Employment

February 14, 2025
Employment Authority: Inside Trump's EEOC Shake Up

Law360 Employment Authority covers the biggest employment cases and trends. Catch up this week with coverage on how litigation priorities have already changed at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission under President Donald Trump's second term, how federal-sector unions are fighting the new administration's efforts to reduce the government's workforce, and where the Federal Arbitration Act stands as its clears its 100th birthday.
February 14, 2025
Diddy, Jay-Z Rape Lawsuit Dropped Amid Legal Ethics Battle

An anonymous woman dropped her New York federal court lawsuit accusing Sean "Diddy" Combs and Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter of raping a teenager together, claims that launched a bitter ethics feud between personal injury attorney Tony Buzbee and Jay-Z's lawyers at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP.
February 14, 2025
SEC Can't Nix Black Female Branch Chief's Race Bias Claim

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission must face discrimination and retaliation claims by a Black female supervisor who alleged she was removed from her position after filing workplace complaints, after a D.C. federal judge on Thursday ruled the plaintiff identified other similarly situated managers who remained in their jobs despite documented misconduct.
February 14, 2025
Insurer Can Proceed With Miami Retaliation Coverage Dispute

A Florida federal court partially rejected on Friday a magistrate judge's dismissal recommendations in a dispute between the city of Miami and an insurer over coverage for underlying lawsuits that allege political retaliation, allowing the parties to litigate the insurer's potential duty to defend.
February 14, 2025
House Dems Question Rationale For OSHA Guidance Purge

Democratic members of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce demanded that the U.S. Department of Labor provide details about why certain worker safety documents were removed from the federal government's website, saying some information seems to have been arbitrarily removed because it referenced "diversity" or "gender."
February 14, 2025
Judge Needs Time To Mull Block On DOGE's Agency Audits

A Washington, D.C., federal judge said he plans to rule "promptly" on a request by worker and consumer advocates to stop the Department of Government Efficiency from accessing three federal agencies' data but couldn't say when following a wide-ranging hearing on the bid.
February 14, 2025
Judge Rejects NLRB Bid To Reopen Post-Gazette Union Talks

The publisher of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette will not be forced to return to bargaining with several unions representing its striking print production employees, after a federal judge ruled that the National Labor Relations Board had not convinced her that the publisher had bargained in bad faith.
February 14, 2025
4th Circ. Rejects IRS Worker's Discrimination Claims

A Maryland federal court was right to reject claims by a Vietnam-born Internal Revenue Service employee who said she was discriminated against when managers disciplined her for insubordination, the Fourth Circuit ruled Friday, saying she failed to prove other employees were treated differently.
February 14, 2025
DC Judge Orders Feds To Restore Foreign Funding

A D.C. federal judge ordered the Trump administration to restore foreign funding in connection with any grants or programs in place before the inauguration, saying aid organizations have made a sufficient showing that the pause threatens their very existence.
February 14, 2025
Off The Bench: Trans EO, Cards Arbitration, NASCAR Revs Up

In this week's Off The Bench, litigation begins over President Donald Trump's executive order banning transgender individuals from competing in women's sports, a former Arizona Cardinals executive's defamation suit against the team is shuffled to arbitration, and NASCAR asks an appeals panel to reverse wins handed to two teams in their antitrust suit.
February 14, 2025
Construction Groups, DOL Want Pause In DBA Rule Fight

A challenge to the U.S. Department of Labor's final rule updating the math for Davis-Bacon Act prevailing wages needs to be paused while the department's top brass catches up on the litigation, the DOL and the groups suing told a Texas federal court Friday.
February 14, 2025
Tenn. Baseball Player Denied Early Waiver From NCAA Rules

A Tennessee federal judge has rejected an early request from a college baseball player to override NCAA eligibility rules so he can play for the University of Tennessee before the season starts on Friday.
February 14, 2025
Defunct Media Co. Agrees To Resolve WARN Act Class Action

