Discrimination

  • September 13, 2024

    4 UK Employment Law Developments To Watch In 2024

    A bill expected to bring in new rights for workers and unions is the main event in U.K. employment law in what's left of 2024 — but lawyers say that an upcoming law change on sexual harassment and major disputes could also shape employers' practices. Here, Law360 looks at what to keep an eye on for the rest of 2024.

  • September 13, 2024

    Ex-Fla. Law Prof's Retaliation Suit Moved North To Tallahassee

    A central Florida federal judge has transferred a retaliation and breach of contract case brought by a former law professor at Florida A&M University College of Law to another Florida federal district court, finding that the dispute's ties to the Tallahassee area overcame arguments for keeping the case in Orlando.

  • September 12, 2024

    Southwest Leave Penalty Suit Cleared For Class Treatment

    A California judge gave her blessing Thursday to a class action accusing Southwest Airlines Co. of penalizing flight attendants who take family or medical leave, letting the suit move ahead on behalf of thousands of workers.

  • September 12, 2024

    Ex-DHL Supply Worker Says Pregnancy Met With Hostility

    A former DHL Supply Chain worker's pregnancy led to hostility, not help, from supervisors who refused to accommodate her and made her work in an area called the cage before she eventually quit out of concern for her unborn child, she told a Pennsylvania federal court.

  • September 12, 2024

    White Cop Passed Over For Chief's Job Sees Bias Suit Tossed

    A New Jersey federal judge threw out a lawsuit from a white police officer who said he faced race discrimination when he was passed over for a chief's job in favor of a colleague who is Palestinian and Muslim, saying his allegations weren't adequate to sustain his bias claim.

  • September 12, 2024

    BNP Paribas Attempts To Prune London Banker's Claim

    BNP Paribas attempted to trim a manager's claim at a London employment tribunal on Thursday, arguing that the employee had taken a "kitchen sink approach" by adding excessive legal claims onto some of her allegations.

  • September 12, 2024

    Slater & Gordon Beats Former Analyst's Redundancy Appeal

    Slater & Gordon has defeated a cost analyst's appeal against the firm's decision to make him redundant, persuading a London judge on Thursday that a lower tribunal did not botch its investigation into the factors leading to his dismissal.

  • September 12, 2024

    EEOC Slaps 2 Companies With ADA Suits Over Firings

    A plastic packaging company unlawfully fired a worker who took time off to deal with depression, and a healthcare facilities support provider broke the law by terminating a blind worker, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said in a pair of new suits.

  • September 12, 2024

    Weinstein Hit With New Charges In NY Ahead Of Retrial

    Harvey Weinstein was charged in a new indictment Thursday as Manhattan prosecutors prepare to retry the disgraced Hollywood mogul after his previous sex-crimes conviction was overturned.

  • September 11, 2024

    Litigation Spending To Rise As Cases Grow More Aggressive

    A substantial number of large companies are expecting to increase their litigation spending by double digits next year in the face of more complex and hard-fought cases — and they are more open to bringing in new legal talent to navigate the matters, according to a report released Thursday. 

  • September 11, 2024

    Conn. Pizza Chain Sued By Ex-Operations Chief For Age Bias

    The former director of operations for Frank Pepe's, a Connecticut-based pizza chain, sued the company Tuesday in federal court for allegedly firing him because of his age, race and gender.

  • September 11, 2024

    Pest Control Company Wraps Up Fired Worker's PWFA Charge

    The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said Wednesday that a pest control company in Florida will cough up about $47,000 to settle allegations that it violated the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act by firing a worker who wanted to attend monthly medical appointments.

  • September 11, 2024

    Wayfair Beats Fired Worker's Disability Bias Suit At 3rd Circ.

    The Third Circuit refused Wednesday to revive a disability bias suit from a former Wayfair warehouse worker who said the furniture retailer violated New Jersey law when it fired him, backing a trial court's finding that he couldn't handle the essential functions of his job.

