Discrimination

  • July 19, 2024

    9th Circ. Calls Out Wash. AG's Paradox In Christian Charity Suit

    Ninth Circuit judges said Friday that Washington state "wants it both ways" in a Christian nonprofit's case over an antidiscrimination law, with the attorney general arguing that there's no credible enforcement threat to substantiate the suit's filing while also stopping short of pledging that the state won't pursue a case against the organization.

  • July 19, 2024

    3rd Circ. Reverses Court on 90-Day EEOC Clock Ruling

    The Third Circuit has revived a New Jersey state employee's sex harassment lawsuit against her employer, finding that a lower court incorrectly calculated when the 90-day clock for her to file suit started after her attorney learned the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission would not pursue her claim.

  • July 19, 2024

    NFL Antitrust Verdict, WWE Chair Woes Define 2024's 1st Half

    The first half of 2024 saw bombshell allegations and yearslong litigation lurching forward, highlighted by the shocking lawsuit accusing the founder of WWE of horrific sexual conduct, an iconic magazine almost shuttering and two NFL cases reaching significant milestones.

  • July 19, 2024

    US Chess Tolerates Human Trafficking, Champion Claims

    The U.S. Chess Federation provides an arena for human trafficking and retaliated against a whistleblower who reported alleged sexual abuse, a two-time national champion claims in a lawsuit filed in New Jersey state court.

  • July 19, 2024

    Law Profs Throw Flag On NFL's 'Unconscionable' Arbitration

    Allowing the NFL's arbitration system, with commissioner Roger Goodell as the arbitrator, to prevail in Brian Flores' discrimination dispute with the league is "unconscionable" and "egregious," a dozen law professors have told the Second Circuit in an amicus brief supporting the former Miami Dolphins head coach.

  • July 19, 2024

    Hanes Fired Remote Worker Over COVID Vax Refusal, Suit Says

    A former Hanes employee brought a discrimination suit against the clothing company Friday, claiming he was fired after the employer refused to provide religious accommodations regarding its COVID-19 vaccine mandate despite his work-from-home status.

  • July 19, 2024

    Atlanta Strikes Deal To End Ex-Worker's Retaliation Suit

    The city of Atlanta has reached a deal with its former immigrant affairs director to resolve her lawsuit alleging she was fired after blowing the whistle on failures in the city's immigrant outreach services, according to a filing in Georgia federal court.

  • July 19, 2024

    EEOC, Walmart Ink $75K Deal To End ADA Suit

    Walmart will pay $75,000 to end a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lawsuit alleging the retail giant fired a distribution center worker because she couldn't get a doctor's approval to work without restrictions, according to a filing Friday in North Carolina federal court.

  • July 19, 2024

    6th Circ. Rejects Teacher's Bid To Revive Retaliation Suit

    The Sixth Circuit refused to reopen a substitute teacher's lawsuit alleging a Tennessee school district placed her under undue scrutiny because she complained about age discrimination, saying she failed to show administrators knew about her U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission charges.

  • July 19, 2024

    Ex-Bronco Linebacker Sues NFL Over Denied THC Exemption

    A former linebacker for the Denver Broncos is suing the team and the National Football League, alleging they're violating the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act by denying him an exemption to use synthetic THC to treat his disabilities.

  • July 19, 2024

    Right-Wing Policy Plans Would Defang Civil Rights Watchdogs

    Project 2025, a prominent conservative organization's playbook for a potential incoming Republican administration, proposes drastically scaling back federal civil rights agencies' ability to enforce workplace antidiscrimination laws.

  • July 19, 2024

    Contractor, EEOC Settle Trans Worker Harassment Probe

    A California-based contractor that works on sprinkler systems reached a deal to resolve a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission investigation that found reasonable cause to believe the employer caused a transgender worker to quit by allowing him to be verbally and physically harassed.

  • July 19, 2024

    Amazon Fired Worker On Maternity Leave, Bias Suit Says

    An Amazon warehouse worker said the company violated the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act by firing her two days before she was to return from maternity leave after she requested an extension based on her doctor's recommendation, according to her suit filed in Illinois federal court.

