Discrimination

  • August 20, 2024

    5th Circ. Won't Revive Union Pacific Electrician's ADA Suit

    The Fifth Circuit backed the dismissal of a railway electrician's disability bias suit claiming Union Pacific Railroad Co. unreasonably pushed him out of a job after he likely experienced an off-duty seizure, ruling the business properly considered that a second, on-the-job seizure could be imminent.

  • August 20, 2024

    Muldrow Takes Center Stage At 9th Circ. Bias Arguments

    A Ninth Circuit panel overseeing an Asian American worker's push to revive her bias lawsuit agreed Tuesday that the U.S. Supreme Court's April decision in Muldrow v. St. Louis puts her claims under a new lens, but wrestled with who should determine the case's outcome.

  • August 20, 2024

    Kansas Resolves Fired Trans Highway Worker's Bias Suit

    Kansas lawmakers approved a $50,000 settlement ending a former highway patrol worker's lawsuit alleging he was fired because he's transgender amid an investigation into whether he'd harassed a female colleague.

  • August 20, 2024

    Some Wis. State Bar Officers Let Out Of Diversity Bias Suit

    A Wisconsin federal judge has removed three of the seven individual defendants named in a suit brought by an attorney challenging the Wisconsin Bar's diversity clerkship program after they argued they were not personally responsible for actions alleged in the suit, with the judge also cutting a claim for money damages.

  • August 20, 2024

    Law Professor Seeks To Keep Alive Bias Suit Against FAMU

    A Florida A&M University College of Law professor asked a federal court to maintain her discrimination suit because "context matters" in the case, and it shouldn't be decided on summary judgment, as the school suggested.

  • August 20, 2024

    9th Circ. Revives CBP Officer's Facebook Harassment Suit

    The Ninth Circuit revived a suit Tuesday from a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer who alleged his colleagues mocked his sexuality in a private Facebook group, saying the case needs another look following a recent ruling that off-duty social media posts can create a hostile work environment.

  • August 20, 2024

    A Deep Dive Into Law360 Pulse's 2024 Women In Law Report

    The legal industry continues to see incremental gains for female lawyers in private practice in the U.S., according to a Law360 Pulse analysis, with women now representing 40.6% of all attorneys and 51% of all associates.

  • August 20, 2024

    These Firms Have The Most Women In Equity Partnerships

    The legal industry still has a long way to go before it can achieve gender parity at its upper levels. But these law firms are performing better than others in breaking the proverbial glass ceiling that prevents women from attaining leadership roles.

  • August 20, 2024

    BNSF Urges 5th Circ. To Nix Colorblind Conductor's ADA Suit

    BNSF Railway Co. urged the Fifth Circuit to reject a colorblind conductor's bid to revive his disability bias suit claiming he was illegally fired for failing a vision test, arguing that the former employee's impairment disqualified him for the job.

  • August 20, 2024

    EEOC Calls Off Staff Furlough Proposed For Late August

    The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission won't go through with a one-day furlough of agency staff that it had been considering due to budget constraints, with EEOC Chair Charlotte Burrows saying Tuesday that the measure is no longer necessary.

  • August 20, 2024

    Philadelphia, Insurer Settle Trans Firefighter's Surgery Suit

    The city of Philadelphia, Independence Blue Cross and a firefighters union agreed to settle a transgender firefighter's suit claiming she was unlawfully denied coverage for facial feminization surgery, just weeks after a Pennsylvania federal judge refused to let the insurer out of the case.

  • August 20, 2024

    Luxury Gym, Owner Must Face Trainer's Sex Harassment Suit

    A New York federal judge refused to throw out a trainer's lawsuit alleging that a luxury gym failed to properly pay her and that its owner sexually harassed her, saying her entire case falls under an amendment to the Federal Arbitration Act mandating that sexual harassment claims remain in court.

  • August 19, 2024

    DOJ Says No Arthrex Problem In SpaceX Hiring Bias Probe

    The U.S. Department of Justice is urging a Texas federal judge to side with the administrative law judge overseeing the immigration bias investigation against SpaceX, saying the company is using its constitutional attack against the framework of the proceeding as a distraction.

