Discrimination

  • August 07, 2026

    EEOC Urges 2nd Circ. To Reopen NYC Teacher's Age Bias Suit

    The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission asked the Second Circuit to reinstate a New York music teacher's age discrimination and retaliation claims, arguing that a trial court applied outdated and overly strict standards when dismissing the case last year.

  • August 07, 2026

    NY Forecast: Judge Weighs Blocking Farm Labor Contract

    In the week ahead, a New York federal judge will consider a worker's request to block a labor contract implemented at an upstate farm after an arbitration process laid out in a state law granting union rights to farmworkers.

  • August 06, 2026

    DOJ Says Duke Law Favors Black, Hispanic Applicants

    Duke University School of Law intentionally discriminated against prospective white and Asian students in its efforts to pursue racial diversity in its incoming classes, the U.S. Department of Justice asserted Thursday.

  • August 06, 2026

    Mark Zuckerberg's Foundation Can Arbitrate Gender Bias Suit

    A California federal judge on Thursday sent to arbitration claims that the foundation run by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan discriminated against women, saying the suit's sexual harassment claims weren't sufficiently severe or pervasive to invalidate the plaintiff's arbitration agreement.

  • August 06, 2026

    5th Circ. Revives Ex-College Tech Worker's Disability Bias Suit

    A split Fifth Circuit panel gave a former college technology manager a second shot at alleging she was fired for taking medical leave to deal with neurological disabilities, ruling that a jury should weigh whether discrimination or performance issues led to her termination.

  • August 06, 2026

    Circuits Aren't Waiting On High Court To Rein In Bias Test

    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent refusals to revisit a long-standing employer-friendly framework for evaluating workers' discrimination claims have led federal appellate courts to explore ways to narrow the doctrine's reach without the high court's help, experts said.

  • August 06, 2026

    EEOC Says Truck Co.'s Training Policy Shortchanged Women

    A trucking company and its driver training affiliate discriminated against female students by letting some male trainers refuse to pair with them and seeking their spouses' sign-off for a male teacher to be assigned, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleged in Texas federal court.

  • August 06, 2026

    Mich. Contractor, Teamsters Defeat Driver's Race Bias Claim

    A former truck driver has lost his race discrimination lawsuit against Doan Construction Co. and a Teamsters local after a Michigan federal judge found the company reasonably believed it fired him for punching a co-worker and the union properly declined to take his grievance to arbitration. 

  • August 06, 2026

    Rowan University Vet School Hit With 3 Discrimination Suits

    Rowan University's new veterinary school was hit with three separate discrimination suits in New Jersey state court from a professor, a technician and an ophthalmologist who each claim the fledgling institution retaliated against them and mishandled disability‑related concerns during the animal hospital's launch.

  • August 06, 2026

    Fisher Phillips Grows With Pair Of NJ Employment Litigators

    Management-side labor law firm Fisher Phillips has brought aboard a pair of new partners in New Jersey who bring deep experience in employment litigation from Carmagnola & Ritardi LLC and Kaufman Dolowich LLP, the firm said Wednesday.

  • August 06, 2026

    Rising Star: Phillips & Associates' Melissa Berouty

    Melissa Berouty of Phillips & Associates helped secure a $5.25 million settlement for a BigLaw partner who claimed that she faced sexual harassment and assault and a $2.1 million settlement for a worker who claimed whistleblower retaliation, earning her a spot among the employment law practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

  • August 06, 2026

    Fired Immigration Judge Sues DOJ Over Bias Claims

    A Democratic immigration judge fired days before her position became permanent has sued the U.S. Department of Justice, saying the Constitution does not give the president authority to discriminate against civil service employees.

  • August 06, 2026

    11th Circ. Erases Worker's $800K Win In Dreadlock Bias Suit

    The Eleventh Circuit scrapped an $800,000 verdict in favor of a Black worker who claimed she was let go after complaining that she'd been racially targeted for wearing dreadlocks, ruling faulty jury instructions meant the security company she worked for should get a new trial.

