Discrimination

  • October 29, 2024

    Ex-Development Director Asks 4th Circ. For Wage Ruling Redo

    A former development director for a North Carolina city urged the Fourth Circuit to rethink its opinion affirming the city's win on her unpaid overtime claims, saying it's not clear from the record that she was classified as exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

  • October 29, 2024

    Roberto Clemente's Family Drops Bias Suit Against Allstate

    A long-running discrimination lawsuit against Allstate, filed by the insurance agency run by the son of baseball legend Roberto Clemente, has officially come to a close with a Tuesday dismissal following a settlement reached last month.

  • October 29, 2024

    Chicago Gas Utility Can't Escape Bulk Of Race Bias Suit

    An Illinois federal judge declined to gut core bias claims from a suit claiming a Chicago natural gas company disproportionately sent Black employees to dangerous neighborhoods where they were assaulted, rejecting the business' position that it can't be held liable for random crimes.

  • October 29, 2024

    Red Bull's Arbitration Pacts End OT, FMLA Suit

    Red Bull escaped a former account service manager's proposed collective action, alleging she didn't receive overtime and was immediately fired upon requesting a Family Medical Leave Act leave, after the parties acknowledged to a South Carolina federal court that arbitration was necessary.

  • October 29, 2024

    Delta Used TSA Program To Wrongfully Fire Worker, Suit Says

    Delta Air Lines was sued in Georgia federal court on Monday by a former ramp agent who alleged the company used a new Transportation Security Administration program to fire him for taking periodic medical leave to treat pulmonary embolisms, a heart attack and COVID-19.

  • October 28, 2024

    Surge In Nicotine Fee Suits Shows Wellness Program Risks

    A recent crop of suits accusing large employers of violating nondiscrimination provisions in federal benefits law by making workers who use nicotine pay more for health insurance underscore the risk of using fees to offset healthcare costs, attorneys say. Here are five nicotine surcharge suits to keep an eye on.

  • October 28, 2024

    Colo. Judge: Attys Have Work To Do On Disability Acceptance

    A Colorado appeals court judge who co-founded the Colorado Disability Bar Association told a room of law students Monday that while the legal community has made progress on being inclusive of those with physical disabilities, work remains on accepting lawyers with "invisible disabilities" like mental health conditions, neurodivergence and chronic pain.

  • October 28, 2024

    2nd Circ. Says Medical Fellow Can't Get New Harassment Trial

    The Second Circuit said Monday that a former cancer center fellow can't get a new trial in her suit claiming her supervisor promised to advance her career if she gave in to his sexual advances, ruling the compensatory damages award she received on a battery claim was fair.

  • October 28, 2024

    Ohio Hospital Defeats Religious Bias Suit Over COVID Vaccine

    An Ohio hospital defeated a former nurse's lawsuit claiming he was forced out after the medical center rejected his request for a religious exemption from its COVID-19 vaccination policy, with a federal judge finding he was never disciplined for failing to get the jab.

  • October 28, 2024

    Amazon Settles Fired Worker's Disability Discrimination Suit

    Amazon struck a deal to end a disability bias suit from a worker who said the retailer used bogus sexual harassment allegations as a smokescreen to fire him over nerve damage that limited his ability to work, according to a Wisconsin federal court filing Monday.

  • October 28, 2024

    DOD Settles Bias Suit Over 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Discharges

    The U.S. Department of Defense has reached a settlement in principle with a group of LGBTQ+ service members who sued the U.S. military in California federal court claiming veterans discharged under the former Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, which banned non-heterosexual service members, continued to face discrimination.

  • October 28, 2024

    J. Crew Asks Court To Ratify Ex-GC's Arbitration Loss

    J. Crew is asking a New York federal judge to confirm an arbitrator's ruling from earlier this month that found it hadn't fired its former legal chief, Maria DiLorenzo, in retaliation for her complaints about colleagues' discriminatory comments about her hearing loss.

  • October 28, 2024

    Philly Attys Sued For Allegedly Botching Bias Lawsuit

    A malpractice suit filed in Philadelphia court alleges that attorneys at the Law Offices of Eric A. Shore did not properly manage a pair of federal employment discrimination cases for a power plant engineer, causing the dismissal of one complaint and a diminished jury verdict in the second.

