Acting Labor Sec. Urges Senate Panel To Back DOL Funding

By Max Kutner

Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su on Thursday defended President Joe Biden's U.S. Department of Labor budget, telling a Senate panel that such funding is necessary to recover workers' stolen wages and fight unlawful child labor, among other priorities.

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6th Circ. Panel Skeptical Of NLRB Hazard Pay Ruling

By Tim Ryan

A Sixth Circuit panel questioned on Thursday a National Labor Relations Board decision finding a Michigan nursing home violated federal labor law with its handling of temporary hazard pay and staffing during the COVID-19 pandemic, with judges appearing skeptical the company had to bargain over the changes.

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'You Have To Engage,' Judge Tells Attys In Damages Debate

By Chart Riggall

A Georgia federal judge on Thursday chided attorneys for a man hoping to beat back a challenge to a $3.4 million discrimination verdict he won last year, saying that they needed to put a little more sweat equity into their filings if they hoped to keep their hefty judgment whole.

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Plumbing Co. Ignoring OT Precedent, 1st Circ. Judge Chides

By Brian Dowling

A First Circuit judge said Thursday that a plumbing supply distributor arguing that its inside sales representatives don't qualify for overtime pay appears to be "running as fast as you can to get away" from a key recent precedent.

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Senate Panel OKs Ban On Mandatory Age Bias Arbitration

By Grace Elletson

The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced a bill out of committee Thursday that would ban the mandatory arbitration of workplace age discrimination claims in a vote that garnered the support of both Democrats and Republicans.

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Tesla Illegally Imposed Tech Policy In Buffalo, NLRB GC Says

By Beverly Banks

National Labor Relations Board prosecutors accused Tesla of having an illegal policy to dissuade workers from unionizing at its Buffalo, New York, manufacturing plant, according to a copy of the complaint obtained by Law360 on Thursday, with agency prosecutors seeking a nationwide posting of workers' rights.

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Philly Doctor Loses Bid To Restore $15M Bias Award

By James Boyle

A Philadelphia federal judge on Thursday denied a former Thomas Jefferson University Hospital surgeon's request to reinstate a $15 million jury verdict against his onetime employer, reasoning that the judge would have reached the same conclusion as a previous judge who vacated the award before recusing himself from a new trial.

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Ga. Fire Department Settles Feds' Race Bias Lawsuit

By Patrick Hoff

A Georgia county has agreed to pay $750,000 to resolve the federal government's lawsuit alleging its use of a written exam and credit checks to select firefighter applicants caused fewer Black job seekers to be hired, according to a Thursday federal court filing.

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NYC Denies IVF Coverage To Gay Male Workers, Court Told

By Patrick Hoff

New York City unlawfully discriminates against gay male employees by refusing to cover in vitro fertilization under its healthcare plan while providing heterosexual and lesbian workers with those benefits, according to a proposed class action filed Thursday in federal court.

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Judge 'Tempted' To Transfer MLB Scouts' Colo. Age Bias Suit

By Thy Vo

A Colorado federal judge said Thursday he was "somewhat tempted" to transfer an age discrimination lawsuit brought by former MLB scouts if he ultimately decides the court doesn't have jurisdiction over out-of-state teams, despite believing they may have a "fairly strong" argument that he can oversee the case against the league itself.

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Nike Denied Nursing Workers Lactation Spaces, Suit Says

By Emmy Freedman

Nike failed to provide nursing employees with adequate breaks or spaces to express breast milk and told a manager that she was setting a bad example for her team when she asked to pump milk outside of her scheduled breaks, a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County superior court said.

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Rail Co. Accused Of Retaliation Over FMLA Use

By David Minsky

CSX Transportation Inc. has been hit with a Florida federal lawsuit brought by its workers, who allege in their proposed class action that the rail company discouraged them from lawfully using the Family and Medical Leave Act, including by punishing them for taking advantage of the law.

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Feds' Pay Bias Suit Against Wis. Military Affairs Heads To Trial

By Emmy Freedman

A federal judge refused Thursday to grant the Wisconsin Department of Military Affairs a win in a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Department of Justice, saying a jury could find that the state agency lowballed an applicant for a director position because she's a woman.

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Watchdog Seeks Texas Judge's Recusal In Noncompete Case

By Emily Sawicki

An industry watchdog is calling on U.S. District Judge J. Campbell Barker to step away from the U.S. Chamber's lawsuit in Texas federal court challenging the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's new noncompete rule, citing "ample financial conflicts" including his investments in Amazon, Apple and IBM, two of which are members of the Chamber.

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VA Improperly Gave Execs $10.8M In Incentives, OIG Finds

By Rae Ann Varona

Ineffective internal controls and leadership issues resulted in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs improperly awarding $10.8 million in skills-based recruitment and retention incentives to senior executives at its central office, the VA's internal watchdog revealed in a Thursday report.

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Award Increased to $13.4M In Pabst Asbestos Death Suit

By Mike Curley

A Wisconsin appeals court has increased a mesothelioma wrongful death award against Pabst Brewing Co. to $13.4 million, rejecting the beer company's argument that the jury shouldn't have found fault at all, while finding that the trial court wrongly applied the state's punitive damages statute.

