Discrimination

  • May 23, 2024

    DLA Piper Must Share Prior Pregnancy Bias Claims With Court

    A New York federal magistrate judge on Wednesday ordered DLA Piper to let her privately review previous pregnancy discrimination complaints against it as part of discovery in a former attorney's suit, an order that comes after the firm argued the burden of sharing them "far outweighs its likely benefit."

  • May 23, 2024

    Blue States Throw Weight Behind EEOC Pregnant Worker Rule

    U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission regulations that extend the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act's protections to abortion align with the law's intent to cover conditions arising out of pregnancy, almost two dozen Democratic state attorneys general said in an Arkansas federal court filing.

  • May 23, 2024

    Wash. DOT Cuts Deal To Exit EEOC Disability Bias Probe

    The Washington State Department of Transportation will pay $57,577 to put an end to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's investigation into a former worker's claim that he was fired after disclosing he has a disability, the federal bias watchdog announced Thursday. 

  • May 23, 2024

    Novartis Settles Ex-Saleswoman's Gender Pay Bias Suit

    Pharmaceutical giant Novartis and a former sales representative have agreed to end a suit alleging she was paid over $20,000 less than a male colleague pitching the same product, according to filings in Colorado federal court.

  • May 23, 2024

    NC Fintech Atty Sues Paymentus For Gender, Age Bias

    A former senior corporate counsel for cloud-based billing company Paymentus Corp. has slapped her former employer with a $100,000 age and gender discrimination suit in North Carolina federal court, saying she was paid less than her male colleagues and eventually fired for complaining, only to be replaced by a much younger male attorney.

  • May 23, 2024

    Wash. Atty Stops Practicing Law After Assaulting Associate

    A family law attorney in Washington state has resigned from practicing law after a series of criminal offenses, including a misdemeanor sexual assault and an attempted hate crime involving a colleague after a work-sponsored event, according to state bar association disciplinary records made public this week.

  • May 23, 2024

    Conn. To Expand Paid Sick Leave To Smaller Businesses

    More employees in Connecticut will soon become eligible for paid sick leave after the state's governor gave his blessing on a bill that expands the state's time-off requirements to include smaller businesses.

  • May 23, 2024

    Alaska Airlines, Union Beat Fired Workers' Religious Bias Suit

    A Washington federal judge tossed a suit from two Christian flight attendants who said they were illegally fired by Alaska Airlines and abandoned by their labor union for opposing the airline's support for LGBTQ+ rights, ruling there's no proof unlawful bias cost them their jobs.

  • May 23, 2024

    NYC Mayor And Assault Accuser Spar Over Discovery 'Theatrics'

    The first conference in a lawsuit alleging New York City Mayor Eric Adams sexually assaulted a Police Department colleague in 1991 grew heated Thursday, as attorneys on both sides accused the others of improper discovery gambits.

  • May 23, 2024

    EEOC Backs Suit Over Hospital Patients' Racial Preferences

    The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission told the Fifth Circuit it should revive a Nigerian nurse's race bias case against a Texas hospital, arguing the medical center's practice of honoring patients' requests for non-Black caregivers could demonstrate a hostile work environment.

  • May 23, 2024

    Scope Narrows In Pay Bias Suit Against MetLife CEO

    A New York federal judge backtracked on a previous order that left in place all of a female former executive's pay bias claims against MetLife's CEO, limiting the scope of the suit to reflect that he stepped into his role as head of the company only three months before she was terminated.

  • May 23, 2024

    Fisher Phillips Reinforces Calif. Labor And Employment Team

    Fisher Phillips has hired two of counsel in its Irvine, California, office to continue representing employers and helping those clients navigate a range of labor and employment matters.

  • May 22, 2024

    Burrows Warns Against 'Attacks' On Diversity Efforts

    U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Chair Charlotte Burrows and Commissioner Andrea Lucas both warned attendees at a New York University law school event Wednesday to stay vigilant about federal anti-discrimination law, though they expressed differing perspectives on the hot-button issue of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

  • May 22, 2024

    IT Co. Can't Sink Fired Worker's FMLA Retaliation Suit

    A Florida federal judge declined to hand an information technology company an early win in a former worker's suit claiming he was fired after he took medical leave to treat anxiety, ruling that there are enough disputes over whether the company acted illegally to send the case to trial.

  • May 22, 2024

    Justices' CFPB Alliance May Save SEC Courts, Not Chevron

    A four-justice concurrence to the U.S. Supreme Court's decision upholding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's unique funding scheme last week carries implications for other cases pending before the court that challenge the so-called administrative state, or the permanent cadre of regulatory agencies and career government enforcers who hold sway over vast swaths of American economic life.

  • May 22, 2024

    Ex-Mich. Judge Loses Law License Challenge

    A former Detroit trial court judge's failure to object to a magistrate judge's recommendation to toss her claims means she cannot continue to pursue a discrimination and defamation complaint against the state's judicial disciplinary board, a federal judge in Michigan ruled Wednesday.

