Discrimination

  • May 23, 2025

    Ex-Immigration Judge Fights To Keep Fla. Bias Suit Alive

    A former immigration judge has urged a Florida federal court to reject U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi's bid for an early win against her disability bias claims, arguing she was denied a hardship transfer and reasonable accommodation due to her gender and age.

  • May 22, 2025

    California City Cleared In Employment Discrimination Trial

    A Los Angeles jury cleared the city of Baldwin Park, California, of liability on Thursday in a wrongful-termination suit by a former longtime employee who claimed that she was forced to resign after complaining about race and gender bias and misuse of federal housing funds.

  • May 22, 2025

    Levi Strauss Calls For Sanctions Against Boies Schiller

    Levi Strauss is seeking more than $15,000 from Boies Schiller Flexner LLP and training for the firm's litigation attorneys in the proceeding over a former executive's sex discrimination claims, telling a California federal judge that Boies Schiller flouted deadlines and refused to meet with opposing counsel.

  • May 22, 2025

    Tire-Maker Axed Workers Over Prescription Drugs, EEOC Says

    A specialty tire manufacturer violated federal disability law when it terminated employees who lawfully took narcotics, opioids and other prescription medications to manage pain, even after multiple doctors cleared them to work, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleged in Tennessee federal court.

  • May 22, 2025

    Medical Pot Patient's Bias Suit Against Penske Can Proceed

    A Pennsylvania federal judge has refused to dismiss a discrimination case brought by a medical marijuana patient alleging a unit of Penske Corp. unlawfully rescinded his job offer.

  • May 22, 2025

    As Trump Wields FCA, Whistleblowers May See 'Dollar Signs'

    The Trump administration's plan to use the False Claims Act to target diversity programs and alleged civil rights fraud steers a well-worn statute into uncharted territory, and could spur significant whistleblower activity amid high-profile battles with Harvard University, BigLaw firms and other institutions, experts told Law360.

  • May 22, 2025

    Goodwin Procter Gave EEOC Data On Applicants' Race, Pay

    Goodwin Procter LLP turned over a trove of demographic and employment data on thousands of applicants for its fellowships, summer associate programs and full-time positions in response to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's March inquiry into its diversity programs.

  • May 22, 2025

    Tire Co., EEOC Resolve Guatemalan Harassment Suit

    A Massachusetts scrap tire facility agreed to pay $250,000 to settle a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lawsuit claiming the company's owner used derogatory language toward Guatemalan workers and threatened them with deportation, according to a Thursday filing in federal court.

  • May 22, 2025

    EEOC Says Car Dealer Denied Vet Service Dog To Aid PTSD

    A U.S. Navy veteran was forced to quit his job at a Maryland car dealership because it refused to let him bring a service dog to work to help manage panic attacks induced by service-related PTSD, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said in a new suit.

  • May 22, 2025

    Mich. Judge Says Red Cross Can Depose Ex-Nurse's Husband

    A Michigan federal judge on Thursday clarified that he intended to allow the American Red Cross to depose the husband of a nurse who alleges she was wrongfully denied a religious exemption from the organization's COVID-19 vaccine mandate, putting to rest a bout between the parties about the order's interpretation. 

  • May 22, 2025

    Ex-Troutman Atty Drops Retaliation Suit Against Major Lindsey

    An associate attorney who sued Major Lindsey & Africa LLC alleging the legal recruiter refused to work with her due to her underlying race discrimination suit against Troutman Pepper permanently dropped her suit Thursday.

  • May 22, 2025

    Calif. County Gets Vax Exemption Bias Class Disbanded

    A California federal judge dissolved a class of county workers who alleged their requests for religious exemptions from a COVID-19 vaccine mandate were handled differently from other employees' medical exemption bids, finding the group was not as similar as she had previously believed.

  • May 22, 2025

    Katz Banks Hires Former Gov't Atty For Worker Advocacy

    A former attorney at the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is now senior counsel at Katz Banks Kumin LLP in Washington, D.C., the firm announced, saying she will use her experience to advocate for federal workers navigating changes brought on by the Trump administration.

