UC Says Union Trying To Illegally Strike Amid Campus Protest

By Emily Brill

The University of California system is accusing the union that represents its graduate student workers of calling for an illegal strike over the university system's pushback to pro-Palestine campus protests, filing an unfair labor practice charge Friday.

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9th Circ. Judges Say Bias Suit Deserved En Banc Rehearing

By Irene Spezzamonte

A Ninth Circuit panel's opinion that a fire chief's Christian faith wasn't the cause for his firing will have severe ramifications in discrimination cases and the full appellate court should have reconsidered it, several circuit judges said Friday.

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Texas Judge Denies SpaceX's Rethink Bid In Transfer Spat

By Beverly Banks

A Texas federal judge won't reconsider his decision to transfer SpaceX's constitutional challenge to the National Labor Relations Board's structure to a California court, saying on Friday that the rocket company didn't give a "compelling reason" to rethink the ruling.

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Mercedes Workers Reject UAW In Blow To Organizing Drive

By Tim Ryan

Workers at Mercedes-Benz manufacturing facilities outside Tuscaloosa, Alabama, have voted against representation by the United Auto Workers, an early setback for the union as it seeks to organize nonunion automakers in the United States.

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Analysis

Industry Emboldened After Justices Galvanize Agency Attacks

By Jeff Overley

In the year since the U.S. Supreme Court said "extraordinary" and "far-reaching" attacks on administrative enforcers can skip agency tribunals and go straight to federal district court, ambitious challenges to regulatory powers are rapidly gaining traction, and the high court is poised to put them on an even firmer footing.

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Roundup

Employment Authority: Workers Take Aim At Pregnancy Bias

Law360 Employment Authority covers the biggest employment cases and trends. Catch up this week with coverage on the substantial stack of charges the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission fielded last year brought under a new law that grants accommodations to pregnant employees, the Biden administration's rush to wrap up rulemaking to dodge potential Republican opposition, and why experts think United Auto Workers' upcoming union talks with Volkswagen present unique challenges.

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Jenner & Block Sued For Firing Worker Over Vax Refusal

By Henrik Nilsson

A former Jenner & Block LLP employee filed a discrimination suit against the law firm Friday, claiming she was fired after the firm refused to provide a religious exemption from its COVID-19 vaccine mandate despite her belief that taking the vaccine would make her complicit in abortion.

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Worker Settles Claims Conn. Museum Fired Her Over DEI Email

By Ryan Harroff

A Hartford art museum and its former curatorial administrator who accused it of firing her for sending an email questioning its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives came together to jointly dismiss the worker's free speech retaliation suit from Connecticut federal court.

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Philly Surgeon Settles Sex Bias Case With Jefferson Hospital

By P.J. D'Annunzio

An orthopedic surgeon who sued Thomas Jefferson University Hospital for gender discrimination over its handling of sexual assault allegations has settled his case with the hospital after a $15 million award in his favor was erased.

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EEOC Sues Smithfield Foods In Ga. For Age Discrimination

By Kelcey Caulder

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed suit against Smithfield Foods Inc. and Smithfield Fresh Meats Sales Corp. in Georgia federal court on Friday for age discrimination, alleging the companies violated federal law by firing a senior sales employee because of her age.

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Analysis

NFL Gets Win In Gruden Arbitration Case, But Also A Warning

By David Steele

The NFL convinced a Nevada appeals court to order arbitration for the defamation suit by former Las Vegas Raiders coach Jon Gruden, but experts say the league shouldn't celebrate too hard in the end zone, because the justices shone light on cracks in its arbitration process.

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Chicago Tribune Accused Of Underpaying Female, Black Staff

By Celeste Bott

A group of Chicago Tribune journalists sued the paper and its parent Alden Global Capital in Illinois federal court on Thursday alleging sex and race discrimination that has caused more than 50 reporters and editors to get paid thousands of dollars per year less than their white male colleagues.

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NJ Atty Escapes Malpractice Suit Over UPS Bias Suit

By Emily Sawicki

A New Jersey state appeals court on Friday refused to revive a legal malpractice lawsuit from a UPS driver alleging his ex-lawyer did not disclose his working relationship with Day Pitney LLP, the firm that represented the delivery company in the driver's underlying racial discrimination suit.

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DOL Fails To Win Order Barring Retaliation On Pork Workers

By Elliot Weld

A Tennessee federal judge rebuffed a request from the U.S. Department of Labor to bar a pork producer from retaliating against workers providing information about wages, ruling that the department had failed to show that any retaliation had occurred.

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Trucking Co. Dodges Misclassification Suit, For Now

By Irene Spezzamonte

A trucking company can temporarily escape claims that it misclassified drivers as independent contractors because the driver lodging the suit failed to show jurisdictional diversity, an Illinois federal judge ruled.