  • August 19, 2024

    Seattle Says White Worker Can't Show Diversity Training Harm

    The city of Seattle has argued that a white ex-employee can't prevail in his discrimination claims over its workplace diversity programming, telling a Washington federal judge the worker was never disciplined or demoted despite his "increasingly aggressive and inappropriate attacks on coworkers" who supported the racial justice initiative.

  • August 19, 2024

    Disney, Miramax Can't Escape NY Weinstein Sex Assault Suit

    A New York state judge on Monday declined to dismiss an actress's claims against The Walt Disney Co., its subsidiary Miramax Film NY LLC and Creative Artists Agency LLC over an alleged sexual assault by disgraced film executive Harvey Weinstein.

  • August 19, 2024

    USAF, Airmen Debate Mootness Of Vax Mandate Challenge

    In a pair of dueling briefs, both the U.S. Air Force and a cadre of its airmen are sparring over whether the military's revocation of its COVID-19 vaccine mandate for service members spells the end for the airmen's suit challenging the mandate on religious freedom grounds.

  • August 19, 2024

    6th Circ. Backs $250K Jury Win In Sergeant's Retaliation Suit

    The Sixth Circuit on Monday upheld a $250,000 jury verdict finding that a Michigan county brought retaliatory use-of-force criminal charges against a sheriff's office sergeant for filing a previous lawsuit, ruling he put forward enough proof that the charges he was hit with may have been bogus.

  • August 19, 2024

    Facility Management Co. Settles EEOC Disability Bias Charge

    Facility management company ABM agreed to pay $52,000 to a deaf job applicant who said their job offer for a warehouse cleaner position was put on ice after they asked for an accommodation, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said Monday.

  • August 19, 2024

    Staffing Cos. Can't Immediately Appeal EEOC Race Bias Case

    A Tennessee federal judge refused to give three staffing companies a green light to appeal her decision that they must face a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lawsuit claiming they favored Hispanic workers over Black ones.

  • August 19, 2024

    Boston Defeats Suit By Fired Police Commissioner

    A Boston police commissioner who was fired over decades-old abuse allegations had plenty of chances to give his side of the story, a Massachusetts federal court said Monday in rejecting claims he was defamed and stigmatized by the city's ex-mayor.

  • August 19, 2024

    Illinois AI Bias Law Shows States Zeroing In On Workplaces

    A new Illinois law upping the legal protections for job candidates and employees evaluated by artificial intelligence signals that workplaces will continue to be at the center of the state-led campaign to curb AI bias, experts said.

  • August 19, 2024

    Judge Urges Throwing Out DOJ's 'Simple' Race Bias Suit

    A federal judge recommended dismissing a U.S. Department of Justice suit accusing a Georgia county of firing two Black workers who complained about a slur from a white colleague, faulting the DOJ for trying to "overcomplicate" the case.

  • August 19, 2024

    Ex-NJ County Exec Loses Bid To DQ Firm In Retaliation Suit

    A former Cumberland County, New Jersey, health official claiming his firing was political retaliation cannot disqualify the county's counsel in his lawsuit, Testa Heck Testa & White PA, over interactions he had with two firm attorneys around the time of his firing, a state court judge ruled Friday.

  • August 19, 2024

    Security Co. Can't Toss Worker's Sex Harassment Suit

    A Maryland federal judge has declined to throw out the bulk of a woman's suit against a Baltimore utility and a security firm alleging that she was fired for ending a sexual relationship with her supervisor, only tossing her wrongful termination claim.

  • August 16, 2024

    NJ Agency Nixes City's 3rd Police Firing For Cannabis Use

    Another New Jersey police officer who was fired for off-duty marijuana use must be reinstated, a state commission has ordered, finding it doesn't matter that the officer failed to disclose reliance on cannabis for medical purposes before a screening or that the usage at issue was technically recreational.