  • August 05, 2026

    Senate Dems Grill Trump's Judge Picks For 5th Circ., Alabama

    Senate Democrats on Wednesday dug into two judges nominated by the president to serve in Alabama district court and on the Fifth Circuit over their careful answers about who won the 2020 election and one's history of advocating against a ban on forced arbitration for workplace sexual harassment and assault claims.

  • August 05, 2026

    Unread Arbitration Emails Are Unenforceable, 9th Circ. Rules

    Arbitration agreements sent to workers aren't arbitration agreements assented to by workers, the Ninth Circuit held Wednesday, rejecting assertions from medical supplies giant Thermo Fisher Scientific that its arbitration-related emails — even if never read — sufficed to keep an ex-employee's proposed class action out of court.

  • August 05, 2026

    CREXi Wants 9th Circ. To Undo Quinn Emanuel CoStar Row DQ

    Commercial Real Estate Exchange Inc. doesn't want to replace Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP after a California federal judge disqualified the firm from defending a copyright infringement suit by CoStar, seeking Ninth Circuit intervention and a pause on the district court case.

  • August 05, 2026

    7th Circ. Backs Wis. Court System's Sex Harassment Suit Win

    The Seventh Circuit has refused to reinstate a former court reporter's workplace sex harassment lawsuit against the Wisconsin state court system and a former judge, saying the alleged misconduct was too sparse to be actionable.

  • August 05, 2026

    Drexel Can't Shake Prof's Retaliation Suit, Pa. Judge Rules

    A tenured philosophy professor's retaliation claims against Drexel University will proceed to trial after a Pennsylvania federal court denied the university's bid for an early win, finding that genuine factual disputes remain over whether the university's course format change was retaliatory.

  • August 05, 2026

    A State Law Cheat Sheet For Discrimination Attorneys

    Maine's new law imposing pay transparency requirements on employers' advertisements for open jobs took effect, and Illinois' governor signed a bill that enshrines the concept of disparate impact discrimination into state antidiscrimination law. Here, Law360 looks at several state-level legislative developments over the past week that discrimination lawyers should know about.

  • August 05, 2026

    Rising Star: Littler's Rocio Blanco Garcia

    Littler Mendelson PC shareholder Rocio Blanco Garcia's litigation work helped to clarify how employers can beat whistleblower cases in the Eleventh Circuit, and her advisory work gave thousands of employees of a Florida county access to paid parental leave, earning her a spot among the employment lawyers under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

  • August 05, 2026

    Calif. Hotel To Pay $2.75M To End COVID Rehiring Probe

    An Anaheim, California, Marriott hotel will pay $2.75 million to resolve a state Labor Commissioner's Office investigation into allegations that it violated state law by failing to rehire two dozen employees who were laid off during the pandemic, the agency announced.

  • August 05, 2026

    UPS Driver Says Late Sick Pay Can't Sink Colo. Suit

    A UPS driver urged a Colorado federal judge to reject the company's early win bid in a proposed class action, arguing late payments cannot erase paid-sick-leave violations.

  • August 05, 2026

    Penn Orgs Ask 3rd Circ. To Nix EEOC Subpoena Order

    Groups affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania urged the Third Circuit to nix a lower court's order mandating the school's compliance with a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission subpoena seeking information about Jewish employees, arguing an agreement between the commission and Penn doesn't fully protect workers and students.

  • August 04, 2026

    OpenAI To Pay $3.2M In DOJ Visa Worker Bias Settlement

    OpenAI and its subsidiary will pay $3.2 million to settle allegations from the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division that the technology giant discriminated against U.S. workers in favor of workers with temporary employment visas in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the DOJ announced Tuesday.

  • August 04, 2026

    Mich. Trooper's Bias Claim Barred By 6-Month Notice Rule

    A state trooper's disability discrimination claim against the Michigan State Police qualifies as a personal injury claim subject to a six-month notice deadline, a Michigan appellate court has determined. 

