Discrimination

  • October 16, 2024

    Rail Agency Fired Vax Objectors In 'Sham Process,' Jury Told

    Counsel for six fired San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District workers delivered opening statements Wednesday in a new trial over allegations BART discriminated against employees who sought religious exemptions from its COVID-19 vaccination mandate, calling the agency's review of their requests a "sham process."

  • October 16, 2024

    Ex-Davis Polk Atty Drops Appeal Of Bias Verdict Loss

    A former Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP associate on Tuesday dropped his appeal of a jury verdict clearing the firm and two lawyers of liability in a suit alleging he was fired in retaliation for airing concerns about racial bias and diversity.

  • October 16, 2024

    Religious Groups Target EEOC Regs On Abortion, IVF

    Two Christian organizations are challenging regulations and guidance from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and another federal agency over using workers' chosen pronouns and offering health plans that cover abortion services and IVF treatments, according to a lawsuit filed in Texas federal court.

  • October 16, 2024

    Ex-Atlanta IT Worker Sues City For Wrongful Firing, Race Bias

    A Black woman who previously served as a senior-level director in the city of Atlanta's information management department has filed suit against the city in Georgia federal court, alleging she was fired after months of raising internal complaints of discrimination within the department.

  • October 16, 2024

    Nerds, Laffy Taffy Maker Hit With Genetic Info Privacy Claims

    The Illinois-based company behind popular candies such as Nerds, Laffy Taffy and SweeTarts probes job applicants' medical histories in violation of their genetic information privacy rights, according to a proposed class lawsuit filed Tuesday in Illinois state court.

  • October 16, 2024

    Award Rightly Reinstates Worker In Pot Test Spat, Judge Says

    An arbitration board correctly ordered an Alaska Airlines mechanic's reinstatement after he was fired following a positive test for marijuana, a Washington federal judge concluded, upholding the arbitration panel's view of the just cause provision in the labor contract between the airline and the worker's union.

  • October 16, 2024

    Record Labels Seek Sanctions For Claim They Aided Combs

    Music companies on Wednesday urged a Manhattan federal judge to sanction an attorney for pursuing what they called "outrageous" claims that they supported Sean "Diddy" Combs' sex- and drug-fueled "freak offs."

  • October 16, 2024

    9th Circ. Won't Rethink Reviving Airline Military Bias Suit

    The Ninth Circuit on Wednesday rejected Alaska Airlines' bid for the court to reconsider its August opinion reinstating a class action accusing the airline of illegally denying accrued vacation and sick time to pilots on military assignments.

  • October 16, 2024

    Ex-Jones Day Attys' Parental Leave Suit Gets 2025 Trial Date

    Two former Jones Day associates challenging the firm's family leave policy will go to trial in late 2025 after a D.C. federal judge allowed certain claims in the lawsuit to move forward.

  • October 16, 2024

    Historic NY Church Wrongly Demoted Black Worker, Suit Says

    A historic Episcopal church in Lower Manhattan demoted a Black media relations manager and denied her professional opportunities because of her race after it brought in a new executive, according to a lawsuit filed in New York federal court.

  • October 16, 2024

    Lesbian Nurse Says Ga. Hospital's Fertility Plan Is Biased

    A lesbian nurse has hit a Georgia hospital and healthcare system with a proposed class action, alleging that the medical plan they offer employees discriminates against homosexual women by charging them more upfront to receive fertility care than women in heterosexual relationships.

  • October 16, 2024

    Foley Hoag Wants Bulk Of Claims Axed In NY Wage Suit

    Foley Hoag LLP has asked a New York federal judge to toss most of the claims in an employee's suit alleging the firm failed to pay overtime wages and engaged in various forms of retaliation and discrimination against him, arguing the complaint "is largely devoid of well-pleaded factual allegations."

  • October 16, 2024

    Columbia Prof Says Firm Abandoned Her During Israel Probe

    A Columbia Law School professor accused plaintiffs employment firm Outten & Golden LLP of abruptly dropping her as a client amid the school's investigation into her comments on campus tensions tied to Israel's attack on Gaza, saying on X Wednesday that the firm's alleged conduct prompted her attorney to resign after nearly 24 years as a partner there.

  • October 16, 2024

    New Orleans Saints, Pelicans Settle Worker's Vaccination Suit

    The NFL and NBA teams in New Orleans informed a Louisiana federal judge that they have settled a lawsuit with a former employee who claimed she was wrongfully fired after refusing a COVID-19 vaccine because of medical and religious reasons.

  • October 16, 2024

    Fla. Waste Co. Inks $1.4M Deal To End EEOC Race Bias Suit

    A waste company agreed to hand over $1.4 million to settle a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission suit filed in Florida federal court alleging it failed to step in when Black and Haitian employees were called racial slurs on the job.

  • October 16, 2024

    DLA Piper Says 'Sloppy' Work Cost Pregnant Associate Job

    DLA Piper urged a New York federal court to throw out a former associate's lawsuit alleging that she was fired after requesting maternity leave, saying her work performance was "shockingly poor" during her one year with the firm.

  • October 16, 2024

    Duquesne University Beats Ex-Gift Officer's Age Bias Suit

    Duquesne University defeated a former gift officer's suit claiming he was fired for complaining that his boss reassigned work to a younger employee because he was in his 60s, with a Pennsylvania federal judge ruling that he failed to identify a comparable colleague who was treated better.

  • October 16, 2024

    Dermatology Practice Can't Escape Fired Doctor's Bias Suit

    A Pennsylvania federal judge refused Wednesday to toss a sex and age discrimination suit from a dermatologist who said she was unlawfully fired by the private equity-backed practice that bought her business, ruling she put forward enough details to keep her claims in play.