  • September 11, 2024

    2nd Circ. Reverses S. Korean Consulate Chauffeur's Wage Win

    The Second Circuit on Wednesday overturned a decision that allowed a chauffeur working for South Korea's foreign consulate in Manhattan to pursue his wage-and-hour claims against the organization, ruling that the lower court was too quick to decide that the consulate was not immune to the claims under the foreign sovereignty law.

  • September 11, 2024

    Kirkland Can't Shake Former Associate's Bias Suit

    A California federal judge has mostly rejected efforts by Kirkland & Ellis to pare down the discrimination suit of a former intellectual property associate, while also backing a prior order that prevented the firm from subpoenaing her former BigLaw employers for confidential personnel information.

  • September 11, 2024

    10th Circ. Backs Christian School Worker's Religious Bias Suit

    The Tenth Circuit revived religious discrimination claims from a former assistant principal who was fired after voicing concern about a school production of a play about the murder of a gay man, ruling that he provided enough circumstantial evidence to keep those allegations in court.

  • September 11, 2024

    Education Tech Co. Settles EEOC Pay Bias Probe

    Boxlight Inc. agreed to change its policies and have a third-party auditor examine its pay practices after a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission investigation found the education technology company willfully underpaid a female manager, the EEOC said.

  • September 11, 2024

    Phelps Dunbar Recruits 6 Litigators In Raleigh

    Phelps Dunbar LLP has hired six lawyers in Raleigh to serve the business and litigation needs of companies in North and South Carolina, adding strength in health care, construction, employment and intellectual property.

  • September 11, 2024

    Hotel Worker Can Bring Perimenopause Discrimination Claim

    A hotel manager was disabled by perimenopause, an employment tribunal has ruled in the latest claim for protection against workplace discrimination for menopausal women.

  • September 11, 2024

    MS Charity Liable For Not Assessing Risks To Pregnant Staffer

    A multiple sclerosis charity discriminated against a pregnant support officer by failing to run a pregnancy-specific risk assessment for her role, a tribunal has ruled.

  • September 11, 2024

    Healthcare Co. Denied Nurse Time For Surgery, EEOC Says

    A company that operates nursing and rehabilitation facilities failed to act when a nurse was sexually harassed by her supervisor, then told the employee to quit when she needed time off for surgery, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said in Illinois federal court.

  • September 11, 2024

    Constangy Brings On More Jackson Lewis Attys In San Diego

    Three former Jackson Lewis PC attorneys have come aboard at the San Diego office of labor and employment firm Constangy Brooks Smith & Prophete LLP, joining four onetime Jackson Lewis colleagues who arrived at Constangy this summer. 

  • September 10, 2024

    Scientist Nabs $3.8M Win In U. Of Alabama Harassment Suit

    A federal jury found that a former University of Alabama at Birmingham scientist should receive nearly $4 million in damages after allegedly enduring years of harassment based on her race and Iranian national origin, an assault by her supervisor and a trumped-up arrest after she complained about the mistreatment.

  • September 10, 2024

    EEOC Accuses Semitrailer Maker Of Pregnancy Bias

    The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Tuesday filed what it called its first lawsuit to enforce the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, taking aim at a trailer manufacturer that it accused of failing to accommodate a pregnant assembly-line worker.

  • September 10, 2024

    Time Lag Dooms Coach's Retaliation Suit, 5th Circ. Says

    The Fifth Circuit refused to revive a lawsuit from a high school basketball coach who said that reporting that he'd been sexually harassed cost him his coaching gig, saying too much time elapsed between his harassment complaint and the alleged retaliation to infer a connection.

Expert Analysis

  • Water Cooler Talk: Sick Leave Insights From 'Parks And Rec'

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    Tracey Diamond and Evan Gibbs at Troutman Pepper spoke with Lisa Whittaker at the J.M. Smucker Co. about how to effectively manage sick leave policies to ensure legal compliance and fairness to all employees, in a discussion inspired by a "Parks and Recreation" episode.

