Discrimination

  • October 08, 2024

    DC Circ. Appears Iffy About Reviving Bias Suit Against Union

    The D.C. Circuit seemed reluctant Tuesday to reopen a retired government employee's discrimination suit against a federal employee union, with several judges suggesting that her claims don't belong in federal court.

  • October 08, 2024

    5th Circ Says Ex-Postal Worker's Harassment Suit Falls Short

    The Fifth Circuit upheld a win for the USPS in a retired post office clerk's suit claiming she faced discrimination and harassment on the job due to her age and disability, saying she didn't face "anything close" to a hostile work environment.

  • October 08, 2024

    New High Court Case May Spell Doom For 'Majority' Bias Test

    The U.S. Supreme Court has taken up a case that experts predict will be used to jettison a legal test that's made it harder for some people in "majority" groups to bring Title VII cases, potentially leading to a rise in so-called reverse discrimination lawsuits. Here are three things to keep an eye on if the high court changes the legal landscape.

  • October 08, 2024

    Airlines Say Chicago Sick Leave Law Would Impact Business

    An organization representing the largest U.S. airlines urged an Illinois federal court to keep afloat its challenge to Chicago's new paid sick leave law, saying its claims that the statute would impact flight prices and routes are fact-intensive and should proceed to discovery.

  • October 08, 2024

    Divorced-Dads Firm Beats Fired Paralegal's Retaliation Suit

    A Kansas federal jury on Monday sided with a law firm that bills itself as an advocate for divorced fathers, shutting down a suit from a paralegal who claimed she was fired for speaking up about sexual harassment by one of the firm's attorneys.

  • October 08, 2024

    College Admins Beat Ex-Prof's Suit Over Race-Based Study

    Cleveland State University faculty defeated a former professor's suit alleging he was unlawfully fired for publishing research asserting intelligence differences between white and Black people, with an Ohio federal judge finding he was let go for abusing access to restricted data, not his research subject.

  • October 08, 2024

    Harvard Says Ex-Coach's Pay, Retaliation Suit Falls Flat

    Harvard University has urged a Massachusetts federal judge to dismiss a former ice hockey coach's suit alleging she was paid less than her male counterparts and was forced into retirement, arguing the claims were mostly made after the statute of limitations had expired and failed to make a connection to an action taken by the school.

  • October 08, 2024

    Boarding School Strikes Deal To End COVID Race Bias Suit

    A boarding school agreed to settle a suit from an Asian American electrician who said he was fired after raising concerns that he was the victim of racism related to COVID-19, staving off a trial scheduled for November in Pennsylvania federal court.

  • October 07, 2024

    NC's Durham Inks DOJ Deal Over Racially Biased Hiring

    The city of Durham, North Carolina, agreed Monday to pay $980,000 and adjust its hiring practices to resolve U.S. Department of Justice civil rights allegations that a written test used by the city's Fire Department in evaluating potential hires unintentionally discriminates against Black candidates.

  • October 07, 2024

    Pepsi Employee Sues Over Health Plan's 'Tobacco Surcharge'

    A Pepsi employee has hauled the snack and beverage multinational into New York federal court, alleging in a proposed class action that the company unlawfully imposes a "tobacco surcharge" on employees who use tobacco products while failing to adequately notify employees that they can instead join a company wellness program.

  • October 07, 2024

    Paralegal Can't Seek Punitive Damages In Bias Trial

    A former Cordell & Cordell PC paralegal claiming she was fired over sexual harassment complaints can't ask a jury for punitive damages, a Kansas federal judge found during an ongoing trial, adopting the firm's position that she hasn't shown any willful violations.

  • October 07, 2024

    NJT Cop Can't Overturn Firing Over Positive THC Test

    A New Jersey appeals panel won't upend a decision by the New Jersey Transit Corp. police chief terminating an officer for testing positive for THC, rejecting the officer's argument that the chief wrongly deviated from an administrative law judge's determination that the test was unreliable.

