Discrimination

  • September 13, 2024

    Amazon Settles ADA Suit Over Prescription Pain Med Firing

    Amazon and a worker who said the company violated disability bias law by firing her after a drug test turned up hydrocodone, which she had been prescribed for her back, have struck a deal to end her case, according to an Indiana federal court filing.

  • September 13, 2024

    Ex-Manager Says Amazon Fired Her For Same-Sex Marriage

    A former regional safety manager hit Amazon Inc. with a federal discrimination lawsuit alleging she was undermined, unfairly criticized and ultimately pushed out of the online retailer's workforce after she disclosed that she was married to another woman.

  • September 13, 2024

    Mass. Justices Say Benefits Don't Accrue Under Leave Law

    Massachusetts' top court ruled Friday that the state's Paid Family and Medical Leave Act doesn't allow a group of state troopers to accrue certain benefits while on leave.

  • September 13, 2024

    EEOC Says Kids' Hospital Pulled Job Offer Over Egg Allergy

    A children's hospital in Atlanta violated federal disability bias law when it yanked back a job offer from an applicant whose allergy to eggs meant she needed a special flu vaccine, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said in a new lawsuit.

  • September 13, 2024

    4 UK Employment Law Developments To Watch In 2024

    A bill expected to bring in new rights for workers and unions is the main event in U.K. employment law in what's left of 2024 — but lawyers say that an upcoming law change on sexual harassment and major disputes could also shape employers' practices. Here, Law360 looks at what to keep an eye on for the rest of 2024.

  • September 13, 2024

    Ex-Fla. Law Prof's Retaliation Suit Moved North To Tallahassee

    A central Florida federal judge has transferred a retaliation and breach of contract case brought by a former law professor at Florida A&M University College of Law to another Florida federal district court, finding that the dispute's ties to the Tallahassee area overcame arguments for keeping the case in Orlando.

  • September 12, 2024

    Southwest Leave Penalty Suit Cleared For Class Treatment

    A California judge gave her blessing Thursday to a class action accusing Southwest Airlines Co. of penalizing flight attendants who take family or medical leave, letting the suit move ahead on behalf of thousands of workers.

  • September 12, 2024

    Ex-DHL Supply Worker Says Pregnancy Met With Hostility

    A former DHL Supply Chain worker's pregnancy led to hostility, not help, from supervisors who refused to accommodate her and made her work in an area called the cage before she eventually quit out of concern for her unborn child, she told a Pennsylvania federal court.

  • September 12, 2024

    White Cop Passed Over For Chief's Job Sees Bias Suit Tossed

    A New Jersey federal judge threw out a lawsuit from a white police officer who said he faced race discrimination when he was passed over for a chief's job in favor of a colleague who is Palestinian and Muslim, saying his allegations weren't adequate to sustain his bias claim.

  • September 12, 2024

    BNP Paribas Attempts To Prune London Banker's Claim

    BNP Paribas attempted to trim a manager's claim at a London employment tribunal on Thursday, arguing that the employee had taken a "kitchen sink approach" by adding excessive legal claims onto some of her allegations.

  • September 12, 2024

    Slater & Gordon Beats Former Analyst's Redundancy Appeal

    Slater & Gordon has defeated a cost analyst's appeal against the firm's decision to make him redundant, persuading a London judge on Thursday that a lower tribunal did not botch its investigation into the factors leading to his dismissal.

  • September 12, 2024

    EEOC Slaps 2 Companies With ADA Suits Over Firings

    A plastic packaging company unlawfully fired a worker who took time off to deal with depression, and a healthcare facilities support provider broke the law by terminating a blind worker, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said in a pair of new suits.

  • September 12, 2024

    Weinstein Hit With New Charges In NY Ahead Of Retrial

    Harvey Weinstein was charged in a new indictment Thursday as Manhattan prosecutors prepare to retry the disgraced Hollywood mogul after his previous sex-crimes conviction was overturned.

