Employment

  • April 10, 2024

    Ex-Reed Smith Atty Can't DQ Judge In Bias Suit Against Firm

    A former Reed Smith LLP attorney failed in her bid to have a New Jersey state judge disqualified from her gender discrimination suit against the firm, with the judge on Wednesday turning down her argument that he improperly reviewed a certification from the firm's general counsel.

  • April 10, 2024

    EEOC Throws Weight Behind AI Bias Suit Against Workday

    The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said Workday shouldn't be able to dodge a Black job seeker's California federal court suit claiming it uses biased algorithms to screen out applicants, arguing that the software company can't evade liability by claiming it's not an employer.

  • April 10, 2024

    Major Lindsey Wins Bid To Have Sex Assault Suit Arbitrated

    A former Major Lindsey & Africa LLC employee's sexual assault lawsuit against the legal recruiting giant must go to arbitration, a New York state judge has decided.

  • April 10, 2024

    Ex-Coupang Atty Fights Bid To Toss Whistleblower Suit

    A former in-house attorney at South Korean conglomerate Coupang told a Washington federal judge this week that his whistleblower claims against the company are valid according to the terms of his employment contract.

  • April 10, 2024

    9th Circ. Says Arbitration Carveout Doesn't Apply To Cos.

    Section 1 of the Federal Arbitration Act only applies to humans, not companies, a Ninth Circuit panel ruled Wednesday, affirming a Washington federal court decision shipping three Amazon workers' misclassification suit to arbitration.

  • April 10, 2024

    Ex-Judge Dropped From Harassment Suit After NJ Courts' Win

    A New Jersey municipal court administrator has agreed to end a suit alleging she was sexually harassed by a former municipal court judge after a state superior court ruled she could not include the Administrative Office of the Courts as a defendant in the case.

  • April 10, 2024

    Musk Deposition Decision Put Off In Twitter Layoff Fight

    A California federal judge deferred ex-Twitter employees' request to depose X Corp. owner Elon Musk until after other defendants gave their depositions in a suit alleging the company violated federal laws requiring advance warning of mass layoffs.

  • April 10, 2024

    Liberty Mutual Says Former Star Sales Rep Poached Clients

    A former high-performing sales representative for a Liberty Mutual Group Inc. subsidiary violated nonsolicitation and nondisclosure agreements when he left to start his own competing agency, the insurer alleged in a Massachusetts state court complaint.

  • April 10, 2024

    DOL Says Groups' Challenge To Rule Update Must Fall

    The U.S. Department of Labor pressed a Texas federal court to ax two construction groups' challenge to its rule updating the Davis-Bacon Act, arguing that they face no injury and that their suit relies heavily on speculation and fear-based claims.

  • April 10, 2024

    Starbucks Fired Barista For Having Panic Attack, Court Told

    A Starbucks manager berated a barista who suffered from anxiety and depression until he had a panic attack, then fired him, according to a suit filed in Florida federal court.

  • April 10, 2024

    Electrical Workers Union Sues LIRR Over Cannabis Firing

    The union that represents Long Island Rail Road workers is suing the commuter railroad for firing an employee who had been with it for 25 years after he allegedly tested positive for marijuana when returning to work after being treated for cancer.

  • April 09, 2024

    Walmart Hit With $101M Verdict In Trial Over PPE Contracts

    An Arkansas jury hit Walmart with a $101 million verdict Tuesday for breaching an agreement to purchase more than $500 million in personal protective equipment amid the coronavirus pandemic, while also finding in favor of the retail giant's tort counterclaims.

  • April 09, 2024

    'No Merit' To Talent Co.'s Bid To DQ Execs' Attys, Judge Says

    A California state judge on Tuesday told attorneys for A3 Artists Agency and its chair, Adam Bold, that their allegation of a conflict of interest "has no merit" and that she tentatively would deny their motion to disqualify opposing counsel representing executives suing Bold and the agency for breach of contract.

  • April 09, 2024

    Starbucks' Calif. Stores Lack Lactation Spaces, Suit Says

    A Starbucks employee brought a proposed class action in California state court on behalf of similarly situated workers in the Golden State over the coffeehouse chain's "systemic failure" to provide adequate lactation spaces and sufficient pumping time for nursing employees.

  • April 09, 2024

    Excuses 'Twisted' To Transgender Prof, Solid To Kent State

    Kent State University "twisted itself into knots" to justify its alleged discrimination, a transgender professor has told an Ohio federal court, as the school in turn claimed the scholar was denied a promotion for bad-mouthing colleagues online. 

  • April 09, 2024

    Texas Court Unsure It Has Jurisdiction Over Auto Co.'s Rival

    A three-judge panel for a Texas appellate court prodded the argument of an automotive repair services company, asking how it could establish that it has jurisdiction over the company's business rival given the rival's loose ties to Texas during oral arguments Tuesday.

  • April 09, 2024

    Colo. Justices Doubt Workers' Comp Stops Insurance Suits

    A Colorado Supreme Court justice expressed doubt Tuesday that lawmakers, in crafting Colorado's workers' compensation law, intended to make employees choose between getting workers' comp and suing their employer's auto insurer when injured on the job by an underinsured driver — tackling a question that has stymied the state's federal judiciary.

  • April 09, 2024

    Carpenters Urge 9th Circ. To Restart Union Retirement Fight

    A group of carpenters urged the Ninth Circuit to revive allegations that their union's retirement plan trustees played fast and loose with their savings, saying Tuesday that the trustees should face claims that their risky investment choices caused two retirement plans to plummet in value when the pandemic hit.