  • October 28, 2024

    Debt Co. Ends EEOC Religious Bias Suit Revived By 3rd Circ.

    A debt collection company will pay $60,000 to resolve a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission suit claiming a call center worker was forced out for taking time off to practice Judaism, wrapping up a case that the Third Circuit revived in February.

  • October 28, 2024

    Fired Exec Says TikTok Can't Force Bias Suit Into Arbitration

    A fired TikTok marketing executive told a New York federal court the company can't short-circuit her suit claiming her age and gender landed her on a company "kill list," arguing that her case is protected by a law curbing mandatory arbitration because it includes sexual harassment allegations.

  • October 25, 2024

    6th Circ. Backs Hospital In Black Nurse's Promotion Bias Suit

    The Sixth Circuit backed an Ohio State University-affiliated medical center's defeat of a nurse's lawsuit claiming she missed out on a promotion because she's Black, ruling Friday she couldn't overcome the hospital's explanation that a white male job candidate had better qualifications.

  • October 25, 2024

    Religious Employers Should Watch This 1st Amendment Fight

    A Roman Catholic diocese wants the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a case that could broaden faith-based exemptions to a New York state law requiring worker health plans to provide abortion coverage, a matter that experts say could have wide implications for religious employers.

  • October 25, 2024

    Yale, Travelers Beat Conn. Age Bias Appeals

    A Connecticut appeals court on Friday declined to revive claims that Yale University and Travelers Indemnity Co. committed age discrimination with job postings seeking "recent" college graduates, reasoning that the court that threw out the cases properly interpreted state high court precedent.

  • October 25, 2024

    'Quiet On Set' Free Speech Row Has Judge Reaching For Advil

    A California judge was undecided Friday about tossing on free speech grounds a defamation lawsuit from former Nickelodeon producer Dan Schneider against Warner Brothers Discovery Inc. over its "Quiet on Set" docuseries, remarking during a hearing that such motions are so headache-inducing he must "remember to bring [his] Advil."

  • October 25, 2024

    Mass. Panel Flips Teacher's Tenure Denial Over Family Leave

    Massachusetts' intermediate-level appeals court on Friday invalidated an arbitrator's denial of tenure to a teacher who took maternity leave during one of her first three years of teaching, ruling that the decision had wrongly penalized her for taking the protected time away from work.

  • October 25, 2024

    Ex-Abercrombie CEO Pleads Not Guilty, Gets $10M Home Bail

    Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Michael Jeffries pled not guilty on Friday to charges of operating a sex trafficking and prostitution ring that preyed on male models, and was released to home confinement on a $10 million bond.

  • October 25, 2024

    Bimbo Fired 72-Year-Old 1 Year Before Retirement, Suit Says

    A longtime employee of Bimbo Bakeries USA filed a federal age discrimination lawsuit against his former employer Wednesday claiming that the company forced him out of his job just over a year before he was scheduled to retire, over bogus allegations that he stole company time.

  • October 25, 2024

    EEOC Says Restaurant Allowed Misgendering Of Trans Worker

    A Michigan fast food franchisee failed to stop workers from misgendering a transgender employee and fired several people who spoke up against the harassment, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said in a suit filed Friday.

  • October 25, 2024

    Ex-Paralegal Hits Wells Fargo With Disability Bias Suit

    A former paralegal for Wells Fargo Bank NA hit her former employer with a discrimination suit alleging that she faced bias and was eventually terminated because of her health issues.

  • October 25, 2024

    Ga. Court Admin Says Retaliation Suit Must Go Ahead In Full

    A former Georgia municipal court administrator who said she was forced out of her position after reporting corruption by a city council member has asked a federal judge to preserve her suit in full, arguing a federal magistrate misapplied a sexual harassment standard to what was better characterized as retaliation claims.

Expert Analysis

  • 5th Circ. Ruling Sets Bostock, Faith Exemption Up For Review

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    The Fifth Circuit's Braidwood v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission decision could tee up U.S. Supreme Court review of whether employing an individual to whose protected class the employer objects infringes on the employer's religious beliefs, potentially narrowing LGBTQ worker protections from the high court's 2020 Bostock v. Clayton County decision, says Adam Grogan at Bell Law.

