Employment

May 09, 2025
Employment Authority: Biden-Era Wage Rules Tumble

Law360 Employment Authority covers the biggest employment cases and trends. Catch up this week with coverage on what Biden-era wage and hour rules the U.S. Department of Labor has stopped enforcing, what a quorum at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission would look like under Trump and how a union is using unconventional methods to organize video game workers.
May 09, 2025
Wells Fargo Execs Sued In Del. Over 'Sham' Diversity Efforts

A Wells Fargo stockholder launched a derivative suit on Friday in Delaware's Court of Chancery seeking damages from 17 of the banking giant's directors and officers for potentially billions in costs tied to alleged "sham" diversity-focused recruitment and hiring initiatives.
May 09, 2025
Gov't Fights Latest Challenge To Worker Resignation Offer

A Massachusetts federal judge should toss a renewed challenge to the Trump administration's resignation incentive program for the same reasons he tossed it before, the government argued, saying the union-brought challenge is doomed because of standing issues and because it belongs before an agency, not a federal judge.
May 09, 2025
NY Gov. Amends Frequency Law's Liquidated Damages Clock

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Friday approved changes to the state's highly litigated law requiring manual workers to be paid weekly, including changes to liquidated damages workers could receive from violations, as part of the fiscal year 2026 budget.
May 09, 2025
Immigrants Find Workers' Rights Behind Bars

Immigration detainees are bringing about a sea change in workers’ rights behind bars, chipping away at the assumption that people in civil detention or in prison fall outside the reach of minimum wage laws and protections against forced labor.
May 09, 2025
Working While Caged: The Fight To End Forced Prison Labor

Inmates battling wildfires are just the tip of the iceberg in a largely invisible workforce of more than 800,000 people who work for meager pay while incarcerated. Civil rights lawyers, advocates and some elected officials are pushing to change the legal framework that enables prison labor practices, which many trace back to American slavery and the 13th Amendment.
May 09, 2025
Disney Nears Prelim Approval On $43M Gender Pay Bias Deal

A California judge said Friday he intends to grant preliminary approval of a $43.25 million class action settlement in a suit alleging Disney paid thousands of women in middle management less than their male colleagues.
May 09, 2025
X Paying Millions In Severance Arbitration Losses, Atty Says

X Corp. has lost nine out of every 10 arbitrations over former Twitter employees' claims they were shorted on severance payouts after Elon Musk's takeover of the social media company, resulting in awards ranging from $100,000 to millions of dollars, one of the workers' attorneys told a California federal judge.
May 09, 2025
Souter's Clerks Remember Him As Humble, Kind And Caring

Former clerks of retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter are heartbroken over the death of a man many of them remember more for his conscientiousness, humility, kindness and disdain for the spotlight than for his undeniable brilliance as a jurist.
May 09, 2025
Insulet Seeks $30M In Atty Fees, Costs After Trade Secret Win

After winning a nearly $60 million judgment in a trade secrets lawsuit against South Korean company EOFlow Co. Ltd., medical device company Insulet Corp. has told a Massachusetts federal judge that it should be granted a little over $30 million in attorney fees and litigation costs in light of the rival's "remarkable" misappropriation of its technology for a wearable insulin patch pump.
May 09, 2025
AG Fights Ex-Immigration Judge's Disability Bias Claim In Fla.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi pushed back Friday on a former immigration judge's bid for a disability discrimination ruling in her favor, telling a Florida federal court that her requested transfer wasn't approved since there were no vacancies in her desired Orlando court during her tenure.
May 09, 2025
Off The Bench: Latest NIL Deal Fix, More WWE Court Troubles

In this week's Off The Bench, the NCAA tries again to get its multibillion-dollar compensation settlement approved, two sets of accusers draw Vince McMahon's history of misconduct at the WWE into their complaints, and the men's tennis tour was ordered to stop threatening players over joining an antitrust suit.
May 09, 2025
Hiker And 'Raconteur': Atty Recalls 50-Year Bond With Souter

