Discrimination

  • May 16, 2025

    Employment Lawyers' Weekly DEI Cheat Sheet

    Harvard University assured the Trump administration that it doesn't use race- or ethnicity-based quotas in hiring, a law firm pipeline program was accused of disadvantaging white applicants, and Indiana's attorney general demanded that the University of Notre Dame answer questions about its efforts to diversify its faculty. Here, Law360 looks at notable DEI-related legal developments from the past week.

  • May 16, 2025

    9th Circ. Won't Reopen Ex-Police Officer's Religious Bias Suit

    The Ninth Circuit refused to revive a former police officer's lawsuit claiming an Arizona town fired him because it believed he was a member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, saying his allegations weren't detailed enough to stay in court.

  • May 16, 2025

    Culver's Franchise To Pay $261K To Settle EEOC Suits

    A Culver's franchise will pay $261,000 to end a pair of U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lawsuits alleging it ignored sexist, racist and ableist harassment, according to Minnesota federal court papers filed Friday.

  • May 16, 2025

    Trucking Co. Worker Says Tobacco Surcharge Violates ERISA

    An employee of Marten Transport Ltd. is suing the trucking company in Wisconsin federal court, alleging that a tobacco surcharge in its health plan violates federal antidiscrimination law.

  • May 16, 2025

    Calif. Forecast: State Justices To Hear Arbitration Fee Dispute

    In the coming two weeks, attorneys should keep an eye out for oral arguments at the California Supreme Court regarding whether federal law preempts state statutes involving arbitration fees. Here's a look at that case and other labor and employment matters coming up in the Golden State.

  • May 16, 2025

    UPS Strikes Deal To End EEOC Sex Harassment Probe

    UPS will pay $10,000 to resolve a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission investigation into allegations that the company failed to deal with sexual harassment and denied a promotion to a worker because of their sex.

  • May 16, 2025

    EEOC's Take On Trans Rights Conflicts With Law, Judge Says

    The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission exceeded its authority when it laid out its worker-friendly take on the U.S. Supreme Court's Bostock opinion, a Texas federal judge found, striking down parts of agency anti-harassment guidance that interpreted the landmark ruling's implications for gay and transgender workers.

  • May 15, 2025

    Harvard Alum Drops Antisemitism Suit Over Campus Incidents

    A former Harvard University student has voluntarily dismissed his suit over the Ivy League school's handling of antisemitic incidents on campus, according to a stipulation of dismissal filed Thursday in Massachusetts federal court.

  • May 15, 2025

    'It Ends With Us' Producers Must Hand Over Net Worth Docs

    Justin Baldoni and other producers of "It Ends With Us" must turn over to Blake Lively financial records showing their net worth in the legal battle between the film's stars, a New York federal judge has ruled, saying the information is fair game since Baldoni's side claims to have lost $400 million due to Lively's alleged smear campaign.

  • May 15, 2025

    SEC Cuts $512K Deal To End Atty's Racial Bias Suit

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has agreed to pay $512,500 to end a former commission lawyer's discrimination claims alleging she was denied a promotion due to her race and age, according to court documents filed in Pennsylvania federal court on Thursday.

  • May 15, 2025

    3 Things To Know As Minneapolis Overhauls Its Anti-Bias Law

    Minneapolis lawmakers recently approved a sweeping revamp of the city's civil rights statute, bolstering safeguards for workers with criminal histories, prohibiting discrimination based on body size and making a slew of other revisions that expand legal pathways for workers to challenge bias. Here are three things employers and workers should know before those changes kick in this summer.

  • May 15, 2025

    4th Circ. Says DEA Worker's Own Behavior Dooms Bias Suit

    The Fourth Circuit on Thursday backed the dismissal of a white Drug Enforcement Administration supervisor's suit claiming that her Black bosses discriminated and retaliated against her for complaining that they showed favoritism toward Black workers, saying her own poor leadership was to blame for her reassignment and suspension.

