Discrimination

  • November 21, 2024

    Rebel Wilson Unlikely To Duck 'The Deb' Defamation Suit

    A Los Angeles judge suggested Thursday that he'll likely keep alive a defamation suit accusing actress Rebel Wilson of spreading baseless lies about producers of the musical film "The Deb," saying it seems the matter is a "private business dispute" not protected by California's anti-SLAPP statute.

  • November 21, 2024

    IBM Told Execs 'Discriminate Or Lose Your Job,' Worker Says

    IBM rewarded executives for meeting diversity goals and threatened them with punishment for failing to do so, essentially telling them to "discriminate or lose your job," a white male consultant who was terminated alleged in a suit filed in Michigan federal court on Wednesday.

  • November 21, 2024

    Suit Against Mortgage Co. Axed Despite Atty's Bad Faith Claim

    A Texas state court judge has dismissed for good an attorney's lawsuit against the mortgage company she formerly worked for in-house, despite a dispute over whether the matter should have ended with or without prejudice.

  • November 21, 2024

    Aluminum Co. Asks 7th Circ. To Toss HR Worker's Bias Suit

    A Wisconsin aluminum company urged the Seventh Circuit to uphold the dismissal of a human resource manager's suit claiming she was fired out of sex bias and for investigating a sexual harassment complaint, arguing that her repeated performance issues are what really got her canned.

  • November 21, 2024

    Delta Pay Range Suit To Wait For Wash. Justices' Clarity

    A suit claiming Delta Air Lines didn't include compensation information state law requires in job postings will be waiting for the Washington Supreme Court to determine what defines a job applicant, a Washington federal judge ruled.

  • November 20, 2024

    SkyWest Airlines Hit With $2M Verdict In EEOC Harassment Case

    A Texas jury found in favor of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Wednesday in a suit that saw SkyWest Airlines accused of sitting idle while an employee experienced persistent sexual harassment, awarding over $2 million in punitive damages for the workplace misconduct in federal court.

  • November 20, 2024

    Former Amazon Worker Says Flagging Bias Cost Him His Job

    An Amazon.com unit fired a Black, gay executive assistant for complaining that he was unfairly passed over for promotions and belittled by a hostile supervisor, according to a lawsuit filed in Atlanta federal court.

  • November 20, 2024

    Railroad Co. Beats Race Bias Suit Over Family Leave

    A freight railroad company defeated a Black former locomotive engineer's lawsuit claiming he was unlawfully fired for taking time off to care for his sick son, with an Illinois federal judge ruling Wednesday he was let go for repeated attendance policy violations, not his race.

  • November 20, 2024

    Ford Strikes Deal In Warehouse Worker's Sex Harassment Suit

    Ford inked a deal to end a former warehouse worker's suit claiming management stood by when she repeatedly complained that male colleagues touched her inappropriately on the job, according to a Tennessee federal court filing on Wednesday.

  • November 20, 2024

    NJ Court Must Revisit Assessor's Workplace Retaliation Claim

    A New Jersey trial court must revisit a municipal tax assessor's workplace retaliation claim as the case used by the court in its decision doesn't exempt assessors from the state's employee protection law, an appellate panel ruled Wednesday.

  • November 20, 2024

    EEOC, Financial Co. Strike Deal In Pandemic Telework Suit

    A Georgia payments company agreed to pay $65,000 and adopt new workplace policies to resolve a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lawsuit claiming it refused to let a diabetic employee work remotely during the pandemic, according to a federal court filing.

  • November 20, 2024

    NJ Gov. Hopeful Fired Aide To Boost Dem Cred, Suit Says

    A suit filed Wednesday in New Jersey federal court claims Jersey City Mayor Stephen Fulop fired an aide for supporting his Republican sister in an out-of-state race, in a bid by Fulop to bolster his progressive credentials as he prepares to run for New Jersey governor in 2025.

  • November 20, 2024

    Delta Fired Worker For Reporting Race Bias, Suit Says

    Delta Air Lines Inc. was sued Tuesday in Georgia federal court by a former Black employee who said he was given a verbal warning and then fired for reporting racial discrimination he and other Black workers faced in the workplace.