Behind a towering legal legacy was a man who loved to hike mountains, could recall details of things he read decades ago and was always there for those he cared about, a New Hampshire attorney said as he reflected on a lifelong friendship with U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter.
May 09, 2025
Fisher Phillips Opens Tokyo Office Amid Regulatory Shifts

Employer-side labor law firm Fisher Phillips has launched a Tokyo office in response to increasing client demand from American and multinational companies doing business in Japan and from Japanese companies doing business in the Americas.
May 09, 2025
A Look At David Souter's Most Significant Opinions

The retired Justice David Souter defied simple definition, viewed as a staunch conservative until he co-wrote an opinion upholding abortion rights in 1992. He did not hew to partisan lines, but reshaped the civil litigation landscape and took an unexpected stand in an extraordinarily close presidential election.
May 09, 2025
Justice Souter Was An Unexpected Force Of Moderation

Justice David Souter, who saw the high court as a moderating force apart from the messiness of politics, subverted the expectations of liberals and conservatives alike during his 19 years on the bench.
May 09, 2025
Google Strikes $50M Deal To End Black Workers' Bias Suit

Google has agreed to pay $50 million to resolve a proposed class action claiming the technology giant paid thousands of Black workers less than their white colleagues and provided them scant opportunities for advancement, according to a filing in California federal court.
May 09, 2025
NC Finance Co. Says Ex-Director Kept Client Contact Info

A financial advising company took its former client services director to North Carolina's Business Court after he allegedly told the firm's president that he was not going to delete client information from his personal phone following his termination and intended to use it to solicit his ex-employer's customers.
May 09, 2025
Retired Supreme Court Justice David Souter Dies At 85

Retired Justice David H. Souter, who served on the U.S. Supreme Court from 1990 to 2009, has died at 85, the court announced Friday.
May 08, 2025
Ex-Brookfield Leader Says He Was Fired For Whistleblowing

A former managing partner at Brookfield Asset Management lobbed wrongful termination and defamation claims at his former employer Thursday, claiming that he was fired for refusing to accept a bribe and for filing a whistleblower complaint with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
May 08, 2025
5th Circ. Wipes Out Southwest Attys' Religious Training Order

The Fifth Circuit on Thursday held that a lower court overstepped by ordering several in-house Southwest Airlines attorneys to undergo "religious liberty training" following a flight attendant's win in a wrongful termination suit, finding that the training wouldn't benefit the flight attendant or persuade Southwest to comply with an earlier order.
May 08, 2025
Ex-Credit Union Employee Gets 1 Year For Embezzlement

A Montana woman who formerly served as the operations manager for the Altana Federal Credit Union has been sentenced to a year and one day in prison and must pay just over $65,000 in restitution for duplicating and using customers' bank cards.
May 08, 2025
Judge Seems To Favor Susman Godfrey In Trump Challenge

A D.C. federal judge appeared poised Thursday to allow Susman Godfrey LLP's challenge to President Donald Trump's executive order targeting the firm to proceed or to grant the firm a summary judgment win altogether, after she pressed a government attorney on the president's basis for alleging discrimination at the firm.
May 08, 2025
Panel Says Colo. Hospitals Need Notice Of Retaliation Claims

A Colorado appeals court on Thursday sided with a Denver health system in a precedential ruling, finding healthcare workers who sue public hospitals under a state anti-retaliation statute must warn hospitals about their claims.
May 08, 2025
Schwan's Moves To Block Conagra's Late Expert Reports

Schwan's has urged a Minnesota federal judge to throw out late-stage expert testimony and documents introduced by Conagra Brands in a trade secrets lawsuit over the company's hiring of a former Schwan's scientist, saying that its food business rival engaged in "trial by ambush" by unveiling new damages theories and evidence after the close of discovery.