  • May 15, 2025

    Colo. Chief Sacked Firefighters Behind Union Drive, Suit Says

    Two former captains and a statewide union sued a Southwest Colorado fire district and its chief Thursday for allegedly stopping a union campaign in its tracks by retaliating against organizers, claiming the chief fired the captains after they organized a vote showing nearly three-quarters of workers backed unionization.

  • May 15, 2025

    7th Circ. Doubts Officers' Vaccine Reporting Exemption Claim

    A Seventh Circuit panel seemed skeptical Thursday that a group of COVID-19 vaccine-exempt police officers in Chicago should be allowed to pursue religious discrimination claims targeting the suspensions and other adverse actions they faced for not reporting their vaccination status in the city's data portal. 

  • May 15, 2025

    Wells Fargo Opposes Atty Fee Bid After $22M ADA Verdict

    Wells Fargo said it is "vigorously" contesting an attorney's request for at least $1.4 million in fees after winning a $22.1 million verdict in an Americans with Disabilities Act case against the bank, telling the court the request to double the lodestar amount is unsupported.

  • May 15, 2025

    Colorado Hog Farm Inks Deal In EEOC Sex Harassment Suit

    A Colorado hog farm has agreed to pay $330,000 to close a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission suit claiming it failed to take action when female workers complained that male managers propositioned them for sex and walked in on them changing.

  • May 15, 2025

    Plaintiff's 'Total Victory' Forces End To Southwest Bias Suit

    A Texas federal judge intends to issue a final judgment in a nonprofit's suit challenging an award program for Hispanic employees of Southwest Airlines Co., saying the "obstinate plaintiff" has already achieved total victory in the suit.

  • May 15, 2025

    9th Circ. Questions University's Limits On Professor's Speech

    Two Ninth Circuit judges cast doubt on the University of Washington's defense in a First Amendment lawsuit on Thursday, questioning why the college would remove a professor's parody of a Native American land acknowledgment from his class syllabus while permitting him to broadcast the same opinions elsewhere in the academic setting.

  • May 15, 2025

    Full 9th Circ. Affirms BNSF Railway's Win In Retaliation Suit

    The full Ninth Circuit upheld a win for BNSF Railway on Thursday in a now-deceased conductor's lawsuit alleging he was fired in retaliation for testing train cars' brakes, finding the railroad had met the high bar required for lawful firing under whistleblower protection law. 

  • May 15, 2025

    High Court's Muldrow Ruling Gets Cop's Bias Suit Revived

    The Third Circuit reopened a former Philadelphia police officer's lawsuit claiming he was unlawfully transferred to a less prestigious division because he was in his 60s, saying the case needed another look based on the U.S. Supreme Court's clarification of the standard for workplace discrimination claims.

  • May 15, 2025

    Ala. Jury Awards Industrial Worker $640K In Race Bias Case

    An Alabama federal jury has awarded $640,000 in damages to a millwright who said he was called a racist slur, demoted and then fired within months of being hired by an industrial services company.

  • May 15, 2025

    Judicial Aide's NY Sex Abuse Suit May Survive, Panel Hints

    A New York state appellate panel has voiced doubts that a former judicial secretary's sex abuse lawsuit should have been dismissed, challenging the state court system's arguments that it didn't employ her and thus can't be held liable for any harms she suffered.

  • May 15, 2025

    EEOC Says Maui Hotel Owner's Sex Harassment 'Rampant'

    The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission slapped a Hawaii hotel with a lawsuit Thursday accusing its owner of widespread, long-running sexual harassment that allegedly included sexual advances, inappropriate touching and demands for massages while he was naked.  

  • May 15, 2025

    5th Circ. Affirms Nix Of BNSF Ex-Conductor's Vision Bias Suit

    The Fifth Circuit upheld BNSF Railway Co.'s defeat of a former conductor's suit claiming he was fired because of his color vision deficiency, saying his inability to obtain certification under railroad safety laws made him unqualified for the job.

  • May 15, 2025

    House Bill Aims To Nix FMLA Leave Cap For Married Couples

    A bipartisan group of U.S. House members floated a bill that aims to strike a provision from the Family and Medical Leave Act that limits leave for married couples who work for the same employer.

