lessons From Raytheon Age Bias Suit

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    A Texas federal court’s recent refusal to dismiss age discrimination claims from a former Raytheon employee, terminated after he admitted to acts that Raytheon says violated its harassment policy, nonetheless illustrates strategies employers can use to protect themselves when facing competing Title VII workplace obligations, say attorneys at Segal McCambridge.

  • How The Presidential Election Will Affect Workplace AI Regs

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    The U.S. has so far adopted a light-handed approach to regulating artificial intelligence in the labor and employment area, but the presidential election is unlikely to have as dramatic of an effect on AI regulations as it may on other labor and employment matters, say attorneys at Littler.

  • Eye On Compliance: ADA Accommodations For Obesity

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    As the classification of "obesity" as a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act continues to evolve, employers should note federal district and state court deviations from U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission guidelines, which have deemed obesity to be a qualifying impairment, no matter the cause, says Lauren Stadler at Wilson Elser.

  • 3rd. Circ. Ruling Shows Employers Where To Put ADA Focus

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    A recent Third Circuit decision in Morgan v. Allison Crane & Rigging, confirming that the Americans with Disabilities Act protects some temporarily impaired employees, reminds employers to pursue compliance through uniform policies that head off discriminatory decisions, not after-the-fact debates over an individual's disability status, says Joseph McGuire at Freeman Mathis.

  • 11th Circ. Ruling Offers Refresher On 'Sex-Plus' Bias Claims

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    While the Eleventh Circuit’s recent ruling in McCreight v. AuburnBank dismissed former employees’ sex-plus-age discrimination claims, the opinion reminds employers to ensure that workplace policies and practices do not treat a subgroup of employees of one sex differently than the same subgroup of another sex, say attorneys at Bradley Arant.

  • Employment Verification Poses Unique Risks For Staffing Cos.

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    All employers face employee verification issues, but a survey of recent settlements with the U.S. Department of Justice's Immigrant and Employee Rights Section suggests that staffing companies' unique circumstances raise the chances they will be investigated and face substantial fines, says Eileen Scofield at Alston & Bird.

  • What To Expect As Worker Bias Suit Heads To High Court

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    The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services, which concerns how courts treat discrimination claims brought by majority group plaintiffs, and its decision could eliminate the background circumstances test, but is unlikely to significantly affect employers' diversity programs, say Victoria Slade and Alysa Mo at Davis Wright.

  • Mitigating Construction Employers' Risks Of Discrimination

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    Recent heightened government scrutiny of construction industry employment practices illustrates the need for nondiscriminatory recruitment and proactive assessment of workforces and worksites, including auditing for demographic disparities and taking documented steps to address such issues, say attorneys at Seyfarth.

  • Cos. Should Focus On State AI Laws Despite New DOL Site

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    Because a new U.S. Department of Labor-sponsored website about the disability discrimination risks of AI hiring tools mostly echoes old guidance, employers should focus on complying with the state and local AI workplace laws springing up where Congress and federal regulators have yet to act, say attorneys at Littler.

  • How The Tide Of EEOC Litigation Rolled Back In FY 2024

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    An analysis of the location, timing and underlying claims asserted in U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission-initiated cases during fiscal year 2024 shows that the commission saw a substantial decrease in litigation activity after a surge last year, but employers should not drop their guard, say Christopher DeGroff and Andrew Scroggins at Seyfarth.

  • The Key Changes In Revised FDIC Hiring Regulations

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    Attorneys at Ogletree break down the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s new rule, effective Oct. 1, that will ease restrictions on financial institutions hiring employees with criminal histories, amend the FDIC's treatment of minor offenses and clarify its stance on expunged or dismissed criminal records.

  • 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.