  • October 07, 2024

    Grocery Co. Won't Get High Court Review Of Gender Bias Suit

    The U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday it won't review the revival of a gender bias case brought by a woman who said she was fired from her management role in a grocery store chain after her supervisor repeatedly said that management jobs were "too stressful" for women to handle.

  • October 07, 2024

    Guard Who Said Manager Dissed His Niece Keeps $1.2M Win

    The Third Circuit backed on Monday a $1.2 million verdict for a white former jail guard who said he was fired after complaining that a supervisor called his biracial niece "a little monkey," rejecting the county's arguments that the evidence presented didn't merit the award.

  • October 07, 2024

    Mich. Says Local Courts' ADA Compliance Is Not Its Job

    A proposed class of disabled attorneys lacks standing to pursue civil rights claims against Michigan alleging courthouses were inaccessible, the state has told a federal judge, arguing it is not responsible for local facilities and is otherwise protected by sovereign immunity under state disability laws.

  • October 07, 2024

    DOL Office Taps Agency Veteran To Lead Southeast Region

    The acting director of the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs said Monday that a 16-year OFCCP veteran is now its Southeast regional director.

  • October 07, 2024

    Sheetz Gets EEOC Background Check Suit Kicked To Pa.

    Convenience store chain Sheetz persuaded a Maryland federal judge to send to Pennsylvania a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission suit accusing the company of conducting a criminal history screening that amounted to race bias, citing the case's ties to that state.

  • October 07, 2024

    Ball Corp. Unit Strikes Deal To End DOL Race Bias Probe

    A subsidiary of packaging company Ball Corp. will pay $309,000 after a U.S. Department of Labor probe found evidence that it favored white applicants for production technician jobs over Black workers, the DOL said Monday.

  • October 07, 2024

    Justices Won't Review FedEx's KO Of $366M Race Bias Verdict

    The U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to review the Fifth Circuit's dramatic cut to a Black former FedEx employee's $366 million jury verdict, despite her argument that the appeals court incorrectly truncated the window for filing her race discrimination and retaliation claims.

  • October 07, 2024

    Justices Turn Down Pa. Ex-Museum Worker's Retaliation Suit

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to consider whether a former employee of the Frick Art and Historical Center in Pittsburgh had proved he was fired in retaliation for requesting accommodation for an injury.

  • October 07, 2024

    Worker's Age Bias Suit Survives IT Co.'s High Court Appeal

    The nation's top court won't take up a Virginia information technology company's appeal seeking to cast aside a former worker's age discrimination case, according to a list of cert denials issued Monday.

  • October 04, 2024

    Jury Finds Cognizant Biased Against Non-Indian Workers

    A California federal jury found Friday that Cognizant Technologies engaged in a "pattern or practice" of intentional discrimination against a class of non-South Asian and non-Indian employees who were terminated, setting the stage for a second phase that will determine damages against the IT giant.

  • October 04, 2024

    EEOC Suits Warn Employers To Take Harassment Seriously

    The EEOC's blitz of lawsuits at the end of its fiscal year included dozens of cases accusing employers of fostering environments full of harassment, highlighting an age-old priority for the commission that still catches employers flat-footed and prompts the agency to send stern warnings through its litigation docket, experts say. Here, Law360 looks at four things to know about the EEOC's latest anti-harassment enforcement push.

  • October 04, 2024

    Former X Worker's 2 Sex Bias Suits Will Go To Same Judge

    A San Francisco federal judge said Friday that a former X Corp. engineer's lawsuit claiming Elon Musk laid off more women than men after acquiring the company belonged with a similar case the worker filed in San Jose federal court — but chided both sides, saying "nobody's being terribly reasonable."

  • October 04, 2024

    Prof. Claims Fox Chase, Temple U. Failed To Deter Harassment

    A cancer research professor has filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Temple University Health System's Fox Chase Cancer Center, claiming in Pennsylvania federal court it failed to act on her complaints of being harassed by the eventual director, who she said went on to influence "numerous decisions" that hurt her career.

Expert Analysis

  • A Focused Statement Can Ease Employment Mediation

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    Given the widespread use of mediation in employment cases, attorneys should take steps to craft mediation statements that efficiently assist the mediator by focusing on key issues, strengths and weaknesses of a claim, which can flag key disputes and barriers to a settlement, says Darren Rumack at Klein & Cardali.