  • September 11, 2024

    Litigation Spending To Rise As Cases Grow More Aggressive

    A substantial number of large companies are expecting to increase their litigation spending by double digits next year in the face of more complex and hard-fought cases — and they are more open to bringing in new legal talent to navigate the matters, according to a report released Thursday. 

  • September 11, 2024

    Conn. Pizza Chain Sued By Ex-Operations Chief For Age Bias

    The former director of operations for Frank Pepe's, a Connecticut-based pizza chain, sued the company Tuesday in federal court for allegedly firing him because of his age, race and gender.

  • September 11, 2024

    Pest Control Company Wraps Up Fired Worker's PWFA Charge

    The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said Wednesday that a pest control company in Florida will cough up about $47,000 to settle allegations that it violated the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act by firing a worker who wanted to attend monthly medical appointments.

  • September 11, 2024

    Wayfair Beats Fired Worker's Disability Bias Suit At 3rd Circ.

    The Third Circuit refused Wednesday to revive a disability bias suit from a former Wayfair warehouse worker who said the furniture retailer violated New Jersey law when it fired him, backing a trial court's finding that he couldn't handle the essential functions of his job.

  • September 11, 2024

    2nd Circ. Reverses S. Korean Consulate Chauffeur's Wage Win

    The Second Circuit on Wednesday overturned a decision that allowed a chauffeur working for South Korea's foreign consulate in Manhattan to pursue his wage-and-hour claims against the organization, ruling that the lower court was too quick to decide that the consulate was not immune to the claims under the foreign sovereignty law.

  • September 11, 2024

    Kirkland Can't Shake Former Associate's Bias Suit

    A California federal judge has mostly rejected efforts by Kirkland & Ellis to pare down the discrimination suit of a former intellectual property associate, while also backing a prior order that prevented the firm from subpoenaing her former BigLaw employers for confidential personnel information.

  • September 11, 2024

    10th Circ. Backs Christian School Worker's Religious Bias Suit

    The Tenth Circuit revived religious discrimination claims from a former assistant principal who was fired after voicing concern about a school production of a play about the murder of a gay man, ruling that he provided enough circumstantial evidence to keep those allegations in court.

  • September 11, 2024

    Education Tech Co. Settles EEOC Pay Bias Probe

    Boxlight Inc. agreed to change its policies and have a third-party auditor examine its pay practices after a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission investigation found the education technology company willfully underpaid a female manager, the EEOC said.

  • September 11, 2024

    Phelps Dunbar Recruits 6 Litigators In Raleigh

    Phelps Dunbar LLP has hired six lawyers in Raleigh to serve the business and litigation needs of companies in North and South Carolina, adding strength in health care, construction, employment and intellectual property.

  • September 11, 2024

    Hotel Worker Can Bring Perimenopause Discrimination Claim

    A hotel manager was disabled by perimenopause, an employment tribunal has ruled in the latest claim for protection against workplace discrimination for menopausal women.

  • September 11, 2024

    MS Charity Liable For Not Assessing Risks To Pregnant Staffer

    A multiple sclerosis charity discriminated against a pregnant support officer by failing to run a pregnancy-specific risk assessment for her role, a tribunal has ruled.

  • September 11, 2024

    Healthcare Co. Denied Nurse Time For Surgery, EEOC Says

    A company that operates nursing and rehabilitation facilities failed to act when a nurse was sexually harassed by her supervisor, then told the employee to quit when she needed time off for surgery, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said in Illinois federal court.

Expert Analysis

  • Calif. FCRA Ruling Boosts Technical Claim Defense

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    The California Supreme Court's recent decision to let a state appeals court's Limon v. Circle K Store opinion stand will bolster Fair Credit Reporting Act defendants' ability to assert lack of standing against technical claims in cases where plaintiffs haven't suffered concrete harm, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • Water Cooler Talk: Quiet Quitting Insights From 'Seinfeld'

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    Tracey Diamond and Evan Gibbs at Troutman Pepper chat with Paradies Lagardere's Rebecca Silk about George Costanza's "quiet quitting" tendencies in "Seinfeld" and how such employees raise thorny productivity-monitoring issues for employers.

