Discrimination

  • October 18, 2024

    Steptoe & Johnson Lands Clark Hill Employment Duo In Texas

    Steptoe & Johnson PLLC has grown its labor and employment offerings in Texas with the addition of two attorneys from Clark Hill PLC.

  • October 18, 2024

    Nev. Construction Co. Settles EEOC Disability Bias Probe

    A Nevada construction company will pay $56,000 after a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission investigation discovered reasonable cause to believe it fired a worker after she asked for accommodation because of her disability, the agency said. 

  • October 18, 2024

    Atty Sanctioned For 'Indifference' In Tastykake Co. Bias Suit

    An attorney's "indifference" to court orders and deadlines in a Black Muslim worker's wage and discrimination suit against the maker of Tastykake warrants $30,000 in sanctions, a Pennsylvania federal judge ruled, warning that more serious consequences might come.

  • October 17, 2024

    Ex-CEO Of Credit Union Blames Accounting Firm For Firing

    The dismissed chief executive officer of a Connecticut credit union is suing the financial institution and Whittlesey PC, its accounting firm, claiming he was fired after following advice from the largest CPA group in the state on when to calendar a $1.2 million gain connected to a property sale.

  • October 17, 2024

    7th Circ. Won't Give Injured Prof Another Shot At ADA Suit

    The Seventh Circuit backed the dismissal Thursday of a professor's suit claiming she was denied tenure out of disability bias after she suffered a traumatic brain injury, ruling there's no evidence bias influenced the denial and her request for a "do-over" wasn't a reasonable accommodation.

  • October 17, 2024

    Texas County Can't Get Early Win In Atty's Leave Request Suit

    Harris County, Texas, cannot snag a pretrial win in an attorney's Americans with Disabilities Act suit, a federal judge ruled Thursday, keeping alive claims that the county failed to accommodate the attorney's leave requests.

  • October 17, 2024

    Man Says He Was Forced From Security Job For Being 'Too Old'

    Food, janitorial and security service provider Blackstone Consulting Inc. has been sued in Georgia federal court by a former employee who alleges the company engaged in a "relentless campaign of age-based harassment and disparate treatment" against him before demoting him, significantly decreasing his pay and effectively forcing him to resign.

  • October 17, 2024

    DHL Supply Chain Hit With Disability Bias Suit

    Logistics giant DHL Supply Chain was hit with a disability discrimination lawsuit Wednesday from a worker who says she was forced out of her job after DHL demanded she see a company physician to verify her debilitating medical condition.

  • October 17, 2024

    Ex-Worker Says She Was Fired For Threatening EEOC Charge

    A logistics company was sued Wednesday in federal court by a former Georgia employee who alleges she was sexually harassed and mistreated by "aggressive and threatening" male co-workers and then fired after warning the company she would file a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission if things didn't improve.

  • October 17, 2024

    Ex-Genzyme Exec Says Anxiety Disclosure Led To Firing

    A former marketing director for Sanofi subsidiary Genzyme says he was fired on a pretext after disclosing that he suffers from anxiety, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Massachusetts state court.

  • October 17, 2024

    Disney Can't Get Quick Appeal In Actor's Political Firing Suit

    A California federal judge refused to sign off on Walt Disney Co.'s bid to immediately challenge a decision that kept a suit alive from a former Star Wars actor who said she was fired for expressing her political views, saying an appeal to the Ninth Circuit would be premature.

  • October 17, 2024

    EEOC Gets Judge To Revive Race Bias Suit He Tossed In June

    A Wisconsin federal judge said Thursday that he jumped the gun and overlooked Seventh Circuit precedent when he dismissed a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission race bias suit, reinstating the EEOC's claims that a plastics company failed to step in while a Black worker faced harassment.

  • October 17, 2024

    Ex-Defender Returns To 4th Circ. With Sex Bias Case

    A former North Carolina public defender appealed her bias case against the judiciary to the Fourth Circuit for a second time after a North Carolina federal judge refused to reconsider his ruling that she did not provide adequate notice to her ex-employer before filing suit.

