Discrimination

  • November 19, 2024

    Detroit Casino Must Face Narrowed COVID Vax Bias Suit

    A Michigan federal judge refused to toss a religious bias suit from a worker who said the MGM Grand Detroit fired him for refusing to get a COVID-19 vaccination, ruling a jury should decide whether the casino could have accommodated his beliefs by letting him skip the jab.

  • November 19, 2024

    FDIC's Gruenberg To Exit On Eve Of Trump's Inauguration

    The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s embattled chairman, Martin Gruenberg, said Tuesday that he will step down and retire from the agency before President-elect Donald Trump takes office, clearing the way for a new, likely Republican leader at the deposit insurer.

  • November 19, 2024

    Law Firm Wants Out Of Ex-Paralegal's OT, Disability Suit

    An Allentown, Pennsylvania, law firm is asking a federal judge to dismiss a former paralegal's claim that the firm fired her due to her panic disorder, arguing that among other things, the paralegal failed to prove she has a legitimate disability recognized by law.

  • November 18, 2024

    Pol Says Ex-Staffer 'Indicated' Link To Chandra Levy's Killing

    A California state senator accused by her former chief of staff of sexual harassment fired back with a countersuit alleging he stole $50,000 from her campaign, abused drugs and "indicated" to her that he is responsible for the notorious unsolved homicide of Chandra Levy.

  • November 18, 2024

    Worker Urges High Court To Fix Rift In Axed Age Bias Suit

    A former Halliburton employee asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to overturn a Tenth Circuit order shuttering his age bias suit after finding he couldn't challenge an arbitration award because the case was voluntarily dismissed, arguing the ruling creates a "twilight zone" in the law.

  • November 18, 2024

    BCBS Wants New Trial After Worker's $12M Vax Suit Win

    Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan has urged a federal judge to expunge a $12.69 million jury award won by a former employee who claimed she was unlawfully fired because her religious beliefs forbade her from getting a COVID-19 vaccination, saying her evidence of discrimination wasn't up to snuff.

  • November 18, 2024

    General Mills Plant 'Haunted' By Racist Past, Workers Say

    A group of Georgia General Mills plant workers who said their workplace was run by a clique of neo-Confederate racists fought back Monday against the company's bid to toss the suit, arguing the plant remains "haunted" by a legacy of white supremacist leadership.

  • November 18, 2024

    BlackBerry Faces Uphill Fight To Nix Harassment Claims

    A California federal magistrate judge expressed doubts Monday about BlackBerry's latest bid to toss claims that its current CEO sexually harassed a former executive before he took the top job, saying she's unsure if she can decide at the pleading stage what constitutes "objectively severe" discrimination.

  • November 18, 2024

    Trump Co. Seeks Coverage Of Wage Theft, Discrimination Suit

    The Trump Corp. asked a New York federal court to force an insurer to defend it in a more than $500,000 wage theft and age discrimination dispute brought by a former employee of a company-managed luxury condo in Manhattan.

  • November 18, 2024

    Ex-UPS Driver's $238M Race Bias Verdict Slashed To $40M

    A Washington federal judge reduced a $237.6 million jury verdict in a Black former UPS driver's lawsuit claiming he was treated differently than his white colleagues and fired for speaking up, ruling the worker hadn't provided enough evidence to support jurors' $198 million punitive damages award.

  • November 18, 2024

    Amazon Worker Can't Add Retaliation Claim To December Trial

    A federal judge in Washington state has rejected a worker's eleventh-hour bid to amend his lawsuit accusing Amazon of passing him up for a promotion after he took protected military leave, saying the operations manager cannot "ambush" the e-commerce giant with fresh retaliation allegations just weeks before a trial in December.

  • November 18, 2024

    Diddy Accusers' Atty Buzbee Accused Of Extorting Celebs

    An anonymous public figure lodged a suit in Los Angeles court Monday accusing personal injury lawyer Tony Buzbee of using false rape allegations to "shake down innocent celebrities, politicians and businesspeople" who have even the smallest ties to indicted hip-hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs.

  • November 18, 2024

    EEOC Top Cop To Argue At 10th Circ. In 'Unusual' Move

    The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's general counsel is scheduled to make an uncommon courtroom appearance Tuesday when she ventures to the Tenth Circuit to argue that the U.S. Supreme Court's April decision in Muldrow v. St. Louis eases the path forward for workers bringing disability discrimination claims.

  • November 18, 2024

    Calif. Staffing Biz Settles Immigration Bias Claim With DOJ

    The U.S. Department of Justice said it reached an agreement to resolve claims that a California staffing company refused to accept a valid work authorization document from a woman seeking employment.

  • November 18, 2024

    3rd Circ. Shuts Down Healthcare Workers' Vax Bias Suit

    A split Third Circuit panel said a group of Christian workers can't revive suits claiming a healthcare provider illegally fired them for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine on religious grounds, finding they failed to show how their beliefs prevented them from getting immunized.

  • November 18, 2024

    High Court Turns Away Ex-Volvo Worker's Military Bias Suit

    The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to review a U.S. Army veteran's suit claiming Volvo fired her because of her military service and post-traumatic stress disorder, leaving in place a Seventh Circuit decision that refused to reinstate a $7.8 million jury verdict in her favor.

  • November 15, 2024

    Ye's Ex-Construction Manager Latest To Sue For Misconduct

    Ye has been hit with yet another employee lawsuit, this time from a former project manager alleging he was subjected to daily antisemitic tirades, forced to listen to the rapper have sex, and ultimately fired for refusing to start construction on a new Donda Academy building without permits.