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Analysis

How A $3K Pro Se Claim Led To A 9-0 High Court Decision

By Daniel Wilson

A milestone victory at the U.S. Supreme Court for $3,000 in wages started with a Pentagon worker’s principled commitment to his employer — a dedication that ironically led to a decadelong fight against his own bosses. Stuart R. Harrow and his attorneys speak to Law360 about how a seemingly low-stakes conflict turned into a high-profile case with reverberations for hundreds of federal employees.

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UAW, Fiat Chrysler Say Ohio Workers' Bribery Suit Untimely

By Linda Chiem

The United Auto Workers and Fiat Chrysler told an Ohio federal judge Friday that a recent Sixth Circuit decision nullifies a racketeering lawsuit from plant workers trying to tie their claims of lost wages and benefits to an illicit bribery scheme involving former union and company officials.

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Analysis

Many Plans Already In Front Of 11th Circ. Trans Health Ruling

By Kellie Mejdrich

The Eleventh Circuit's recent decision that a county health plan's coverage exclusion for gender transition surgery violated federal anti-discrimination law likely won't have a big impact on plans because they have already made adjustments for the U.S. Supreme Court ruling the appeals court applied, experts say.

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TD Bank Says Ex-Advisers Enticed $25M To Raymond James

By Ryan Harroff

TD Bank NA and its subsidiary TD Private Client Wealth LLC are accusing two former employees of "brazenly" breaking nonsolicitation agreements by moving to Raymond James Financial Services Inc. and enticing $25 million in client assets to come with them.

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Judge Won't Bar Thermo Fisher Exec's Jump To Repligen

By Julie Manganis

A Massachusetts judge won't block a former Thermo Fisher Scientific executive from jumping to smaller rival Repligen, calling a noncompete agreement signed by the employee overbroad and suggesting that it was really aimed at stifling competition in a ruling released Friday.

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Mass. Hospital Pays $24.3M To Settle Heart-Surgery FCA Case

By Brian Dowling

Cape Cod Hospital will pay $24.3 million to settle claims it flouted Medicare billing rules for hundreds of heart-valve replacement surgeries in what's understood to be the largest recovery under the False Claims Act from a Massachusetts hospital.

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Allergan Says Deserted Drug Rule Weakens $680M Fraud Suit

By Alyssa Aquino

Allergan drew a Maryland federal court's attention to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' abandonment of a regulation clarifying drug pricing, arguing the move undermined a whistleblower's claims that it overcharged Medicaid by over $680 million.

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3 Employer Lessons From NLRB's Complaint Against SpaceX

Severance agreements traditionally have included nondisparagement and nondisclosure provisions as a matter of course — but a recent National Labor Relations Board complaint against SpaceX underscores the ongoing efforts to narrow severance agreements at the state and federal levels, say attorneys at Williams & Connolly.

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Pa. Federal District Judge Gene Pratter Dead At 75

By James Boyle

U.S. District Judge Gene E.K. Pratter, who joined the bench in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in 2004 and presided over several landmark cases, died Friday at the age of 75, according to a statement from the court.

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Baker McKenzie Ends FOIA Suit Over IRS Partnership Audits

By Ali Sullivan

A Baker McKenzie attorney has dropped a public records lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service that sought to compel the agency to turn over documents pertaining to its scrutiny of large partnerships.

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Menendez Texts With Wife A Legislative Promise, Judge Says

By Pete Brush

Emoji-laden texts between Sen. Robert Menendez and his wife about an arms sale constitute a legislative promise, a Manhattan federal judge reiterated Monday, as the government seeks to prove the power couple had a corrupt agreement with a New Jersey businessman.

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Girardi Wants To Probe Jurors' 'Real Housewives' Exposure

By Brandon Lowrey

Public defenders for Tom Girardi want to ask prospective jurors in his upcoming fraud trial whether they have seen his wife's reality television show and news reporting about his law firm's massive scandal, according to a recent motion in Los Angeles federal court.

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McElroy Deutsch Says Ex-Exec's Guilt Boosts Home Claim

By Emily Sawicki

McElroy Deutsch Mulvaney & Carpenter LLP doubled down on its attempt to seize the home of two former firm executives following a guilty plea on criminal embezzlement charges earlier this month by one of them, the firm's former chief financial officer.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Leslie A. Pappas

Delaware was full of drama last week, as proposed changes to the state's corporate law statutes raised eyebrows and a professor's friend-of-the-court brief sparked a very unfriendly public exchange. Delaware's court of equity banged the gavel on pipeline and social media disputes, and shareholders filed new suits alleging insider trading, vote bungling, unfair stock buybacks and merger shenanigans. In case you missed any of it, here's the recap of all the top news last week from Delaware's Chancery Court.

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