Expert Analysis

  • Employer Best Practices For Pay Transparency Compliance

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    With conflicting pay transparency and disclosure laws appearing across the country, employers must carefully develop different strategies for discussing compensation with employees, applicants, and off-site workers, disclosing salaries in job ads, and staying abreast of new state and local compliance requirements, says Joy Rosenquist at Littler Mendelson.

  • Congress Must Level The Employer Arbitration Playing Field

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    Federal courts have largely eviscerated state bans on arbitration of employment claims through Federal Arbitration Act preemption holdings, and they are also limiting the impact of the federal Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act, so Congress needs to step in and amend both laws, says Alan Kabat at Bernabei & Kabat.

  • What 11th Circ. Revival Of Deaf Employee's Bias Suit Portends

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    The Eleventh Circuit's recent Beasley v. O'Reilly Auto Parts decision, which created a circuit split involving the issue of linking accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act to essential job functions, is a curiosity about the court's analysis at least and a potential game changer for employer duties at most, says John Doran at Sherman & Howard.

  • What To Watch As Justices Take Up Title VII Job Transfer Case

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    With its recent decision to hear Muldrow v. City of St. Louis, the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether an involuntary job transfer can count as employment discrimination under Title VII — an eventual ruling that has potential to reshape workplace bias claims nationwide, says Adam Grogan at Bell Law Group.

  • Parsing EEOC Guidance On Accommodating Low Vision

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    Employers need to examine recent Equal Employment Opportunity Commission guidance on provisions for employees who are blind or partially sighted, particularly on the consequences of terminating an employee with blindness or low vision without meeting obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act, says Amy Epstein Gluck at FisherBroyles.

  • 5 Tips For Employers Handling Generative AI Privacy Risks

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    Employers should carefully consider the privacy implications of using generative artificial intelligence tools, and employ steps to mitigate the risks, such as de-identifying data, providing notice and identifying data flows, say Zoe Argento and Amy Kabaria at Littler.

  • Water Cooler Talk: 'The Bear' Serves Up Advice For Managers

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    Tracey Diamond and Evan Gibbs at Troutman Pepper chat with Ernst & Young’s Laura Yehuda about Hulu's "The Bear" and the best practices managers can glean from the show's portrayal of workplace challenges, including those faced by young, female managers.

  • Recalling USWNT's Legal PR Playbook Amid World Cup Bid

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    As the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team strives to take home another World Cup trophy, their 2022 pay equity settlement with the U.S. Soccer Federation serves as a good reminder that winning in the court of public opinion can be more powerful than a victory inside the courtroom, says Hector Valle at Vianovo.

  • Mass. Age Bias Ruling Holds Employer Liability Lessons

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    The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s recent ruling in Adams v. Schneider Electric — upholding a laid-off employee’s age discrimination claim — is an important reminder that employers may face liability even if a decision maker unknowingly applies a discriminatory corporate strategy, say attorneys at Armstrong Teasdale.

  • Regulating AI: Litigation Questions And State Efforts To Watch

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    In view of the developing legal and regulatory framework for artificial intelligence systems in the U.S., including state legislation and early federal litigation, there are practical takeaways as we look toward the future, says Jennifer Maisel at Rothwell Figg.

  • Regulating AI: An Overview Of Federal Efforts

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    The U.S. has been carefully managing a national policy and regulatory ecosystem toward artificial intelligence, but as AI technology continues to expand into our everyday lives, so too has its risks and the need for regulation, says Jennifer Maisel at Rothwell Figg.

  • Justices' Job Transfer Review Should Hold To Title VII Text

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's upcoming decision in Muldrow v. City of St. Louis should hold that a job transfer can be an adverse employment action, and the analysis should be based on the straightforward language of Title VII rather than judicial activism, say Lynne Bernabei and Alan Kabat at Bernabei & Kabat.

  • Employer Tips For Fighting Back Against Explosive Verdicts

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    Massive jury verdicts are a product of our time, driven in part by reptile tactics, but employers can build a strategic defense to mitigate the risk of a runaway jury, and develop tools to seek judicial relief in the event of an adverse outcome, say Dawn Solowey and Lynn Kappelman at Seyfarth.