Former digital media startup The Messenger has struck a deal to end a class action alleging it failed to give hundreds of workers enough notice about its impending layoffs and shutdown, the company told a New York federal court.
February 14, 2025
7th Circ. Says Ex-AbbVie Worker Filed Race Bias Suit Too Late

The Seventh Circuit refused to reopen a Black former AbbVie Inc. administrative assistant's suit alleging she was fired for reporting that a colleague used racial slurs and invaded her privacy, ruling the worker had filed her suit months too late.
February 14, 2025
Acting NLRB GC Pulls Back Biden-Era Guidance Memos

Acting National Labor Relations Board general counsel William Cowen rescinded a series of memos Friday issued by ousted general counsel Jennifer Abruzzo that laid out her view of federal labor law, setting up a new path for the agency during the Trump administration.
February 14, 2025
Asset Manager Fiera Broke Bonus Promises, Ex-Exec Says

A Massachusetts portfolio manager says Fiera Capital Inc. lured him to the asset management firm with promises he could earn up to $850,000 a year, then sidelined him so he was unable to qualify for bonuses and forced him out a year later.
February 14, 2025
CFPB's Vought Agrees To Pause Layoffs Amid Union Litigation

The Trump administration agreed to a temporary reprieve for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, promising to preserve data and hold off for now on any more broad firings of employees pending a challenge by the agency's union.
February 14, 2025
Trump Illegally Fired FLRA Chair, Suit Says

The former chair of the Federal Labor Relations Authority is the latest government official to sue President Donald Trump, saying in a complaint filed in D.C. federal court that she was fired illegally.
February 14, 2025
DOJ Takes Military Bias Dispute With Nev. To 9th Circ.

The U.S. Department of Justice said it will appeal to the Ninth Circuit after a federal judge tossed its suit accusing the state of Nevada and its public employees retirement system of overcharging service members for pension credits.
February 14, 2025
Judge Leaves Curbs On DOGE Treasury Access After Hearing

A Manhattan federal judge left in place temporary curbs on sweeping powers handed by President Donald Trump to Elon Musk's government-slashing U.S. DOGE Service Temporary Organization, after 19 states challenged the organization's access to U.S. Treasury payment systems.
February 13, 2025
More CFPB Employees Axed As Union Presses For Injunction

The Trump administration moved late Thursday to slash more of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's workforce, initiating another round of layoffs shortly after lawyers for the agency's union petitioned a D.C. federal court for an emergency injunction to prevent it.
February 13, 2025
Fed. Unions' New Suit Fights Layoffs, Resignation Incentive

A second group of unions representing federal workers has challenged the Trump administration's attempt to shrink the federal workforce through layoffs and a resignation incentive program, telling a D.C. federal judge that the executive branch's actions violate separation-of-powers principles because Congress largely controls federal agencies.
February 13, 2025
DOD Says Injunction Isn't Needed In Transgender Ban Suit

The U.S. Department of Defense has urged a D.C. federal judge to deny a preliminary injunction in a challenge to an executive order effectively barring transgender troops from serving in the military, saying the motion is premature and unlikely to succeed.
February 13, 2025
Wash. Justices Wary Of Pay Transparency Law Stances

Washington's highest court grilled attorneys on both sides of a debate over state pay transparency law on Thursday, with some justices suggesting the employer's stance put too much onus on workers while another expressed doubt the protections should extend to people who apply for jobs they have no chance to get.
February 13, 2025
Tesla, Objector Appeal $730M Chancery Board Pay Deal

Tesla Inc. and a stockholder objector have appealed a Delaware Court of Chancery approval of the return of more than $730 million in director stock, option and grant awards to the company that would resolve a suit accusing the electric-car maker's board of raking in "outrageous" compensation packages that cost the company hundreds of millions of dollars.