  • Navigating Title VII Compliance And Litigation Post-Muldrow

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Muldrow v. St. Louis has broadened the scope of Title VII litigation, meaning employers must reassess their practices to ensure compliance across jurisdictions and conduct more detailed factual analyses to defend against claims effectively, say Robert Pepple and Christopher Stevens at Nixon Peabody.

  • Why Employers Shouldn't Overreact To Protest Activities

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    Recent decisions from the First Circuit in Kinzer v. Whole Foods and the National Labor Relations Board in Home Depot hold eye-opening takeaways about which employee conduct is protected as "protest activity" and make a case for fighting knee-jerk reactions that could result in costly legal proceedings, says Frank Shuster at Constangy.

  • Best Practices To Accommodate Workplace Service Animals

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Since the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently pledged to enforce accommodations for people with intellectual, developmental and mental health-related disabilities, companies should use an interactive process to properly respond when employees ask about bringing service animals into the workplace, say Samuel Lillard and Jantzen Mace at Ogletree.

  • Kansas Workers' Comp. Updates Can Benefit Labor, Business

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    While the most significant shake-up from the April amendment to the Kansas Workers Compensation Act will likely be the increase in potential lifetime payouts for workers totally disabled on the job, other changes that streamline the hearing process will benefit both employees and companies, says Weston Mills at Gilson Daub.

  • Fostering Employee Retention Amid Shaky DEI Landscape

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    Ongoing challenges to the legality of corporate diversity, equity and inclusion programs are complicating efforts to use DEI as an employee retention tool, but with the right strategic approach employers can continue to recruit and retain diverse talent — even after the FTC’s ban on noncompetes, says Ally Coll at the Purple Method.

  • Justices' Title VII Ruling Requires Greater Employer Vigilance

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Muldrow v. St. Louis ruling expands the types of employment decisions that can be challenged under Title VII, so employers will need to carefully review decisions that affect a term, condition or privilege of employment, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • 6th Circ. Bias Ruling Shows Job Evaluations Are Key Defense

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    In Wehrly v. Allstate, the Sixth Circuit recently declined to revive a terminated employee’s federal and state religious discrimination and retaliation claims, illustrating that an employer’s strongest defense in such cases is a documented employment evaluation history that justifies an adverse action, says Michael Luchsinger at Segal Mccambridge.

  • Navigating Harassment Complaints From Trans Employees

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    The Eleventh Circuit's recent decision in Copeland v. Georgia Department of Corrections, concerning the harassment of a transgender employee, should serve as a cautionary tale for employers, but there are steps that companies can take to create a more inclusive workplace and mitigate the risks of claims from transgender and nonbinary employees, say Patricia Konopka and Ann Thomas at Stinson.

  • Employer Considerations Before Title IX Rule Goes Into Effect

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    While the U.S. Department of Education's final rule on Title IX is currently published as an unofficial version, institutions and counsel should take immediate action to ensure they are prepared for the new requirements, including protections for LGBTQ+ and pregnant students and employees, before it takes effect in August, say Jeffrey Weimer and Cori Smith at Reed Smith.

  • 5 Employer Actions Now Risky After Justices' Title VII Ruling

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    Last week in Muldrow v. St. Louis, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that harm didn't have to be significant to be considered discriminatory under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, making five common employer actions vulnerable to litigation, say Kellee Kruse and Briana Scholar at The Employment Law Group.

  • Breaking Down EEOC's Final Rule To Implement The PWFA

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    Attorneys at Littler highlight some of the key provisions of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's final rule and interpretive guidance implementing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which is expected to be effective June 18, and departures from the proposed rule issued in August 2023.

  • How To Prepare As Employee Data Reporting Deadlines Near

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    As filing deadlines approach, government contractors and private companies alike should familiarize themselves with recent changes to federal and California employee data reporting requirements and think strategically about registration of affirmative action plans to minimize the risk of being audited, say Christopher Durham and Zev Grumet-Morris at Duane Morris.