  • Legal Profession Gender Parity Requires Equal Parental Leave

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    To truly foster equity in the legal profession and to promote attorney retention, workplaces need to better support all parents, regardless of gender — starting by offering equal and robust parental leave to both birthing and non-birthing parents, says Ali Spindler at Irwin Fritchie.

  • Why Employers Should Refrain From 'Quiet Firing'

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    While quiet firing — when an employer deliberately makes working conditions intolerable with the goal of forcing an employee to quit — has recently been identified in the news as a new trend, such constructive discharge tactics have been around for ages, and employers would do well to remember that, comparatively, direct firings may provide more legal protection, says Robin Shea at Constangy.

  • 5 New Calif. Laws Employers Need To Know

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    Now is a good time for employers to evaluate personnel rules to keep pace with California’s newly adopted employee protections, which go into effect early next year and include laws regarding reproductive loss leave, cannabis use, workplace violence prevention and noncompete agreements, say attorneys at Farella Braun.

  • 3 Employer Strategies To Streamline Mass Arbitrations

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    Workers under arbitration agreements have gained an edge on their employers by filing floods of tedious and expensive individualized claims, but companies can adapt to this new world of mass arbitration by applying several new strategies that may streamline the dispute-resolution process, says Michael Strauss at Alternative Resolution Centers.

  • How AI 'Cultural Fit' Assessments Can Be Analyzed For Bias

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    Attorneys at Sanford Heisler explore how the use of artificial intelligence to assess workplace cultural fit may provide employees with increased opportunities to challenge biased hiring practices, and employers with more potential to mitigate against bias in algorithmic evaluations.

  • High Court's Old, Bad Stats Analysis Can Miss Discrimination

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    Courts and practitioners should reconsider a common statistical test for evidence of employment discrimination, created by the U.S. Supreme Court for its 1977 Castaneda and Hazelwood cases, because its “two or three standard deviations” criteria stems from a misunderstanding of statistical methods that can dramatically minimize the actual prevalence of discrimination, says Daniel Levy at Advanced Analytical Consulting Group.

  • Transparency And Explainability Are Critical To AI Compliance

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    Although there is not yet a comprehensive law governing artificial intelligence, regulators have tools to hold businesses accountable, and companies need to focus on ensuring that consumers and key stakeholders understand how their AI systems operate and make decisions, say Chanley Howell and Lauren Hudon at Foley & Lardner.

  • In Focus At The EEOC: Emerging And Developing Issues

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    The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's recently finalized strategic enforcement plan highlights how the agency will prioritize its limited resources over the next four years, and the most notable emerging issues include ensuring protections for pregnant workers and those dealing with long-term COVID-19 effects, says Jim Paretti at Littler.

  • Employer Takeaways From 2nd Circ. Equal Pay Ruling

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    The Second Circuit 's recent decision in Eisenhauer v. Culinary Institute of America reversed a long-held understanding of the Equal Pay Act, ultimately making it easier for employers to defend against equal pay claims brought under federal law, but it is not a clear escape hatch for employers, say Thelma Akpan and Katelyn McCombs at Littler.

  • AI Isn't The Wild West, So Prepare Now For Bias Risks

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    In addition to President Joe Biden's recent historic executive order on safe, secure and trustworthy artificial intelligence, there are existing federal and state laws prohibiting fraud, defamation and even discrimination, so companies considering using or developing AI should take steps to minimize legal and business risks, says civil rights attorney Farhana Khera.

  • AI's Baked-In Bias: What To Watch Out For

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    The federal AI executive order is a direct acknowledgment of the perils of inherent bias in artificial intelligence systems, and highlights the need for legal professionals to thoroughly vet AI systems, including data and sources, algorithms and AI training methods, and more, say Jonathan Hummel and Jonathan Talcott at Ballard Spahr.

  • 'Miss Manners' Scenarios Holds Job Accommodation Lessons

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    Robin Shea at Constangy looks at the potentially negative legal consequences for employers who follow some advice recently given in the Washington Post's "Miss Manners" column, and offers solutions of her own.