Expert Analysis

What To Expect In Higher Ed Enforcement Under Trump

Colleges and universities should prepare for shifting priorities, as President-elect Donald Trump is likely to focus less on antitrust cases and more on foreign relations policy, while congressional oversight of higher education continues to increase, say attorneys at Steptoe.
Series

NY Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q4

In 2024's final quarter, the New York State Department of Financial Services published guidance on mitigating the rising cybersecurity risks of artificial intelligence and remote technology workers with North Korean ties, and the state attorney general launched an antitrust investigation into Capital One's proposed Discover merger, say attorneys at Haynes Boone.
How Trial Attys Can Wield Amended Federal Evidence Rules

Trial lawyers should assess recent amendments to four Federal Rules of Evidence and a newly enacted rule on illustrative aids to determine how to best use the rules to enhance pretrial discovery and trial strategy, says Stewart Edelstein, former litigation chair at Cohen & Wolf.
Series

Exercising On My Peloton Bike Makes Me A Better Lawyer

While I originally came to the Peloton bike for exercise, one cycling instructor’s teachings have come to serve as a road map for practicing law thoughtfully and mindfully, which has opened opportunities for growth and change in my career, says Andrea Kirshenbaum at Littler.
Lessons From United's Axed Win In Firing Over Online Pics

In Wawrzenski v. United Airlines, a California state appeals court revived a flight attendant’s suit over her termination for linking photos of herself in uniform to her OnlyFans account, providing a cautionary tale for employers navigating the complexities of workplace policy enforcement in the digital age, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.
3 Factors Affecting Retail M&A Deals In 2025

Retailers considering mergers and acquisitions this year face an evolving antitrust environment, including a new administration under President-elect Donald Trump, revised merger guidelines and a precedent set last year by a canceled $8.5 billion handbag merger, say attorneys at DLA Piper.
How Trump Admin May Approach AI In The Workplace

Key indicators suggest that the incoming Trump administration will adopt a deregulatory approach to artificial intelligence, allowing states to fill the void, so it is critical that employers pay close attention to developing legal authority concerning AI tools, say attorneys at Littler.
Top 10 Legal Issues This Year For Transportation Industry GCs

General counsel must carefully consider numerous legal and policy challenges facing the automotive and transportation industry in the year to come, especially while navigating new technologies, regulations and global markets, says Francesco Liberatore at Squire Patton.
Exploring Venue Strategy For Trump-Era Regulatory Litigation

Litigation will likely play a prominent role in shaping policy outcomes during the second Trump administration, and stakeholders have several tools at their disposal to steer regulatory litigation toward more favorable venues, say attorneys at Covington.
What 2024's Noncompete Turmoil Means For Banks In 2025

A look back at the most significant legal challenges to the enforceability of various restrictive covenants like noncompete and nonsolicitation agreements in 2024 can help financial institutions address the use of these critical tools this year, say attorneys at Maynard Nexsen.
Lessons Learned From 2024's Top FMLA Decisions

Last year's major litigation related to the Family and Medical Leave Act underscores why it is critical for employers to understand the basics of when leave and accommodations are required, say attorneys at Dechert.
New Year, New Risks: 8 Top Cyber Issues For Finance In 2025

As financial institutions forge ahead in 2025, they must strike a delicate balance between embracing technological innovation and guarding against its darker threats, which this year could include everything from supply chain vulnerabilities to deepfakes, say attorneys at Baker Donelson.
Lessons Learned From 2024's Top ADA Decisions

Last year's major litigation related to the Americans with Disabilities Act highlights that when dealing with accommodation requests, employers must communicate clearly, appreciate context and remain flexible in addressing needs, say attorneys at Dechert.
Series

Playing Esports Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Competing in a global esports tournament at Wimbledon last year not only fulfilled my childhood dream, but also sharpened skills that are essential to my day job, including strategic thinking, confidence and networking, says AJ Schuyler at Jackson Lewis.
Lessons From The SEC's 2024 Crackdown On AI Washing

AI washing was the subject of increased scrutiny from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in 2024 following a surge in the commercial adoption of generative artificial intelligence technologies in 2023, highlighting the importance of transparency, accuracy and accountability when communicating about AI, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.