  • July 19, 2024

    Calif. Forecast: $5M Nurses Wage Deal Up For Approval

    In the coming week, attorneys should keep an eye out for the potential final approval of a $5 million deal to end a class action against a nurse staffing agency. Here's a look at that case and other labor and employment matters coming up in California.

  • July 19, 2024

    DC Denied Sanctions Over Late Discovery In Age Bias Suit

    A federal court rejected the District of Columbia's request that it punish a city employee for overdue responses to discovery requests made in her suit alleging she was sidelined because she's over 50, saying the city hadn't taken the proper steps before asking for the court's assistance.

  • July 19, 2024

    Rising Star: Jackson Lewis' Douglas J. Klein

    Douglas J. Klein of Jackson Lewis PC has defended employers against class and collective actions, including federal court cases involving a "naked" class waiver at Insomnia Cookies and wage-and-hour claims against New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority, earning him a spot among employment law practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

  • July 19, 2024

    NY Forecast: NLRB Injunction Bid Against Starbucks Resumes

    A status conference is scheduled this week in the National Labor Relations Board's recently revived suit seeking an injunction barring Starbucks from violating federal labor law at stores across the country.

  • July 18, 2024

    Insults Fly As Attys Beef Over Ex-NFL Player's Sex Abuse Suit

    Attorneys for an ex-NFL player and the former controller for his reptile shipping company accused each other of stonewalling, dishonesty and running up litigation costs at a hearing Thursday, where a Colorado state judge largely ignored the lawyers' "speeches" and urged them to confer more meaningfully.

  • July 18, 2024

    Worker, Biz Groups Clash On Proposed AI Rules In California

    Worker advocates urged the California Civil Rights Council Thursday to "future-proof" its proposed regulations on the use of artificial intelligence tools in employment, while the state's chamber of commerce opposed what it reads as language "creating essentially a new type of discrimination claim."

  • July 18, 2024

    Florida Urges 11th Circ. To Allow Gender Law Despite Appeal

    Florida officials have urged the Eleventh Circuit to immediately allow enforcement of a law restricting gender-affirming treatment for transgender minors and adults despite an appeal, saying that a lower court wrongly determined the law was discriminatory and that patients will be harmed if "life-altering" medical procedures are not outlawed.

  • July 18, 2024

    9th Circ. Revives Fired Doctor's COVID Vax Religious Bias Suit

    The Ninth Circuit revived a doctor's claims that Washington State University failed to accommodate his religious beliefs when it fired him from his residency for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine, ruling Thursday that U.S. Supreme Court precedent necessitates another look at his case.

  • July 18, 2024

    Ex-Seattle Port Police Chief Seeks Up To $20M In Firing Trial

    The Port of Seattle's former police chief told a Washington state jury on Thursday that $14 million to $20 million from his former employer would be a "reasonable range" of damages for robbing him of his law enforcement career as punishment for complaining about unfairness in workplace misconduct investigations.

  • July 18, 2024

    Nurse Fired For Refusing Transgender Surgery, Bias Suit Says

    A traveling nurse was illegally fired from her post with a healthcare system, and then subsequently blacklisted from future positions, after she refused to assist on a gender-affirming surgery because it contradicted her Christian beliefs, according to a Texas federal court suit.

  • July 18, 2024

    Ga. County Escapes Jailer Discrimination Suit

    Troup County, Georgia, beat a retaliation and discrimination suit lodged by a former jail officer who had accused the county of allowing a chief deputy sheriff to allude to her being owned by someone in a slavery reference, according to a finding in federal court Wednesday.

  • July 18, 2024

    6th Circ. Is No Help To CSX Worker Fired For Train Death Post

    The Sixth Circuit ruled Thursday that a former CSX Transporation Inc. engineer waited too long to try to revive his wrongful termination suit stemming from his firing over an online post he made about a fatal train accident.  

Expert Analysis

  • Where Justices Stand On Chevron Doctrine Post-Argument

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    Following recent oral argument at the U.S. Supreme Court, at least four justices appear to be in favor of overturning the long-standing Chevron deference, and three justices seem ready to uphold it, which means the ultimate decision may rest on Chief Justice John Roberts' vote, say Wayne D'Angelo and Zachary Lee at Kelley Drye.