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Ex-Official Says NJ, Ethics Board Are 'Stonewalling' Discovery

By George Woolston

A former New Jersey health official has asked a state judge to order the state and its ethics commission to provide full discovery around his claims that he was fired in 2020 for raising concerns about the governor's chief of staff earmarking COVID-19 tests for relatives, accusing the Garden State of "stonewalling" his requests for documents and communications.

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Fostering Employee Retention Amid Shaky DEI Landscape

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.

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What's Notable In JAMS' New Mass Arbitration Rules

The Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services’ recently released guidelines, coming on the heels of similar American Arbitration Association amendments, suggests that mass arbitrations will remain an efficient means for consumers to vindicate their rights against companies, say Jonathan Waisnor and Brandon Heitmann at Labaton Keller. 

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Rebuttal

Time For Congress To Let Qualified Older Pilots Keep Flying

While a previous Law360 guest article affirmed the current law requiring airline pilots to retire at age 65, the facts suggest that the pilots, their unions, the airlines and the flying public will all benefit if Congress allows experienced, medically qualified aviators to stay in the cockpit, say Allen Baker and Bo Ellis at Let Experienced Pilots Fly.

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King & Spalding Accused Of Anti-White, Pro-LGBTQ Bias

By Ryan Boysen

A straight white woman is suing King & Spalding LLP alleging discrimination after getting a rare green light from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, claiming she incurred "significant damages" when she was dissuaded from applying to a summer associate program open only to "diverse" applicants.

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Former Akin Chairman R. Bruce McLean Dies At 77

By Tracey Read

Former Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP Chairman R. Bruce McLean — who helped transform Akin into an international powerhouse — died Thursday, the firm said. He was 77.

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Fox Rothschild Hires Ex-Seed IP Trio On The West Coast

By Andrea Keckley

Fox Rothschild is bringing on more intellectual property talent on the West Coast, announcing Friday that it had added three former Seed IP attorneys to its Seattle offices.

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Titan Of The Plaintiffs Bar: Pomerantz's Murielle Steven Walsh

By Adrian Cruz

For Murielle Steven Walsh, the concept of standing up for the underdog came early in her life, as the longtime Pomerantz LLP partner described her constant battles with Catholic school teachers as some of the first motivating factors that led her to pursue a legal career that involves representing shareholders suing some of the world's biggest corporations.

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Cohen Urged To Stop Trashing Trump As Testimony Nears

By Rachel Scharf, Frank G. Runyeon and Stewart Bishop

The Manhattan judge overseeing Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial made clear Friday that he wants star witness Michael Cohen to stop talking publicly about the charges as the former president's erstwhile attorney prepares to take the stand as soon as Monday.

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Coverage Recap: Day 11 Of Trump's NY Hush Money Trial

By Stewart Bishop

Law360 reporters are providing live updates from the Manhattan criminal courthouse as Donald Trump goes on trial for allegedly falsifying business records related to hush money payments ahead of the 2016 election. Here's a recap from Friday, day 11 of the trial.

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The Week In Trump: All Eyes On NY As Other Cases Lag

By Phillip Bantz

Donald Trump's Manhattan hush money trial took center stage with dramatic testimony from adult film actress Stormy Daniels, while the former president's criminal cases in Georgia and Florida ran into delays that could last through Election Day.

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Dem Lawmakers Call For 5th Circ. Judge To Exit CFPB Case

By Jack Rodgers

Six Democratic lawmakers sent a letter admonishing the Judicial Conference, saying Friday it was "undermining the integrity of the judiciary" by allowing a Fifth Circuit judge to participate in a matter in which he has a significant conflict of interest.

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Now Hiring: Michigan AG Seeks Attys For Climate Change Suits

By Madeline Lyskawa

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is looking for attorneys and law firms to serve as assistant attorneys general to pursue litigation related to climate change on behalf of the state of Michigan.

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SEC Asks For Win Following Ex-Apple Atty's Guilty Plea

By Sydney Price

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission moved for summary judgment Friday on insider trading claims against a former senior attorney at Apple Inc., arguing there is no need to relitigate claims since the lawyer already pled guilty to criminal charges related to a lucrative insider trading scheme.

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Feds Seek 20 Mos. For Ex-Baltimore State's Atty

By Elliot Weld

Prosecutors asked a Maryland federal court to sentence former state's attorney Marilyn Mosby to 20 months in prison after she was convicted of lying to obtain money from a retirement fund and conning a lender to obtain a vacation home, saying she "could not be trusted to tell the truth" despite her position of public trust.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP, Lewis Law Firm PLLC and Kleppin Firm PA lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court determined that plaintiffs in copyright ownership disputes can recover damages beyond the three-year statute of limitations for bringing a claim.

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

Help for lawyers in dealing with legal data challenges has come, thanks to corporate and law firm leaders who founded a new industry framework called Legal Data Intelligence. And at least one U.S. senator is questioning Amazon and Walmart's use of new tech to create "dynamic pricing" that may harm consumers.

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In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

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E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Text Message Data

Electronically stored information on cellphones, and in particular text messages, can present unique litigation challenges, and recent court decisions demonstrate that counsel must carefully balance what data should be preserved, collected, reviewed and produced, say attorneys at Sidley.

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