  • May 22, 2024

    6th Circ. Rejects Ex-Mich. County Worker's Disability Bias Suit

    The Sixth Circuit refused Wednesday to reopen a former Michigan county employee's lawsuit claiming she wasn't allowed to work from home or follow a flexible schedule because of her attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, finding she didn't show these accommodations would help her successfully do her job.

  • May 22, 2024

    6th Circ. Backs FedEx's Jury Win In Black Worker's Bias Suit

    The Sixth Circuit upheld a win Wednesday for FedEx in a suit brought by a Black worker who said she was fired out of racial animus after an altercation with a co-worker, unswayed by her argument that the lower court's handling of her case was fatally flawed.

  • May 22, 2024

    4 Questions About Trailblazing AI Bias Law In Colo.

    Colorado moved to the forefront of regulating artificial intelligence by requiring that developers and users of "high-risk" programs mitigate algorithmic discrimination, enacting a law experts say could serve as a model for other jurisdictions, as well as employers looking to stay ahead of the curve. Here are four questions employment attorneys are asking about the novel statute.  

  • May 22, 2024

    OSU Strikes Deal To Resolve Ex-Prof's Gender Bias Suit

    Ohio State University reached a tentative deal Wednesday with a former marketing professor to end her lawsuit accusing the school of firing her for working with outside clients while male colleagues escaped retribution, a notice in federal court said.

  • May 22, 2024

    Target Of Cyberstalking Loses 5th Circ. ADA Suit

    The Fifth Circuit upheld the dismissal of a former sales specialist's suit claiming a medical supply company violated federal disability law by refusing to separate her from a co-worker whose girlfriend had cyberstalked her, finding the company didn't know about her anxiety until after denying the requests.

  • May 22, 2024

    Amazon Defeats Fired Executive's Equal Pay Suit

    A California federal judge threw out a former Amazon executive's suit alleging the online retail behemoth unlawfully fired her after complaining that a male counterpart earned more than her, ruling that revisions to her suit hadn't fixed the lack of detail previously called out by the court.

  • May 22, 2024

    Md. Clinic Fires Worker With Faulty Vision, EEOC Tells Court

    A medical clinic fired a scheduling assistant on her first day of work after learning she suffers from vision impairments that make it difficult for her to read a computer screen, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission told a Maryland federal court.

  • May 21, 2024

    NC Agency Atty Gets More Time To Prep For Bias Trial

    A North Carolina federal judge shut down the state justice department's bid to stop an attorney from calling witnesses and offering exhibits in her discrimination trial, according to a docket order that appears to give the plaintiff more time to prepare.

  • May 21, 2024

    EEOC Guidance Over Gender Identity Can't Stand, Texas Says

    The Texas attorney general requested Tuesday that a federal judge do away with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's enforcement guidance over gender identity and Title VII, arguing that the agency must be stopped from requiring employers' compliance with pronoun and bathroom accommodations.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • Handbook Hot Topics: Changing Status Quo In A Union Shop

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    A recent administrative law decision concerning a dispute between Fortune Media and the NewsGuild of New York is an important reminder to employers with unionized workforces to refrain from making unilateral updates to employee handbooks that will change the terms and conditions of employment, says Jennifer Hataway at Butler Snow.

  • What EEOC's 2023 Stats Mean For Future Enforcement

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    The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s unusual burst of spring lawsuits and its new Democratic majority should cue employers and HR personnel to expect EEOC enforcement activity to ramp up to pre-pandemic rates, especially in regions where filings are on the rise and in those areas the agency appears to be targeting, such as workplace discrimination, say Andrew Scroggins and James Nasiri at Seyfarth Shaw.

  • Eye On Compliance: A Shift In Religious Accommodation Law

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    The recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Groff v. DeJoy is making it more difficult for employers to deny religious accommodations, and there are three takeaways employers should keep in mind, say William Cook and Matthew High at Wilson Elser.

  • Tick Tock: When Punctuality Raises Employee ADA Questions

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    A recent viral TikTok video — where a user claims they were disrespected by a potential employer when inquiring about accommodations for difficulty with being on time — shows that even in the most seemingly questionable situations, there may be legitimate issues that require Americans with Disabilities Act considerations, says Daniel Pasternak at Squire Patton.

  • Tips For Making And Maintaining Employee Resource Groups

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    Employers should consider creating employee resource groups to create a workplace that can flourish in the new remote work reality, and keep in mind three best practices to avoid potential legal pitfalls and challenges that come with them, say Tyler Paetkau and Catarina Colón at Husch Blackwell.

  • Employer Pointers From Tiger Woods' Legal Dispute With Ex

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    Ex-girlfriend Erica Herman's sexual harassment suit against Tiger Woods, which was recently sent to arbitration, highlights the need for employers to understand their rights and responsibilities around workplace relationships, nondisclosure agreements and arbitration provisions, say Stephanie Reynolds and Sean McKaveney at Fisher Phillips.