  • What The 3rd McD's Ruling Means For Claims Against Officers

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    The Delaware Chancery Court's third decision in the McDonald's stockholder litigation related to sexual harassment at the company indicates that plaintiff stockholders bringing Caremark claims against officers are not likely to be successful if the board acted properly, say attorneys at Fried Frank.

  • Pros And Cons As Calif. Employers Rethink Forced Arbitration

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    As California employers reconsider mandatory arbitration pacts following favorable high-profile federal and state court rulings, they should contemplate the benefits and burdens of such agreements, and fine-tune contract language to ensure continued enforcement, say Niki Lubrano and Brian Cole at CDF Labor Law.

  • Eye On Compliance: Cross-State Noncompete Agreements

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    The Federal Trade Commission's recent proposal to limit the application of worker noncompete agreements is a timely reminder for prudent employers to reexamine their current policies and practices around such covenants — especially businesses with operational footprints spanning more than one state, says Jeremy Stephenson at Wilson Elser.

  • A DOL Reminder That ADA Doesn't Limit FMLA Protections

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    A recent U.S. Department of Labor opinion letter and some case law make clear that the Family and Medical Leave Act fills in gaps where the Americans with Disabilities Act may not neatly apply, however the agency ignored a number of courts that have supported termination when "no overtime" restrictions effectively reduce a position to part-time, says Jeff Nowak at Littler Mendelson.

  • 5 Potential Perils Of Implementing Employee Sabbaticals

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    As companies try to retain employees with sabbatical benefits amid record-low unemployment rates, employers should be aware of several potential legal risks when considering policies to allow these leave periods, say Jesse Dill and Corissa Pennow at Ogletree.

  • 4 Ways To Reboot Your Firm's Stalled Diversity Program

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    Law firms that have failed to see real progress despite years of diversity initiatives can move forward by committing to tackle four often-taboo obstacles that hinder diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, says Steph Maher at Jaffe.

  • Everyrealm Case Spurs Big Workplace Arbitration Questions

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    If a New York federal judge's recent textualist ruling in Johnson v. Everyrealm denying arbitration of an entire employment lawsuit is appealed and upheld, it could set the stage for significant impairment of the enforcement of arbitration agreements, says Rex Berry at Signature Resolution.

  • A Worker's Guide To Fighting Discriminatory Layoffs

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    Recent mass layoffs have hit the tech industry particularly hard, and while a reduction in force can present hurdles for employees to vindicate their rights, it does not insulate employers from liability for discrimination, retaliation and other employment law violations, say attorneys at Sanford Heisler.

  • McDonald's Harassment Ruling And 'Mission-Critical Risk'

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    The Delaware Chancery Court's recent decision in the McDonald's case appears to have expanded the potential for Caremark liability beyond the parameters that many legal analysts had understood to apply, finding that maintaining workplace safety is a mission-critical risk for companies but also reinforcing the high bar for that liability, say attorneys at Fried Frank.

  • Memo Shows NLRB Intends To Protect Race Talk At Work

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    A newly released memo from the National Labor Relations Board advising that discussions of racism at work count as protected concerted activity should alert employers that worker retaliation claims may now face serious scrutiny not only from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, but also the NLRB, says Mark Fijman at Phelps Dunbar.

  • Evaluating Workplace Accommodations For Service Animals

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    In Bennett v. Hurley Medical Center, a Michigan federal court ruled in favor of the hospital after a nursing intern filed a disability discrimination lawsuit regarding her service dog, highlighting the importance of engaging in interactive processes and individualized actions in workplace accommodation decisions, say Keith Anderson and Anne Yuengert at Bradley Arant.