  • November 20, 2024

    Amazon Settles Military Leave Bias Suit Ahead Of Trial

    Amazon has settled an employee's suit claiming the online retail giant blocked him from promotions because he took leave to serve in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, prompting a Washington federal judge on Wednesday to halt a trial that was set to begin in the case next month.

  • November 20, 2024

    Wynn Seeks Slashed Verdict, Sanctions In Server's FMLA Suit

    Wynn Las Vegas urged a Nevada federal court to cut a server's $321,000 jury award and sanction her counsel in a suit alleging the casino interfered with her Family and Medical Leave Act rights, saying the award clashes with trial evidence and her counsel improperly made an eleventh-hour damages argument.

  • November 20, 2024

    US Chamber Backs Fla. City In ADA Retirement Benefits Suit

    The U.S. Chamber of Commerce urged the U.S. Supreme Court to back the Eleventh Circuit's determination that federal disability law doesn't protect former employees from post-employment bias, arguing a former Florida firefighter is trying to stretch the statute beyond what Congress intended.

  • November 20, 2024

    University Can't Escape Fired Black Worker's Retaliation Suit

    Fayetteville State University must face a Black worker's suit alleging she was fired after complaining that her white supervisor held animus toward Black employees, a North Carolina federal judge said, ruling that she put forward enough proof to show her complaints may have caused her dismissal.

  • November 19, 2024

    Personal Injury Atty Buzbee Accused Of Assault, Malpractice

    Tony Buzbee, a high-profile Texas personal injury lawyer known for representing women who have accused Sean "Diddy" Combs and Deshaun Watson of sexual abuse, was hit with a legal malpractice suit in New York state court Tuesday alleging that he assaulted a client seeking a divorce and deprived her of millions of dollars in settlement funds. 

  • November 19, 2024

    Ex-Fed Staffer Says Vax Bias, DEI Initiatives Got Him Sacked

    A former employee of the Federal Reserve Board sued the central bank's leadership alleging he faced discrimination as a straight, white man and "utter disdain" from his managers, and that he was ultimately fired days before his planned retirement after refusing coronavirus vaccination on religious grounds.

  • November 19, 2024

    EEOC Says SkyWest Left Harassment Questions 'Unasked'

    The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission told jurors Tuesday to "look at the questions" SkyWest Airlines didn't ask when an employee told the company she was experiencing persistent sexual harassment and that the company should've responded sooner.

  • November 19, 2024

    CSX Can't Escape FMLA Suit Over Attendance Policies

    CSX Transportation can't beat a proposed class action alleging certain attendance and pay policies unlawfully penalize engineers, conductors and switchmen who take medical leave, an Ohio federal judge ruled, saying a jury should sort out how comparable other types of absences are.

  • November 19, 2024

    Mercedes-Benz Escapes Muslim Ex-Worker's Prayer Bias Suit

    An Alabama federal judge tossed a Muslim worker's suit claiming Mercedes-Benz blocked him from praying outside his scheduled break times and thus prompted him to resign, finding Tuesday his case fell flat because he never faced any negative consequences after asking for a religious accommodation.

  • November 19, 2024

    Black Ex-VP Says UPS Gave Her Job To Less-Qualified Worker

    United Parcel Service had a Black vice president show a less-qualified white co-worker the ropes, then handed the vice president role to the white worker and told the more seasoned employee she was no longer needed, according to a new lawsuit filed in Georgia federal court.

  • November 19, 2024

    10th Circ. Says 'Troubling' Incidents Not Enough In Bias Case

    The Tenth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a Nigerian pharmacist's suit claiming she was harassed and fired from a Kansas state hospital over her race and national origin, ruling Tuesday that the unpleasant workplace interactions she cited, though "troubling," weren't bad enough to sustain her case.

  • November 19, 2024

    Raytheon Must Face Former Engineer's Age Bias Suit

    Defense contractor Raytheon can't escape a former engineer's age discrimination suit claiming he was unjustly fired after he tapped a male colleague on the backside with a cafeteria tray, with a Texas federal judge saying Tuesday he wasn't convinced factual disputes in the case had been resolved.