  • May 22, 2025

    2nd Circ. Won't Revive Court Interpreters' Pay Bias Suit

    The Second Circuit on Thursday declined to reinstate a lawsuit from New York court interpreters alleging they are paid less than their federal counterparts because they are foreign born, saying the workers failed to show the state's court system acted with discriminatory intent.

  • May 22, 2025

    Quest Diagnostics' $4M Rest Break Settlement Gets Initial OK

    A California federal judge granted preliminary approval to a $3.95 million settlement to a wage and hour class action against Quest Diagnostics Clinical Laboratories Inc., saying the deal adequately resolves allegations that the company violated the rest-break provision of the state's Labor Code.

  • May 22, 2025

    6th Circ. Affirms Toss Of ADA Suit Over Oxygen Tank Request

    The Sixth Circuit backed the dismissal of a former funeral home worker's disability bias suit alleging her shifts were cut because she asked for space to store her oxygen tank, ruling the lower court rightly found that her retaliation claim lacked evidence of prejudice.

  • May 22, 2025

    Ex-Prosecutor Says Filing Error Wrongly Sank FMLA Claims

    A filing error should not spell demise for a former Virginia city prosecutor's Family and Medical Leave Act claims against the city, his counsel told a federal court, saying the claims should be reinstated because they were never intended to be conceded.

  • May 22, 2025

    Mass. Justices Say Worker's Raise Doesn't Doom Bias Claim

    Massachusetts' top court on Thursday found that an employer may still face a discrimination claim for an alleged retaliatory action for union activity, even if the move left the worker with a pay bump.

  • May 21, 2025

    Littler, Tech Exec Settle Suit Over Firm's 'Unlawful' Advice

    Littler Mendelson PC has settled a tech executive's lawsuit claiming she was suspended and, eventually, fired after the company followed the "unlawful" advice of Littler attorneys, according to a dismissal order issued Tuesday in New York federal court.

  • May 21, 2025

    False Claims Act Gives Trump 'Sledgehammer' To Battle DEI

    The U.S. Department of Justice's vow to invoke the False Claims Act to police alleged civil rights violations tees up a powerful weapon for the Trump administration to wield against contractors and federal grantees with diversity, equity and inclusion programs it claims are discriminatory, experts say.

  • May 21, 2025

    Law Curbing Arbitration Can't Keep Exec's Bias Suit In Court

    A former executive for an investment management firm must arbitrate a gender and age bias suit alleging she faced sexist comments before getting sacked, a Texas appeals court said Wednesday, ruling that her case isn't covered by a law barring mandatory arbitration of sex harassment claims.

  • May 21, 2025

    Atty's Silence Dooms FMLA Claims Against Va. City

    A Virginia city is off the hook in an attorney's lawsuit claiming he was fired after requesting leave to care for his mother, a federal court ruled Wednesday, finding the attorney's failure to respond to the city's filings requires his claims be dismissed.

  • May 21, 2025

    EEOC Ordered To Rewrite PWFA Rule's Abortion Provision

    The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission must revise part of its year-old regulations implementing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, a Louisiana federal judge ruled Wednesday, saying the agency usurped congressional power by requiring workplace accommodations for abortion.

  • May 21, 2025

    FCC's Carr Clashes With Dems Over Verizon DEI Deal

    Congressional Democrats grilled the Federal Communications Commission's chief Wednesday about the legal basis for targeting diversity, equity and inclusion programs at Verizon, days after the wireless giant agreed to drop DEI initiatives amid its takeover of Frontier Communications.

  • May 21, 2025

    Marine Co. Strikes Deal To End EEOC Sex Harassment Suit

    A marine electronics supply company will pay nearly $53,000 to end a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lawsuit alleging it allowed a supervisor to sexually harass an employee and fired her after she refused his advances, according to a Louisiana federal court filing.