  • April 09, 2024

    Healthcare Co. Can't Sue Ex-Exec For Causing Canada Tax Hit

    A Colorado federal judge shot down a pharmacy automation company's suit alleging its former chief commercial officer cost it nearly CA$1.2 million ($907,000) in Canadian taxes by not telling his employer he had moved out of the country, saying the company hasn't shown it suffered any damage as a result.

  • April 09, 2024

    Hotel Owed Union Bargaining Over Renovation, DC Circ. Says

    A Hilton hotel in Alaska is on the hook for federal labor law violations after renovating rooms in a way that changed housekeepers' work conditions without sufficiently looping in the employees' union, the D.C. Circuit held Tuesday, enforcing a National Labor Relations Board decision.

  • April 09, 2024

    Challengers To H-2A Wage Rule Denied Extra Discovery

    A federal judge has refused to let agricultural businesses gather more information on the decision-making behind new H-2A agricultural worker minimum wages, rejecting claims that more discovery was warranted in light of a September order allowing the wages to take hold.

  • April 09, 2024

    EPA Reaches $1.4M Deal With Chemical Co. Over Plant Fire

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Monday said that it had recently reached a settlement with Houston-based Sasol Chemicals LLC over a 2022 chemical plant explosion in Westlake, Louisiana, over which the company agreed to pay more than $1.4 million in civil penalties and fix violations.

  • April 09, 2024

    Ex-Fox News Anchor Continues Fighting Forced Arbitration

    Gretchen Carlson, a former Fox News anchor and a leading advocate for ending forced arbitration after suing Fox News' former chair and CEO over sexual harassment allegations, told senators on Tuesday that more is needed to protect workers, particularly older ones, despite important legislation enacted two years ago.

  • April 09, 2024

    Medieval Times Drops Appeal In TM Battle With Union

    Medieval Times has dropped its bid to revive trademark infringement claims against the labor union representing its entertainers, according to a filing in the Third Circuit.

  • April 09, 2024

    Hogan Lovells Adds Baker Botts Enviro Litigators In DC, SF

    Hogan Lovells announced Tuesday it has hired three environmental crisis and white collar attorneys from Baker Botts LLP to bolster efforts to steer clients through criminal environmental and workplace safety investigations and other matters.

Expert Analysis

  • A Look At Mass. Sports Betting Data Privacy Regulations

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    The Massachusetts Gaming Commission recently approved data privacy regulations under the state's sports wagering act to promote responsible gaming, showing a trend of regulators directing companies on how to protect personal information used by artificial intelligence systems, say Liisa Thomas and Kathryn Smith at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Title IX Grievance Rules Raise Due Process Questions

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    The U.S. Department of Education’s proposed Title IX regulations for campus disciplinary proceedings would ease the administrative burden on institutions, but raise fairness and due process questions that will likely lead to follow-on litigation, say Markus Funk and Christopher Wilkinson at Perkins Coie.

  • Understanding Discovery Obligations In Era Of Generative AI

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Attorneys and businesses must adapt to the unique discovery challenges presented by generative artificial intelligence, such as chatbot content and prompts, while upholding the principles of fairness, transparency and compliance with legal obligations in federal civil litigation, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • How Employers Should Prep For NLRB, OSHA Collaboration

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    The National Labor Relations Board and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s recent announcement of increased interagency cooperation may suggest that each agency will be expanding its scope of inquiry moving forward, and signals that employers need to be prepared for inspections that implicate both OSHA and NLRB issues, say attorneys at Baker Donelson.

  • 3 Evolving Issues Shaping The College Sports Legal Playbook

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    Conference realignment will seem tame compared to the regulatory and policy developments likely to transform college sports in the near future, addressing questions surrounding the employment status of student-athletes, athlete compensation and transgender athletes, say attorneys at O'Melveny.

  • Employer Lessons After 2023's Successful Labor Strikes

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    Following recent historic strikes in the automotive, entertainment and health care industries, employers of all types can learn key insights about how unions may approach negotiations and strikes going forward, and nonunionized workplaces should anticipate a drive for increased union membership, say Lenny Feigel and Mark Neuberger at Foley & Lardner.

  • Why Criminal No-Poach Cases Can Be Deceptively Complex

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    Mark Rosman at Wilson Sonsini discusses the reasons many criminal no-poach cases that appear simple are actually more complicated than they seem, following several jury trial acquittals and two dismissed cases.

  • The Case For Post-Bar Clerk Training Programs At Law Firms

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    In today's competitive legal hiring market, an intentionally designed training program for law school graduates awaiting bar admission can be an effective way of creating a pipeline of qualified candidates, says Brent Daub at Gilson Daub.

  • 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.

  • SEC Whistleblower Action Spotlights Risks For Private Cos.

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s recent whistleblower action against Monolith Resources holds important implications for private companies, who could face unprecedented regulatory scrutiny amid the agency's efforts to beef up environmental, social and governance reporting and enforcement, say attorneys at Wiley.

  • Attorneys Have An Ethical Duty To Protect The Judiciary

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    The tenor of public disagreement and debate has become increasingly hostile against judges, and though the legislative branch is trying to ameliorate this safety gap, lawyers have a moral imperative and professional requirement to stand with judges in defusing attacks against them and their rulings, says Deborah Winokur at Cozen O'Connor.

  • 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.

  • AI Can Help Lawyers Overcome The Programming Barrier

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    Legal professionals without programming expertise can use generative artificial intelligence to harness the power of automation and other technology solutions to streamline their work, without the steep learning curve traditionally associated with coding, says George Zalepa at Greenberg Traurig.

  • 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.

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