Discrimination

  • December 05, 2025

    11th Circ. Faults Long-Standing Bias Test, Revives Cop's Suit

    The Eleventh Circuit reinstated an Iraq-born police officer's suit alleging he was fired for complaining about racist harassment, chiding a lower court Friday for leaning too heavily on a long-standing legal framework for analyzing workplace bias evidence when ruling against the cop.

  • December 05, 2025

    NYC Lawmakers Overturn Vetoes To Force Pay Equity Study

    The New York City Council overcame vetoes from Mayor Eric Adams to enact laws that will require companies with more than 200 workers to supply pay data to the city, clearing the way for a study that aims to identify where pay equity disparities persist in the city's economy.

  • December 04, 2025

    Beauty Lab Can't Nix EEOC Bias Suit Over Denied Promotion

    An Idaho federal judge refused Thursday to toss a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission suit claiming a beauty products manufacturer refused to promote a Black employee because she complained about on-the-job race bias, crediting evidence that she faced a series of negative consequences after raising concerns.

  • December 04, 2025

    Harvard Should Allow Union Access To Report, NLRB Says

    The union representing Harvard's campus police should have been able to access the report the school commissioned while investigating how officers handled a 2023 student sexual assault case, National Labor Relations Board prosecutors argued, saying the union needed the report to assess whether it should file a grievance.

  • December 04, 2025

    Fired Worker Slaps Hertz With Pay Equity And Retaliation Suit

    A former worker hit the Hertz Corp. with a lawsuit in Georgia federal court, claiming that the car rental company gave male employees better pay and treatment than women, and eventually fired her for complaining about it. 

  • December 04, 2025

    SDNY Judge Unsure Of Jurisdiction In Maurene Comey Suit

    A Manhattan federal judge said Thursday he may not have jurisdiction over former prosecutor Maurene Comey's suit claiming President Donald Trump's rivalry with her father, former FBI Director James Comey, led to her firing.

  • December 04, 2025

    Airline Pushed Colo. Pilot Out Over Depression, Court Told

    A regional carrier for American Airlines put a Colorado-based pilot through a rigorous training process after learning about her depression and anxiety and denied her request to take time off to address her worsening symptoms, forcing her to resign, according to a complaint filed in federal court.

  • December 04, 2025

    Bipartisan Bill Would Set Guardrails On Employers' AI Use

    A bipartisan coalition of lawmakers introduced legislation Wednesday that mandates employers include human oversight when using automated decision-making software, regularly test their tools and disclose to workers when they're in play.

  • December 04, 2025

    4th Circ. Says Iranian Researcher's EEOC Charge Too Narrow

    The Fourth Circuit refused to revive a suit from an Iranian ex-research assistant who claimed she was berated and forced to resign from her university job, ruling her allegations strayed beyond the scope of her pre-suit U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission charge.

  • December 03, 2025

    FCC OKs $1B UScellular Deal After AT&T Drops DEI Policies

    AT&T got the Federal Communications Commission's approval for its $1 billion UScellular deal Wednesday, following in the wake of rivals Verizon and T-Mobile and becoming the latest of the big three mobile carriers to agree to do away with its diversity, equity and inclusion policies.

  • December 03, 2025

    Wash. Defends Law Limiting Immigrants Working In Jails

    Washington state urged a federal judge to deny King County's attempt to block a law that imposes citizenship and immigration status requirements for local government corrections officers, arguing that it passes legal muster and may soon change anyway.

  • December 03, 2025

    11th Circ. Upholds USPS' Win In Disabled Courier's Bias Suit

    The Eleventh Circuit declined Wednesday to reinstate a U.S. Postal Service courier's discrimination case challenging a work assignment that reduced her shift to 1.5 hours per day due to medical restrictions from an on-the-job injury, finding she offered scant evidence of race, sex, age and disability bias.

  • December 03, 2025

    Colo. Service Provider's 'No Gossip' Policy Illegal, Worker Says

    A payroll and human resources company had an illegal no-gossip agreement that violated Colorado laws that prohibit employment agreements imposing strict restrictions, an account manager says in a proposed class action in state court.