Expert Analysis

  • Justices Mull Sex-Based Classification In Trans Law Case

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    After the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in U.S. v. Skrmetti this week, it appears that the fate of the Tennessee law at the center of the case — a law banning gender-affirming healthcare for transgender adolescents — will hinge on whether the majority read the statute as imposing a sex-based classification, says Alexandra Crandall at Dickinson Wright.

  • Pa. Ruling Highlights Challenges Of Employer Arb. Appeals

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    A Pennsylvania federal court's recent ruling in Welch Foods v. General Teamsters Local Union No. 397 demonstrates the inherent difficulties employers face when seeking relief from labor arbitration decisions through appeals in court — and underscores how employers are faced with often conflicting legal priorities, says Daniel Johns at Cozen O'Connor.

  • 7 Ways To Prepare For An I-9 Audit Or Immigration Raid

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    Because immigration enforcement is likely to surge under the upcoming Trump administration, employers should take steps to ensure their staff is trained in employment eligibility verification requirements and what to do in the event of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement I-9 audit or workplace raid, say attorneys at Littler.

  • California Supreme Court's Year In Review

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    Attorneys at Horvitz & Levy highlight notable decisions on major questions from the California Supreme Court's last term, including voter initiatives, hostile work environment and the economic loss rule.

  • Disentangling Various Forms Of Workplace Discrimination

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    Pay inequity can be missed where it exists and misidentified due to incorrect statistics, leaving individuals to face multiple facets of discrimination connected by a common root cause, meaning correct identification and measurement is crucial, says Daniel Levy at Advanced Analytical.

  • Key Requirements In New Maryland Pay Transparency Laws

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    Although several jurisdictions now require pay transparency in job advertisements, Maryland's new law is among the broadest in the country, both in terms of what is required and the scope of its applicability, says Sarah Belger at Quarles & Brady.

  • Lessons From EEOC Case Of Fla. Worker Fired After Stillbirth

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    A recent federal court settlement between a Florida resort and a fired line cook shows that the U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission sees stillbirth as protected under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, also providing four other important lessons, says Gordon Berger at Pierson Ferdinand.

  • Advising Employers As AI Meets DEI And Discrimination

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    Though companies can use artificial intelligence tools to develop more diverse and inclusive workforces, counsel should also prepare employers for how AI can stymie these efforts, provoke discrimination claims and complicate resulting litigation, says Emily Schifter at Troutman Pepper.

  • A Look At The Hefty Demands In Calif. Employer AI Draft Regs

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    California's draft regulations on artificial intelligence use in employment decisions show that the California Privacy Protection Agency is positioning itself as a de facto AI regulator for the state, which isn't waiting around for federal legislation, says Lily Li at Metaverse Law.

  • Federal Salary History Ban's Reach Is Limited

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    Though a newly effective Office of Personnel Management rule takes important steps by banning federal employers from considering job applicants' nonfederal salary histories, the rule's narrow applicability and overconfidence in the existing system's fairness will likely not end persistent pay inequities, says Margaret House at Kalijarvi Chuzi.

  • 2nd Circ. Hostile Workplace Ruling Widens Arbitration Pitfalls

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    The Second Circuit’s recent decision, affirming the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act applies to a worker whose workplace hostility claims arose before the law’s 2022 enactment, widens the scope of the law — and the risks of unenforceable arbitration agreements for employers, say attorneys at Hinshaw.

  • Title VII Compliance Lessons From Raytheon Age Bias Suit

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    A Texas federal court’s recent refusal to dismiss age discrimination claims from a former Raytheon employee, terminated after he admitted to acts that Raytheon says violated its harassment policy, nonetheless illustrates strategies employers can use to protect themselves when facing competing Title VII workplace obligations, say attorneys at Segal McCambridge.

  • How The Presidential Election Will Affect Workplace AI Regs

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    The U.S. has so far adopted a light-handed approach to regulating artificial intelligence in the labor and employment area, but the presidential election is unlikely to have as dramatic of an effect on AI regulations as it may on other labor and employment matters, say attorneys at Littler.