  • October 16, 2024

    What Employers Can Learn From DOJ Disparate Impact Suits

    A string of recent U.S. Department of Justice enforcement activity targeting state and local governments with claims of bias in hiring tests for first responders reflects a broader governmental focus on disparate impact and holds important lessons for private sector employers, experts said.

  • October 16, 2024

    Ashland U. General Counsel Joins Ogletree In Ohio

    The general counsel of Ashland University, a private university in Ohio, has made the move to private practice at Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC.

  • October 15, 2024

    Combs Hit With Slew Of Assault Suits Dating Back To 1995

    Sean "Diddy" Combs was hit with six new lawsuits in Manhattan federal court Monday, alleging that for decades the hip-hop mogul sexually assaulted women, men and minors at parties and other events, including one woman who says he raped her at a promotional party for a Notorious B.I.G. music video.

  • October 15, 2024

    EEOC Tells 6th Circ. To Take Harassment Suit Slurs Seriously

    The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission urged the Sixth Circuit to revive claims brought by two Black former workers that they faced racist harassment at a transportation company, arguing the lower court minimized that they were regularly called slurs on the job.

  • October 15, 2024

    Fired Attorney Says Legal Aid Has Racist Environment

    The New York City nonprofit Legal Aid Society did nothing to address complaints that white employees regularly treated Black colleagues disrespectfully, including by excluding them from professional opportunities and using offensive language, a Black former staff attorney told a federal court.

  • October 15, 2024

    Military Leave Still Seen As Outcast Amid Leave Reforms

    As states and cities across the country expand paid leave policies into new areas, military leave still gets the cold shoulder even as the legal landscape around short-term military leave has evolved, attorneys say.

  • October 15, 2024

    California's Intersectional Bias Law Is A 'Game Changer'

    California Gov. Gavin Newsom recently signed a bill making the Golden State the first to enshrine intersectionality in its anti-discrimination laws, a move experts said will have a tangible impact on how cases are litigated. Here are three changes to watch for.

Expert Analysis

  • The Shifting Landscape Of Physician Disciplinary Proceedings

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    Though hospitals have historically been able to terminate doctors' medical staff privileges without fear of court interference, recent case law has demonstrated that the tides are turning, especially when there is evidence of unlawful motivations, say Dylan Newton and Michael Horn at Archer & Greiner.

  • Anti-DEI Complaints Filed With EEOC Carry No Legal Weight

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    Recently filed complaints against several companies' diversity, equity and inclusion programs alleging unlawful discrimination against white people do not require a response from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and should not stop employers from rooting out ongoing discriminatory practices, says former EEOC general counsel David Lopez.

  • How DEI Programs Are Being Challenged In Court And Beyond

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    In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's affirmative action decision last year declaring the consideration of race in university admissions unconstitutional, employers should keep abreast of recent litigation challenging diversity, equity and inclusion training programs, as well as legislation both supporting and opposing DEI initiatives in the workplace, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • What Minority Biz Law Ruling Could Mean For Private DEI

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    A Texas federal court’s recent decision to strike down key provisions of the Minority Business Development Act illustrates the wide-reaching effects of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2023 Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard decision across legal contexts, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.

  • Texas Hair Bias Ruling Does Not Give Employers A Pass

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    A Texas state court’s recent decision, holding that a school could discipline a student with locs for refusing to cut his hair, should not be interpreted by employers as a license to implement potentially discriminatory grooming policies, says Dawn Holiday at Jackson Walker.

  • Broadway Ruling Puts Discrimination Claims In The Limelight

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    A New York federal court's recent decision in Moore v. Hadestown Broadway that the employers' choice to replace a Black actor with a white actor was shielded by the First Amendment is the latest in a handful of rulings zealously protecting hiring decisions in casting, say Anthony Oncidi and Dixie Morrison at Proskauer.

  • Breaking Down California's New Workplace Violence Law

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    Ilana Morady and Patrick Joyce at Seyfarth discuss several aspects of a new California law that requires employers to create and implement workplace violence prevention plans, including who is covered and the recordkeeping and training requirements that must be in place before the law goes into effect on July 1.

  • Studying NY, NJ Case Law On Employee Social Media Rights

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    While a New Jersey state appeals court has twice determined that an employee's termination by a private employer for social media posts is not prohibited, New York has yet to take a stand on the issue — so employers' decisions on such matters still need to be assessed on a case-by-case basis, say Julie Levinson Werner and Jessica Kriegsfeld at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • Eye On Compliance: Employee Social Media Privacy In NY

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    A New York law that recently took effect restricts employers' ability to access the personal social media accounts of employees and job applicants, signifying an increasing awareness of the need to balance employers' interests with worker privacy and free speech rights, says Madjeen Garcon-Bonneau at Wilson Elser.

  • Draft Pay Equity Rule May Pose Contractor Compliance Snags

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    The Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council's recently proposed rule that would prohibit government contractors from requesting certain job applicants' salary history seems simple on the surface, but achieving compliance will be a nuanced affair for many contractors who must also adhere to state and local pay transparency laws, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.

  • What Texas Employers Should Know After PWFA Ruling

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    After a Texas federal judge recently enjoined federal agencies from enforcing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act against the state of Texas, all employers must still remain sensitive to local, state and federal protections for pregnant workers, and proactive in their approach to pregnancy-related accommodations, says Maritza Sanchez at Phelps Dunbar.

  • AI In Performance Management: Mitigating Employer Risk

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    Companies are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence tools in performance management, exposing organizations to significant risks, which they can manage through employee training, bias assessments, and comprehensive policies and procedures related to the new technology, say Gregory Brown and Cindy Huang at Jackson Lewis.

  • Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents

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    Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.