  • November 15, 2024

    Texas Court OKs Peloton Atty's Suit Against Ex-Coworker

    A Texas appeals court won't toss a defamation suit accusing a former Peloton employee of falsely claiming to company executives and New Jersey police that she was bullied by her workplace acquaintance, an in-house attorney, after finding she can't avail herself of a state statute protecting citizens from retaliatory lawsuits.

  • November 15, 2024

    Colo. University To Pay $4.5M To Resolve Pay Bias Suit

    The University of Colorado Boulder has agreed to pay $4.5 million to resolve a proposed class action claiming hundreds of female faculty members were owed back pay after the school raised their salaries without making up for years of undercompensation, according to a state court filing.

  • November 15, 2024

    Trader Joe's Beats Fired Worker's Age Bias Suit At 1st Circ.

    The First Circuit upheld the dismissal of an 80-year-old Trader Joe's employee's suit claiming she was fired from the grocery chain out of age bias, ruling Friday that she failed to show that bias drove the company's call to terminate her after she admitted to buying beer for her underage grandson.

  • November 15, 2024

    GOP Sens. Decry 'Lack Of Urgency' On FDIC Misconduct

    Six Republican senators wrote a letter to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Inspector General Jennifer L. Fain asking for a briefing on the FDIC's progress investigating claims of widespread misconduct at the agency, asserting there has been "a shocking lack of urgency."

  • November 15, 2024

    Religious Orgs Back Fire Chief's High Court Bid In Bias Case

    Three religious groups urged the U.S. Supreme Court to take up a fire chief's suit claiming he was fired from a California city because of his Christian beliefs, arguing the Ninth Circuit opened a pathway for employers to discriminate based on religion when it backed the case's dismissal.

  • November 15, 2024

    DOD Worker's Suit Over Forced Breath Alcohol Test Proceeds

    The U.S. Department of Defense must face a school psychologist's lawsuit claiming his supervisor unlawfully forced him to take a breath alcohol test because of his history of alcoholism, with a D.C. federal judge rejecting the government's argument that the request didn't alter his employment conditions.

  • November 15, 2024

    MVP: McNicholas & McNicholas' Matthew McNicholas

    This past year, Matthew McNicholas of McNicholas & McNicholas LLP secured a trio of multimillion-dollar verdicts on behalf of police officers who alleged they were mistreated by their departments, earning him a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Employment MVPs.

  • November 15, 2024

    Former ADA Notches Bias Win Against Georgia Prosecutor

    A federal judge cast aside the "incredulous" defenses of a Georgia district attorney accused of denying a female attorney a promotion, finding her liable for sex discrimination after previously hitting the DA with a default order for her attempts to dodge being deposed.

Expert Analysis

  • The Key Changes In Revised FDIC Hiring Regulations

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    Attorneys at Ogletree break down the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s new rule, effective Oct. 1, that will ease restrictions on financial institutions hiring employees with criminal histories, amend the FDIC's treatment of minor offenses and clarify its stance on expunged or dismissed criminal records.

  • Employer Tips For PUMP Act Compliance As Law Turns 2

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    Enacted in December 2022, the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act requires employers to provide reasonable break time and a private space for employees to express breast milk, but some companies may still be struggling with how to comply, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • What To Know About Ill. Employment Law Changes

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    Illinois employers should review their policies in light of a number of recent changes to state employment law, including amendments to the state’s Human Rights Act and modifications to the Day and Temporary Labor Services Act, say attorneys at Kilpatrick.

  • Mich. Whistleblower Ruling Expands Retaliation Remedies

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    The Michigan Supreme Court's recent Occupational Health and Safety Act decision in Stegall v. Resource Technology is important because it increases the potential exposure for defendants in public policy retaliation cases, providing plaintiffs with additional claims, say Aaron Burrell and Timothy Howlett at Dickinson Wright.

  • How States Are Approaching AI Workplace Discrimination

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    As legislators across the U.S. have begun addressing algorithmic discrimination in the workplace, attorneys at Reed Smith provide an overview of the status, applicability and provisions of 13 state and local bills.

  • The Risks Of Employee Political Discourse On Social Media

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    As election season enters its final stretch and employees increasingly engage in political speech on social media, employers should beware the liability risks and consider policies that negotiate the line between employees' rights and the limits on those rights, say Bradford Kelley and James McGehee at Littler.

  • 7th Circ. Rulings Offer Employee Vaccine Exemption Guidance

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    Dawn Solowey and Samantha Brooks at Seyfarth explain how two recent Seventh Circuit rulings in Passarella v. Aspirus and Bube v. Aspirus could affect litigation involving employee vaccine exemptions, and discuss employer best practices for handling accommodation requests that include both religious and secular concerns.

  • Employers Should Not Neglect Paid Military Leave Compliance

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    An August decision from the Ninth Circuit and the settlement of a long-running class action, both examining paid leave requirements under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, are part of a nationwide trend that should prompt employers to review their military leave policies to avoid potential litigation and reputational damage, says Bradford Kelley at Littler.

  • Old Employment Law Principles Can Answer New AI Concerns

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    Despite growing legal and regulatory concerns about how artificial intelligence tools may affect employment decisions and worker rights, companies should take comfort in knowing that familiar principles of employment law and established compliance regimes can still largely address these new twists on old questions, say attorneys at Foley & Lardner.

  • NYC Wage Info Bill Highlights Rise In Pay Transparency Laws

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    With New York City the latest to mull requiring companies to annually report employee wage data, national employers should consider adapting their compliance practices to comply with increasingly common pay transparency and disclosure obligations at state and local levels, says Kelly Cardin at Littler Mendelson.

  • 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.