Expert Analysis

  • Parsing 3rd Circ. Ruling On Cannabis, Employee Private Suits

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    The Third Circuit recently upheld a decision that individuals don't have a private right of action for alleged violations of New Jersey's Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance and Marketplace Modernization Act, but employers should stay informed as the court encouraged the state Legislature to amend the law, say attorneys at Mandelbaum Barrett.

  • EEOC Wearable Tech Guidance Highlights Monitoring Scrutiny

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    The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's recent fact sheet on wearable technologies cautions against potential issues with federal anti-discrimination laws and demonstrates growing concern from regulators and legislators about intrusive technologies in the workplace, say attorneys at Littler.

  • 4 Employment Law Areas Set To Change Under Trump

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    President Donald Trump's second term is expected to bring significant changes to the U.S. employment law landscape, including the potential for updated worker classification regulations, and challenges to diversity, equity and inclusion that are already taking shape, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • What Employment Bias Litigation Looks Like After Muldrow

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    Nine months after the U.S. Supreme Court created an undemanding standard for discrimination claims in Muldrow v. St. Louis, Eric Schnapper at the University of Washington discusses how the Title VII litigation landscape has changed and what to expect moving forward.

  • 10 Key Worker-Friendly California Employment Law Updates

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    New employment laws in California expand employee rights, transparency and enforcement mechanisms, and failing to educate department managers on these changes could put employers at risk, says Melanie Ronen at Stradley Ronon.

  • How PAGA Reform Can Inform Employer Strategies In 2025

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    While recent changes to California's Private Attorneys General Act will not significantly reduce PAGA claims, employers can use the new law to potentially limit their future exposure, by taking advantage of penalty reduction opportunities and more, say attorneys at Thompson Coburn.

  • How Deregulation Could Undermine Trump's Anti-DEI Agenda

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    While rolling back federal agency power benefited conservative policies during the Biden administration, it will likely undermine President Donald Trump's ability to wield agencies like the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives beyond the federal workforce and into the private sector, says Ally Coll at the Purple Method.

  • Trump Should Pass On Project 2025's Disparate Impact Plan

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    The Trump administration should reject Project 2025's call to eliminate the disparate impact doctrine because, as its pro-business Republican creators intended, a focus on dismantling unnecessary barriers to qualified job candidates serves companies' best interests more successfully than the alternatives, says Susan Carle at American University.

  • Expect A Big Shake Up At The EEOC Under 2nd Trump Admin

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    During President-elect Donald Trump’s second term, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is likely to significantly shift its focus and priorities, especially where workplace DEI initiatives, immigration enforcement, LGBTQ+ rights and pregnancy protections are concerned, say attorneys at Stoel Rives.

  • 4 Novel Issues From The Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni Suits

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    A series of lawsuits arising from actress Blake Lively's sexual harassment and retaliation complaint against her "It Ends With Us" co-star, Justin Baldoni, present novel legal issues that employment and defamation practitioners alike should follow as the litigation progresses, say attorneys at Dorsey & Whitney.

  • Religious Accommodation Lessons From $12.7M Vax Verdict

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    A Michigan federal jury’s recent $12.7 million verdict against Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan starkly reminds employers of the risks they face when assessing employees’ religious accommodation requests, highlighting pitfalls to avoid and raising the opportunity to consider best practices to follow, say attorneys at Williams & Connolly.

  • Lessons From United's Axed Win In Firing Over Online Pics

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    In Wawrzenski v. United Airlines, a California state appeals court revived a flight attendant’s suit over her termination for linking photos of herself in uniform to her OnlyFans account, providing a cautionary tale for employers navigating the complexities of workplace policy enforcement in the digital age, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • How Trump Admin May Approach AI In The Workplace

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    Key indicators suggest that the incoming Trump administration will adopt a deregulatory approach to artificial intelligence, allowing states to fill the void, so it is critical that employers pay close attention to developing legal authority concerning AI tools, say attorneys at Littler.