  • Vaccine Accommodation Suits Show Risk Of Blanket Policies

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    A recent federal class action alleging Tyson Foods inappropriately applied a one-size-fits-all response to Arkansas employees seeking religious COVID-19 vaccine exemptions, with similar suits going back to 2022, should remind employers to individually consider every worker request for a religious accommodation, say Christopher Pardo and Elizabeth Sherwood at Hunton.

  • Workplace Challenges Amid Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

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    Recent tension over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has caused challenges in the employment sphere, sparking the question of whether employees can be legally disciplined for speaking out on issues related to the conflict, which depends on various circumstances, says Alok Nadig at Sanford Heisler.

  • Water Cooler Talk: Insights On Noncompetes From 'The Office'

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    Troutman Pepper’s Tracey Diamond, Evan Gibbs, Constance Brewster and Jim Earle compare scenarios from “The Office” to the complex world of noncompetes and associated tax issues, as employers are becoming increasingly hesitant to look to noncompete provisions amid a potential federal ban.

  • High Court's Job Bias Questions May Predict Title VII Ruling

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    Employers may be able to predict — and prepare for — important changes to workplace discrimination laws by examining the questions the U.S. Supreme Court asked during oral arguments for Muldrow v. St. Louis, where several justices seemed to favor a low threshold for Title VII suits, says Wendy LaManque at Pryor Cashman.

  • 2 Cases Highlight NJ Cannabis Employment Law Uncertainties

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    More than two years after its enactment, the employee protections and employer obligations in New Jersey's Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance and Marketplace Modernization Act remain unsettled, and two recent lawsuits draw attention to the law's enforceability and its intersection with federal law, say Ruth Rauls at Saul Ewing and David White at Seton Hall.

  • 3 Compliance Reminders For Calif. Employers In 2024

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    As we enter into the new year, several recent updates to California employment law — including minimum wage and sick leave requirements — necessitate immediate compliance actions for employers, says Daniel Pyne at Hopkins & Carley.

  • Sex Harassment Arbitration Exemption: Devil Is In The Date

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    A Federal Arbitration Act amendment that exempts workplace sexual harassment claims from arbitration is muddled in ongoing confusion about its chronological reach — and as many such cases begin to run up against applicable statutes of limitations, the clock is ticking for claimants to bring their actions in court, says Abe Melamed at Signature Resolution.

  • Top 10 Employer Resolutions For 2024

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    From technological leaps to sea changes in labor policy to literal sea changes, 2024 provides opportunities for employers to face big-picture questions that will shape their business for years to come, say Allegra Lawrence-Hardy and Lisa Haldar at Lawrence & Bundy.

  • Lessons Learned From 2023's Top FMLA Decisions

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    This year’s most significant Family and Medical Leave Act decisions offer lessons on the act's technical requirements, including the definition of serious health condition, compliance with notice requirements and whether it is permissible to give an employee substantial extra work upon their return from leave, says Linda Dwoskin at Dechert.

  • Artificial Intelligence Is In Need Of Regulation — But How?

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    Since most of the artificial intelligence-related laws in 2023 were part of more extensive consumer privacy law, the U.S. still has a lot of work to do to build consensus on how to oversee AI, and even who should do the regulating, before moving forward on specific and reasonable guidelines as AI's capabilities grow, say Nick Toufexis and Paul Saputo at Saputo Toufexis.

  • Lessons Learned From 2023's Top ADA Decisions

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    This year saw the courts delving into the complexities of employee accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act in the post-pandemic workplace, going beyond bright-line rules with fact-intensive inquiries that are likely to create uncertainty for employers, says Linda Dwoskin at Dechert.

  • What's Ahead For Immigrant Employee Rights Enforcement

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    The U.S. Department of Justice’s increased enforcement related to immigration-based employment discrimination is coupled with pending constitutional challenges to administrative tribunals, suggesting employers should leverage those headwinds when facing investigations or class action-style litigation, say attorneys at Jones Day.