Discrimination

  • April 22, 2024

    Va. School District Beats Teacher's Disability Bias Suit

    A Virginia school district defeated a math and science teacher's suit claiming the school refused to let her temporarily teach remotely after being diagnosed with a respiratory illness, with a federal judge finding parts of her job required her to be at the school.

  • April 22, 2024

    Trulieve Strikes Deal To End Ex-Worker's Whistleblower Suit

    Cannabis company Trulieve has reached a deal with a Black former manager to end his suit alleging he was fired after reporting a supervisor's sexual misconduct and several safety violations, according to a filing in Florida federal court.

  • April 22, 2024

    Airline Fires Male Pilot Over Earring, Sex Bias Suit Says

    Republic Airways fired a pilot because he wore an earring to work in violation of a company appearance policy that unlawfully discriminates against workers based on gender expression, the pilot told a New York federal court Monday.

  • April 22, 2024

    5 New State Employment Laws Passed This Year So Far

    State legislatures around the country are winding down legislative sessions that began in January, bringing newly enacted employment laws into effect in the coming months. From child labor to pay inequality to mandatory overtime, Law360 looks at five state laws that employers will have to comply with.

  • April 19, 2024

    Wells Fargo Faces Sex Bias Suit Over 'Degrading' Workplace

    A Wells Fargo bond saleswoman sued the bank Friday in Illinois federal court, accusing it of sex discrimination by creating "an unapologetically sexist working environment" and passing her up for promotions despite her years of experience in the investment banking world.

  • April 19, 2024

    Corrections Dept. Can't End Sex Bias Suit Over Strip Searches

    The Virginia Department of Corrections must face a gender bias suit alleging it made workers strip naked after body scans flagged their contraceptive devices or menstruation products, a federal judge found Friday, saying the agency's actions appeared to target women.

  • April 19, 2024

    3 Things To Know Before Requiring PWFA Paperwork

    The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's newly finalized regulations implementing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act restrict the paperwork employers can request from pregnant employees seeking accommodations, limitations experts say could catch businesses off guard. Here are three things companies and workers should keep in mind about the regulations.

  • April 19, 2024

    Hospital Can't Ax Ex-Worker's Disability Suit Over COVID Vax

    A New York hospital system must face an ex-worker's lawsuit alleging he was fired after refusing to get a coronavirus vaccine because of his atrial fibrillation, with a federal judge saying Friday he adequately showed the company refused to consider the bulk of medical exemption requests.

  • April 19, 2024

    CVS Narrows But Can't End HIV Patients' Disability Bias Suit

    A California federal judge declined to toss a disability bias lawsuit brought by HIV or AIDS patients alleging CVS Pharmacy Inc. made their medication harder to get, saying federal regulations and even an internal company study warned that the program at issue was potentially problematic.

  • April 19, 2024

    Ex-Paramedic Hits Harris County With Sex Bias Lawsuit

    A former Houston-area paramedic is accusing a county emergency services provider of pushing her out of her job after she was sexually harassed even though she wasn't the one who reported the harassment.

  • April 19, 2024

    Calif. Panel Says Wedbush Waived Arbitration Flag Too Late

    A U.S. Supreme Court might have changed the arbitration landscape in suits involving California's Private Attorneys General Act, but Wedbush Securities Inc. still waited too long to try pushing out of court financial advisers' claims, a California state appeals court ruled.

  • April 19, 2024

    Quest Punished Black Worker For Flagging Racism, Suit Says

    Quest Diagnostics has been sued in Pennsylvania federal court by a former phlebotomist who said she faced racial discrimination from patients and retaliation from management when she complained.

  • April 19, 2024

    Ex-Defender Says High Court Ruling Backs Bias Claims

    A former assistant federal defender urged a North Carolina district court to consider a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in her sexual harassment lawsuit, arguing the high court's decision backs her claims for employment discrimination against the federal judiciary.