Expert Analysis

Lessons From United's Axed Win In Firing Over Online Pics

In Wawrzenski v. United Airlines, a California state appeals court revived a flight attendant’s suit over her termination for linking photos of herself in uniform to her OnlyFans account, providing a cautionary tale for employers navigating the complexities of workplace policy enforcement in the digital age, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.
3 Factors Affecting Retail M&A Deals In 2025

Retailers considering mergers and acquisitions this year face an evolving antitrust environment, including a new administration under President-elect Donald Trump, revised merger guidelines and a precedent set last year by a canceled $8.5 billion handbag merger, say attorneys at DLA Piper.
How Trump Admin May Approach AI In The Workplace

Key indicators suggest that the incoming Trump administration will adopt a deregulatory approach to artificial intelligence, allowing states to fill the void, so it is critical that employers pay close attention to developing legal authority concerning AI tools, say attorneys at Littler.
Top 10 Legal Issues This Year For Transportation Industry GCs

General counsel must carefully consider numerous legal and policy challenges facing the automotive and transportation industry in the year to come, especially while navigating new technologies, regulations and global markets, says Francesco Liberatore at Squire Patton.
Exploring Venue Strategy For Trump-Era Regulatory Litigation

Litigation will likely play a prominent role in shaping policy outcomes during the second Trump administration, and stakeholders have several tools at their disposal to steer regulatory litigation toward more favorable venues, say attorneys at Covington.
What 2024's Noncompete Turmoil Means For Banks In 2025

A look back at the most significant legal challenges to the enforceability of various restrictive covenants like noncompete and nonsolicitation agreements in 2024 can help financial institutions address the use of these critical tools this year, say attorneys at Maynard Nexsen.
Lessons Learned From 2024's Top FMLA Decisions

Last year's major litigation related to the Family and Medical Leave Act underscores why it is critical for employers to understand the basics of when leave and accommodations are required, say attorneys at Dechert.
New Year, New Risks: 8 Top Cyber Issues For Finance In 2025

As financial institutions forge ahead in 2025, they must strike a delicate balance between embracing technological innovation and guarding against its darker threats, which this year could include everything from supply chain vulnerabilities to deepfakes, say attorneys at Baker Donelson.
Lessons Learned From 2024's Top ADA Decisions

Last year's major litigation related to the Americans with Disabilities Act highlights that when dealing with accommodation requests, employers must communicate clearly, appreciate context and remain flexible in addressing needs, say attorneys at Dechert.
Series

Playing Esports Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Competing in a global esports tournament at Wimbledon last year not only fulfilled my childhood dream, but also sharpened skills that are essential to my day job, including strategic thinking, confidence and networking, says AJ Schuyler at Jackson Lewis.
Lessons From The SEC's 2024 Crackdown On AI Washing

AI washing was the subject of increased scrutiny from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in 2024 following a surge in the commercial adoption of generative artificial intelligence technologies in 2023, highlighting the importance of transparency, accuracy and accountability when communicating about AI, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.
Identifying Deepfakes During Evidence Collection, Discovery

Excerpt from Practical Guidance

Attorneys must familiarize themselves with the tools used to create and detect deepfakes — media manipulated by artificial intelligence to convincingly mimic real people and events — as well as best practices for keeping this fabricated evidence out of court, says Bijan Ghom at Saxton & Stump.
An Associate's Guide To Career Development In 2025

As the new year begins, associates at all levels should consider establishing career metrics, fostering key relationships and employing other specific strategies to help move through the complexities of the legal profession with confidence and emerge as trailblazers, say EJ Stern and Amanda George at Fractional Law Firm.
5 Proactive Immigration Best Practices For Employers In 2025

Businesses that depend on foreign talent should take specific steps in anticipation of changes to federal immigration policies that could affect the H-1B visa and other programs, and likely require changes in organizational operations and compliance strategy, says Dustin O'Quinn at Ballard Spahr.
Top 10 Employer Resolutions For 2025

While companies must monitor for policy shifts under the new administration in 2025, it will also be a year to play it safe and remember the basics, such as the importance of documenting retention policies and conducting swift investigations into workplace complaints, say attorneys at Krevolin Horst.