  • October 17, 2024

    Jackson Lewis Adds Litigator From Los Angeles Boutique

    Jackson Lewis PC has bolstered its litigation offerings with a principal in Los Angeles who came aboard from trial and appellate boutique Carpenter Rothans & Dumont LLP.

  • October 17, 2024

    Arbitration Limits Cover Anti-LGBT Harassment, EEOC Says

    A two-year-old law barring mandatory arbitration of sex harassment claims extends to harassment that targets sexual orientation or gender identity, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said, urging the Third Circuit to back a ruling keeping a former nursing assistant's suit in court.

  • October 17, 2024

    EEOC Gets Deal In Retaliation Suit Over Pregnancy Bias Claim

    A North Carolina movie theater will pay $137,000 to resolve a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lawsuit alleging it refused to rehire a bartender because she'd complained to the agency that she was fired because she was pregnant, according to a federal court filing.

  • October 17, 2024

    Texas Sues Doctor For Providing Kids Gender-Affirming Care

    The state of Texas sued a pediatrician Thursday, alleging she broke state law by providing gender-affirming care to children. 

  • October 16, 2024

    Garth Brooks Says Rape Accuser Already Revealed Herself

    Country music star Garth Brooks on Wednesday urged a Mississippi federal court to reject a hair and makeup artist's request that he be sanctioned for publicly revealing her identity out of spite after she accused him of rape, arguing that she already agreed to use her name in the litigation.

  • October 16, 2024

    Rail Agency Fired Vax Objectors In 'Sham Process,' Jury Told

    Counsel for six fired San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District workers delivered opening statements Wednesday in a new trial over allegations BART discriminated against employees who sought religious exemptions from its COVID-19 vaccination mandate, calling the agency's review of their requests a "sham process."

  • October 16, 2024

    Ex-Davis Polk Atty Drops Appeal Of Bias Verdict Loss

    A former Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP associate on Tuesday dropped his appeal of a jury verdict clearing the firm and two lawyers of liability in a suit alleging he was fired in retaliation for airing concerns about racial bias and diversity.

  • October 16, 2024

    Religious Groups Target EEOC Regs On Abortion, IVF

    Two Christian organizations are challenging regulations and guidance from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and another federal agency over using workers' chosen pronouns and offering health plans that cover abortion services and IVF treatments, according to a lawsuit filed in Texas federal court.

  • October 16, 2024

    Ex-Atlanta IT Worker Sues City For Wrongful Firing, Race Bias

    A Black woman who previously served as a senior-level director in the city of Atlanta's information management department has filed suit against the city in Georgia federal court, alleging she was fired after months of raising internal complaints of discrimination within the department.

  • October 16, 2024

    Nerds, Laffy Taffy Maker Hit With Genetic Info Privacy Claims

    The Illinois-based company behind popular candies such as Nerds, Laffy Taffy and SweeTarts probes job applicants' medical histories in violation of their genetic information privacy rights, according to a proposed class lawsuit filed Tuesday in Illinois state court.

  • October 16, 2024

    Award Rightly Reinstates Worker In Pot Test Spat, Judge Says

    An arbitration board correctly ordered an Alaska Airlines mechanic's reinstatement after he was fired following a positive test for marijuana, a Washington federal judge concluded, upholding the arbitration panel's view of the just cause provision in the labor contract between the airline and the worker's union.

  • October 16, 2024

    Record Labels Seek Sanctions For Claim They Aided Combs

    Music companies on Wednesday urged a Manhattan federal judge to sanction an attorney for pursuing what they called "outrageous" claims that they supported Sean "Diddy" Combs' sex- and drug-fueled "freak offs."

Expert Analysis

  • AI In Performance Management: Mitigating Employer Risk

    Author Photo

    Companies are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence tools in performance management, exposing organizations to significant risks, which they can manage through employee training, bias assessments, and comprehensive policies and procedures related to the new technology, say Gregory Brown and Cindy Huang at Jackson Lewis.

  • Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents

    Author Photo

    Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.

  • What 2 Years Of Ukraine-Russia Conflict Can Teach Cos.

    Author Photo

    A few key legal lessons for the global business community since Russia's invasion of Ukraine could help protect global commerce in times of future conflict, including how to respond to disparate trade restrictions and sanctions, navigate war-related contract disputes, and protect against heightened cybersecurity risks, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • EEOC Case Reminds That Men Can Also Claim Pay Bias

    Author Photo

    The Maryland State Highway Administration recently settled U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claims that a male employee was paid less than his female colleagues, highlighting why employers should not focus on a particular protected class when it comes to assessing pay bias risk, say Barbara Grandjean and Audrey Merkel at Husch Blackwell.

  • Shaping Speech Policies After NLRB's BLM Protest Ruling

    Author Photo

    After the National Labor Relations Board decided last month that a Home Depot employee was protected by federal labor law when they wore a Black Lives Matter slogan on their apron, employers should consider four questions in order to mitigate legal risks associated with workplace political speech policies, say Louis Cannon and Cassandra Horton at Baker Donelson.

  • Avoiding Jurisdictional Risks From Execs' Remote Work

    Author Photo

    Following a California federal court's recent decision in Evans v. Cardlytics — where the case was remanded to state court because the company’s executives worked remotely in California — there are several steps employers can take to ensure they will not be exposed to unfavored jurisdictions, says Eric Fox at Quarles & Brady.

  • 11th Circ. FMLA Ruling Deepens Divide Over Causation

    Author Photo

    The Eleventh Circuit's recent ruling in Lapham v. Walgreen distinguishes the circuit as the loudest advocate for the but-for causation standard for assessing Family and Medical Leave Act retaliation claims, though employers in other jurisdictions may encounter less favorable standards and the U.S. Supreme Court will likely have to address the circuit split eventually, say attorneys at Benesch.

  • Handling Neurodivergence As The Basis Of Disability Claims

    Author Photo

    Three recent discrimination claims in Rhode Island and New Jersey show how allegations of adverse treatment of neurodivergent individuals will continue to be tested in court, so employers should create an environment that welcomes the disclosure of such conditions, says Ting Cheung at Sanford Heisler.

  • Employers Should Take Surgeon's Sex Bias Suit As A Warning

    Author Photo

    A Philadelphia federal jury's recent verdict in a sex bias suit over Thomas Jefferson University's inaction on a male plaintiff's sexual harassment complaint is a reminder to employers of all stripes about the importance of consistently applied protocols for handling complaints, say attorneys at Williams & Connolly.

  • Eye On Compliance: Workplace March Madness Pools

    Author Photo

    With March Madness set to begin in a few weeks, employers should recognize that workplace sports betting is technically illegal, keeping federal and state gambling laws in mind when determining whether they will permit ever-popular bracket pools, says Laura Stutz at Wilson Elser.

  • Generative AI Adds Risk To Employee 'Self-Help' Discovery

    Author Photo

    Plaintiffs have long engaged in their own evidence gathering for claims against current or former employers, but as more companies implement generative AI tools, both the potential scope and the potential risks of such "self-help" discovery are rising quickly, says Nick Peterson at Wiley.

  • Handbook Hot Topics: Workplace AI Risks

    Author Photo

    As generative artificial intelligence tools penetrate workplaces, employers should incorporate sound AI policies and procedures in their handbooks in order to mitigate liability risks, maintain control of the technology, and protect their brands, says Laura Corvo at White and Williams.

  • Employer Pointers As Wage And Hour AI Risks Emerge

    Author Photo

    Following the Biden administration's executive order on artificial intelligence, employers using or considering artificial intelligence tools should carefully assess whether such use could increase their exposure to liability under federal and state wage and hour laws, and be wary of algorithmic discrimination, bias and inaccurate or incomplete reporting, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.