Expert Analysis

  • Workday AI Bias Suit Suggests Hiring Lessons For Employers

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    As state laws and a federal agency increasingly focus on employment bias introduced by artificial intelligence systems, a California federal court's recent decision to allow a discrimination suit to proceed against Workday's AI-driven recruitment software, shows companies should promptly assess these tools' risks, say attorneys at Williams & Connolly.

  • How Anti-DEI Bill Could Affect Employers' Diversity Efforts

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    Sen. J.D. Vance's recently introduced Dismantle DEI Act would substantially limit employers’ ability to implement and promote workplace diversity, equity and inclusion, but there are still steps employers can take to support a diverse workforce, says Peter Ennis at Cozen O’Connor.

  • US Labor And Employment Law Holds Some Harsh Trade-Offs

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    U.S. labor and employment laws have evolved into a product of exposure-capping compromise, which merits discussion in a presidential election year when the dialogue has focused on purported protections of middle-class workers, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Water Cooler Talk: Immigration Insights From 'The Proposal'

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    Tracey Diamond and Evan Gibbs at Troutman Pepper chat with their colleague Robert Lee about how immigration challenges highlighted in the romantic comedy "The Proposal" — beyond a few farcical plot contrivances — relate to real-world visa processes and employer compliance.

  • Employers Face Uncertainty After Calif. Justices' Slur Ruling

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    In Bailey v. San Francisco District Attorney's Office, the California Supreme Court recently ruled that a singular use of a racial slur may be sufficiently severe to support a hostile work environment claim, leaving employers to speculate about what sort of comments or conduct will meet this new standard going forward, says Stephanie Roeser at Manatt.

  • 9th Circ. Ruling Flags Work Harassment Risks Of Social Media

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    The recent Ninth Circuit ruling in Okonowsky v. Garland, holding an employer could be liable for a co-worker's harassing social media posts, highlights new challenges in technology-centered and remote workplaces, and underscores an employer's obligation to prevent hostile environments wherever their employees clock in, say Jennifer Lada and Phillip Schreiber at Holland & Knight.

  • Eye On Compliance: NY's New Freelance Protection Law

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    New York's Freelance Isn't Free Act is set to take effect later this month, meaning employers must be proactive in ensuring compliance and take steps to mitigate risks, such as updating documentation and specifying correct worker classification, says Jonathan Meer at Wilson Elser.

  • 3 Notes For Arbitration Agreements After Calif. Ruling

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    After last month's California Supreme Court decision in Ramirez v. Charter Communications invalidated several arbitration clauses in the company's employee contracts as unconscionable, companies should ensure their own arbitration agreements steer clear of three major pitfalls identified by the court, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • Eye On Compliance: New Pregnancy And Nursing Protections

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    With New York rolling out paid lactation breaks and extra leave for prenatal care, and recent federal legislative developments enhancing protection for pregnant and nursing workers, employers required to offer these complex new accommodations should take several steps to mitigate their compliance risks, says Madjeen Garcon-Bonneau at Wilson Elser.

  • How Calif. Ruling Alters Worker Arb. Agreement Enforcement

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    The California Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Ramirez v. Charter Communications should caution employers that while workers’ arbitration agreements will no longer be deemed unenforceable based on their number of unconscionable provisions, they must still be fair and balanced, says Sander van der Heide at CDF Labor.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: July Lessons

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    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy considers cases touching on pre- and post-conviction detainment conditions, communications with class representatives, when the American Pipe tolling doctrine stops applying to modified classes, and more.

  • How To Comply With Chicago's New Paid Leave Ordinance

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    Chicago's new Paid Leave and Paid Sick and Safe Leave Ordinance went into effect earlier this month, so employers subject to the new rules should update leave policies, train supervisors and deliver notice as they seek compliance, say Alison Crane and Sarah Gasperini at Jackson Lewis.

  • Big Business May Come To Rue The Post-Administrative State

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    Many have framed the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decisions overturning Chevron deference and extending the window to challenge regulations as big wins for big business, but sand in the gears of agency rulemaking may be a double-edged sword, creating prolonged uncertainty that impedes businesses’ ability to plan for the future, says Todd Baker at Columbia University.