Expert Analysis

  • What To Know About Ill. Employment Law Changes

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    Illinois employers should review their policies in light of a number of recent changes to state employment law, including amendments to the state’s Human Rights Act and modifications to the Day and Temporary Labor Services Act, say attorneys at Kilpatrick.

  • Mich. Whistleblower Ruling Expands Retaliation Remedies

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    The Michigan Supreme Court's recent Occupational Health and Safety Act decision in Stegall v. Resource Technology is important because it increases the potential exposure for defendants in public policy retaliation cases, providing plaintiffs with additional claims, say Aaron Burrell and Timothy Howlett at Dickinson Wright.

  • How States Are Approaching AI Workplace Discrimination

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    As legislators across the U.S. have begun addressing algorithmic discrimination in the workplace, attorneys at Reed Smith provide an overview of the status, applicability and provisions of 13 state and local bills.

  • The Risks Of Employee Political Discourse On Social Media

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    As election season enters its final stretch and employees increasingly engage in political speech on social media, employers should beware the liability risks and consider policies that negotiate the line between employees' rights and the limits on those rights, say Bradford Kelley and James McGehee at Littler.

  • 7th Circ. Rulings Offer Employee Vaccine Exemption Guidance

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    Dawn Solowey and Samantha Brooks at Seyfarth explain how two recent Seventh Circuit rulings in Passarella v. Aspirus and Bube v. Aspirus could affect litigation involving employee vaccine exemptions, and discuss employer best practices for handling accommodation requests that include both religious and secular concerns.

  • Employers Should Not Neglect Paid Military Leave Compliance

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    An August decision from the Ninth Circuit and the settlement of a long-running class action, both examining paid leave requirements under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, are part of a nationwide trend that should prompt employers to review their military leave policies to avoid potential litigation and reputational damage, says Bradford Kelley at Littler.

  • Old Employment Law Principles Can Answer New AI Concerns

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    Despite growing legal and regulatory concerns about how artificial intelligence tools may affect employment decisions and worker rights, companies should take comfort in knowing that familiar principles of employment law and established compliance regimes can still largely address these new twists on old questions, say attorneys at Foley & Lardner.

  • NYC Wage Info Bill Highlights Rise In Pay Transparency Laws

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    With New York City the latest to mull requiring companies to annually report employee wage data, national employers should consider adapting their compliance practices to comply with increasingly common pay transparency and disclosure obligations at state and local levels, says Kelly Cardin at Littler Mendelson.

  • Workday AI Bias Suit Suggests Hiring Lessons For Employers

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    As state laws and a federal agency increasingly focus on employment bias introduced by artificial intelligence systems, a California federal court's recent decision to allow a discrimination suit to proceed against Workday's AI-driven recruitment software, shows companies should promptly assess these tools' risks, say attorneys at Williams & Connolly.

  • How Anti-DEI Bill Could Affect Employers' Diversity Efforts

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    Sen. J.D. Vance's recently introduced Dismantle DEI Act would substantially limit employers’ ability to implement and promote workplace diversity, equity and inclusion, but there are still steps employers can take to support a diverse workforce, says Peter Ennis at Cozen O’Connor.

  • US Labor And Employment Law Holds Some Harsh Trade-Offs

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    U.S. labor and employment laws have evolved into a product of exposure-capping compromise, which merits discussion in a presidential election year when the dialogue has focused on purported protections of middle-class workers, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Water Cooler Talk: Immigration Insights From 'The Proposal'

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    Tracey Diamond and Evan Gibbs at Troutman Pepper chat with their colleague Robert Lee about how immigration challenges highlighted in the romantic comedy "The Proposal" — beyond a few farcical plot contrivances — relate to real-world visa processes and employer compliance.

  • Employers Face Uncertainty After Calif. Justices' Slur Ruling

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    In Bailey v. San Francisco District Attorney's Office, the California Supreme Court recently ruled that a singular use of a racial slur may be sufficiently severe to support a hostile work environment claim, leaving employers to speculate about what sort of comments or conduct will meet this new standard going forward, says Stephanie Roeser at Manatt.