  • December 03, 2025

    7th Circ. Backs Chicago In Officers' Vaccine Bias Suit

    The Seventh Circuit on Tuesday refused to revive a suit lodged by a group of police officers claiming Chicago's COVID-19 vaccination policy violated their constitutional and statutory rights, finding their claim had "no legal merit" and that the city rationally treated them differently to stop the spread of the virus to other employees and the public.

  • December 03, 2025

    Fanatics, NFT Co. Strike Deal To Settle Ex-Exec's FMLA Suit

    Fanatics and a digital collectibles company struck a settlement with a former executive to end a suit alleging he was fired for seeking parental leave, according to a New York federal court order Wednesday.

  • December 03, 2025

    2nd Circ. Says Judge's Remark Can't Sink $480K Bias Verdict

    A split Second Circuit panel ruled Wednesday that a New York school district couldn't escape a former principal's $480,000 jury win in a sex discrimination case, finding a judge's mistaken comment on a key defense for the district didn't warrant a redo.

  • December 03, 2025

    American Airlines Can't Nix Attendant's Disability Bias Claims

    American Airlines must face a former flight attendant's lawsuit claiming he was fired after developing cataracts, an Illinois federal judge ruled, finding that he adequately alleged the airline is subject to a law that bans discrimination by organizations that receive federal funds.

  • December 03, 2025

    Ex-Stone Hilton Assistant Pushes For Texas OAG Subpoena

    A former Stone Hilton PLLC executive assistant has doubled down on her bid to subpoena the Texas Office of the Attorney General in her suit accusing former OAG attorneys and firm founders Judd Stone and Christopher Hilton of sexual harassment.

  • December 03, 2025

    Former Gov't Workers Challenge Trump's DEI Firing Spree

    The Trump administration unlawfully targeted perceived political enemies, women and people of color when it fired all federal employees who served in roles related to diversity, equity and inclusion, former government workers said Wednesday in a proposed class action.

  • December 02, 2025

    9th Circ. Mulls Pharma Exec's Use Of Forced Arbitration Law

    A California biopharmaceutical company told the Ninth Circuit on Tuesday that a district court erred in letting its former chief financial officer move her discrimination claims out of arbitration and into federal court, saying she arbitrated too long before invoking the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act.

  • December 02, 2025

    U Of Colo. To Pay $10M In Religious Bias Suit Over Vax Policy

    The University of Colorado's medical school will pay $10.3 million to a group of employees and students who claimed in federal court that their religious exemption requests to the university's COVID-19 vaccine mandate were unlawfully denied, according to the group's attorneys.

  • December 02, 2025

    Microsoft Touted Inclusion, Then Fired Blind Worker, Suit Says

    Microsoft Corp. held up a blind employee as an example of its commitment to inclusive hiring, then canned his accessibility project for people with vision issues and laid him off, according to a recent suit in Washington state court accusing the company of illegal discrimination.

  • December 02, 2025

    Chaplain Says Fla. Prison Officials Fired Him Over Beliefs

    A former prison chaplain who was terminated by the Florida Department of Corrections for refusing to train a female minister brought a federal suit alleging religious discrimination, saying he was fired for upholding his Christian belief that a woman should not be allowed to preach to male inmates. 

  • December 02, 2025

    Concrete Co. Rejected Workers Over Opioid Use, EEOC Says

    A concrete contractor refused to hire job applicants who took medications to treat opioid addiction and other substance use disorders, in violation of federal disability law, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleged in a Tuesday lawsuit filed in West Virginia federal court.

  • December 02, 2025

    Cafe Chain Inks $650K Deal To End EEOC Harassment Case

    A cafe chain will pay $650,000 to resolve a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission suit claiming a manager created a toxic work environment by inappropriately touching and commenting on female employees' bodies, the federal bias watchdog announced Tuesday.