  • A Focused Statement Can Ease Employment Mediation

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    Given the widespread use of mediation in employment cases, attorneys should take steps to craft mediation statements that efficiently assist the mediator by focusing on key issues, strengths and weaknesses of a claim, which can flag key disputes and barriers to a settlement, says Darren Rumack at Klein & Cardali.

  • Vaccine Accommodation Suits Show Risk Of Blanket Policies

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    A recent federal class action alleging Tyson Foods inappropriately applied a one-size-fits-all response to Arkansas employees seeking religious COVID-19 vaccine exemptions, with similar suits going back to 2022, should remind employers to individually consider every worker request for a religious accommodation, say Christopher Pardo and Elizabeth Sherwood at Hunton.

  • Workplace Challenges Amid Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

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    Recent tension over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has caused challenges in the employment sphere, sparking the question of whether employees can be legally disciplined for speaking out on issues related to the conflict, which depends on various circumstances, says Alok Nadig at Sanford Heisler.

  • Water Cooler Talk: Insights On Noncompetes From 'The Office'

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    Troutman Pepper’s Tracey Diamond, Evan Gibbs, Constance Brewster and Jim Earle compare scenarios from “The Office” to the complex world of noncompetes and associated tax issues, as employers are becoming increasingly hesitant to look to noncompete provisions amid a potential federal ban.

  • High Court's Job Bias Questions May Predict Title VII Ruling

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    Employers may be able to predict — and prepare for — important changes to workplace discrimination laws by examining the questions the U.S. Supreme Court asked during oral arguments for Muldrow v. St. Louis, where several justices seemed to favor a low threshold for Title VII suits, says Wendy LaManque at Pryor Cashman.

  • 2 Cases Highlight NJ Cannabis Employment Law Uncertainties

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    More than two years after its enactment, the employee protections and employer obligations in New Jersey's Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance and Marketplace Modernization Act remain unsettled, and two recent lawsuits draw attention to the law's enforceability and its intersection with federal law, say Ruth Rauls at Saul Ewing and David White at Seton Hall.

  • 3 Compliance Reminders For Calif. Employers In 2024

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    As we enter into the new year, several recent updates to California employment law — including minimum wage and sick leave requirements — necessitate immediate compliance actions for employers, says Daniel Pyne at Hopkins & Carley.

  • Sex Harassment Arbitration Exemption: Devil Is In The Date

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    A Federal Arbitration Act amendment that exempts workplace sexual harassment claims from arbitration is muddled in ongoing confusion about its chronological reach — and as many such cases begin to run up against applicable statutes of limitations, the clock is ticking for claimants to bring their actions in court, says Abe Melamed at Signature Resolution.

  • Top 10 Employer Resolutions For 2024

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    From technological leaps to sea changes in labor policy to literal sea changes, 2024 provides opportunities for employers to face big-picture questions that will shape their business for years to come, say Allegra Lawrence-Hardy and Lisa Haldar at Lawrence & Bundy.

  • Lessons Learned From 2023's Top FMLA Decisions

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    This year’s most significant Family and Medical Leave Act decisions offer lessons on the act's technical requirements, including the definition of serious health condition, compliance with notice requirements and whether it is permissible to give an employee substantial extra work upon their return from leave, says Linda Dwoskin at Dechert.

  • Artificial Intelligence Is In Need Of Regulation — But How?

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    Since most of the artificial intelligence-related laws in 2023 were part of more extensive consumer privacy law, the U.S. still has a lot of work to do to build consensus on how to oversee AI, and even who should do the regulating, before moving forward on specific and reasonable guidelines as AI's capabilities grow, say Nick Toufexis and Paul Saputo at Saputo Toufexis.

  • Lessons Learned From 2023's Top ADA Decisions

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    This year saw the courts delving into the complexities of employee accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act in the post-pandemic workplace, going beyond bright-line rules with fact-intensive inquiries that are likely to create uncertainty for employers, says Linda Dwoskin at Dechert.