  • April 19, 2024

    Grocery Chain Will Pay Up To Quell EEOC Harassment Charge

    Sprouts Farmers Market agreed to pay $265,000 to end a charge lodged with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission after an agency investigation found reasonable cause to believe workers at the organic grocery chain faced sexual harassment and were punished for complaining about it, the EEOC announced Friday.

  • April 19, 2024

    NY Forecast: Judge Considers School District Race Bias Suit

    This week a New York federal judge will consider a school district's bid to dismiss a lawsuit brought by a Black former technology specialist who claims he was fired after facing discrimination on the job based on his race. Here, Law360 explores this and other cases on the docket in New York.

  • April 19, 2024

    Twitter Can't Sink Age Bias Suit Over Post-Musk Layoffs

    A California federal judge has refused to throw out a former Twitter employee's proposed class action alleging that a wave of layoffs following Elon Musk's acquisition of the social media platform now called X disproportionately pushed out older workers, saying the suit had enough detail to stay in court.

  • April 19, 2024

    Calif. Forecast: Hilton Seeks To Undo Tips Class

    In the coming week, attorneys should watch for a potential ruling on whether a class of hotel banquet event workers can continue together with wage claims against San Francisco Hilton Inc., in a long-running case that paid a visit to the Ninth Circuit. Here's a look at that case and other labor and employment matters coming up in California.

  • April 18, 2024

    Amazon Ignored Labor, IP Laws In AI 'Panic,' Ex-Worker Says

    An artificial intelligence researcher suing Amazon for labor law violations says it disregarded numerous laws in a frantic attempt to catch up to its AI rivals, directing her to ignore copyright laws in developing its large language models and retaliating when her pregnancy leave coincided with a rival's product launch.

  • April 18, 2024

    Software Co. Demoted Worker For Getting Pregnant, Suit Says

    A former sales director has claimed the software company she worked for ran afoul of federal and state laws when it gave away her job while she was on maternity leave and put her in a more junior role when she returned, according to lawsuit filed in Connecticut federal court.

  • April 18, 2024

    9th Circ. Says Ex-JPMorgan Worker's Deleted Docs Doom Suit

    The Ninth Circuit refused Thursday to reopen a former JPMorgan Chase & Co. financial adviser's lawsuit alleging he was fired for raising concerns about pushing bank-managed funds to clients, finding nothing wrong with a trial court tossing his case as punishment for deleting hundreds of electronic records.

  • April 18, 2024

    6th Circ. Axes Ex-Perrigo Worker's Drug Test Firing Suit

    The Sixth Circuit refused to reinstate a bias suit from a worker who said drugmaker L. Perrigo Co. unlawfully fired him after lip balm caused him to test positive for marijuana, saying he didn't show that age or disability discrimination motivated the decision to let him go.

  • April 18, 2024

    Qdoba To Pay $3.8M To Wrap Up Wash. Pay Transparency Suit

    Mexican restaurant chain Qdoba will pay $3.8 million to resolve a class action alleging it violated Washington state's pay transparency law when it failed to disclose pay information in job postings, according to a filing in state court.

  • April 18, 2024

    Red States Back Call To Overturn Nasdaq Diversity Rule

    Utah and 23 other Republican-led states have filed an amicus brief asking the full Fifth Circuit to vacate a Nasdaq board diversity rule and declare it unconstitutional, saying the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which approved the rule, is "affirmatively perpetuating" race-based discrimination instead of eliminating it.

  • April 18, 2024

    Suit Alleging COVID-Inspired Racism Cleared For Trial

    A Pennsylvania federal judge won't let a boarding school escape an Asian American electrician's suit claiming he was targeted by a supervisor with threats and profanity after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and then fired for complaining about it, ruling the case should go to a jury.

  • April 18, 2024

    Amazon Strikes Deal, Staves Off Trial In Disability Bias Suit

    Amazon reached a deal to end a suit from an ex-employee who accused the e-commerce giant of pushing him out because of a knee injury stemming from his military service, ahead of a trial slated to begin in May, according to a filing in California federal court.

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.