Expert Analysis

  • 2 Areas Of Labor Law That May Change Under Trump

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    Based on President Donald Trump's recent moves, employers should expect to see significant changes in the direction of law coming out of the National Labor Relations Board, particularly in two areas where the Trump administration will seek to roll back the Biden NLRB's changes, says Daniel Johns at Cozen O’Connor.

  • Justices' Revival Ruling In Bias Suit Exceeds Procedural Issue

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in Waetzig v. Halliburton allowed the plaintiff in an age discrimination lawsuit to move to reopen his case after arbitration, but the seemingly straightforward decision on a procedural issue raises complex questions for employment law practitioners, says Christopher Sakauye at Dykema.

  • Water Cooler Talk: 'Late Night' Shows DEI Is More Than Optics

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    Amid the shifting legal landscape for corporate diversity, equity and inclusion programs, Troutman's Tracey Diamond and Emily Schifter chat with their firm's DEI committee chair, Nicole Edmonds, about how the 2019 film "Late Night" reflects the challenges and rewards of fostering meaningful inclusion.

  • 9 Considerations For Orgs Using AI Meeting Assistants

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    When deciding to use artificial intelligence meeting assistants, organizations must create and implement a written corporate policy that establishes the do's and don'ts for these assistants, taking into account individualized business operations, industry standards and legal and regulatory requirements, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

  • What's At Stake In High Court Transgender Care Suit

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    The outcome of U.S. v. Skrmetti will have critical implications for the rights of transgender youth and their access to gender-affirming care, and will likely affect other areas of law and policy involving transgender individuals, including education, employment, healthcare and civil rights, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • Determining What 'I Don't Feel Safe' Means In The Workplace

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    When an employee tells an employer "I don't feel safe," the phrase can have different meanings, so employment lawyers must adequately investigate to identify which meaning applies — and a cursory review and dismissal of the situation may not be a sufficient defense in case of future legal proceedings, says Karen Elliott at FordHarrison.

  • How EEOC Enforcement Priorities May Change Under Trump

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    The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has already been rocked by the Trump administration's dramatic changes in personnel and policy, which calls into question how the agency may shift its direction from the priorities set forth in its five-year strategic enforcement plan in 2023, say attorneys at Seyfarth.

  • Handbook Hot Topics: Back To Basics After Admin Change

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    Having an up-to-date employee handbook is more critical now than ever, given the recent change in administration, and employers should understand their benefits and risks, including how they can limit employers’ liability and help retain employers’ rights, say Kasey Cappellano and Meaghan Gandy at Kutak Rock.

  • What Axed Title IX Gender Identity Rule Means For Higher Ed

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    Following a Kentucky federal court's recent decision in State of Tennessee v. Cardona to strike down a Biden-era rule that expanded the definition of Title IX to prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity, institutions of higher education should prepare to reimplement policies that comply with the reinstated 2020 rule, say attorneys at Venable.

  • A Path Forward For Cos. Amid Trump's Anti-DEIA Efforts

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    Given the Trump administration’s recent efforts targeting corporate diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility programs — including threatening possible criminal prosecution — companies should carefully tailor their DEIA initiatives to comply with both the letter and the spirit of antidiscrimination law, say attorneys at Pillsbury.

  • Workforce Data Collection Considerations After DEI Order

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    Following President Donald Trump's executive order targeting diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, employers should balance the benefits of collecting demographic data with the risk of violating the order’s prohibition on "illegal DEI," say Lynn Clements at Berkshire Associates, David Cohen at DCI Consulting and Victoria Lipnic at Resolution Economics.

  • How DOGE's Severance Plan May Affect Federal Employees

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    President Donald Trump's administration, working through the Department of Government Efficiency, recently offered a severance package to nearly all of the roughly 2 million federal employees, but unanswered questions about the offer, coupled with several added protections for government workers, led to fewer accepted offers than expected, says Aaron Peskin at Kang Haggerty.

  • Rethinking 'No Comment' For Clients Facing Public Crises

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    “No comment” is no longer a cost-free or even a viable public communications strategy for companies in crisis, and counsel must tailor their guidance based on a variety of competing factors to help clients emerge successfully, says Robert Bowers at Moore & Van Allen.