Employment

February 13, 2025
Judge Extends Restraining Order On USAID Gutting

A D.C. federal judge extended his temporary restraining order barring USAID from placing thousands of employees on administrative leave for another week on Thursday, saying he needed more time to rule on the plaintiff employees unions' preliminary injunction request to stop the agency's overhaul while the case proceeds.
February 13, 2025
Ore. Cannabis Labor Pact Law Is Unconstitutional, Cos. Say

An Oregon state law requiring businesses to have labor peace agreements with unions in order to obtain a license is preempted by federal labor law and violates the 14th Amendment, two cannabis companies argued as they urged a federal court to block enforcement of the law.
February 13, 2025
NC Biz Court Bulletin: Defaulted Notes, EB-5 Investor Fraud

The North Carolina Business Court has been handed in the first half of February a receivership case involving a defaulted $17.5 million promissory note, a fraud suit by Chinese EB-5 investors and a request to depose the chief legal officer of Smithfield Foods Inc.
February 13, 2025
Ex-VP's Defamation Suit Against Cardinals Sent To Arbitration

An Arizona federal judge has sent the defamation suit by a former Arizona Cardinals executive to an arbitration process overseen by the NFL, making a previous tentative ruling official after the two sides agreed to call off a scheduled Thursday hearing.
February 13, 2025
Ohio Ordered To Get Rescinded Unemployment From DOL

An Ohio court on Wednesday ordered the state government to "take all action necessary" to get its share of a COVID-19 pandemic unemployment relief program that Gov. Mike DeWine pulled it out of in 2021 and to distribute that money to qualified residents who missed out.
February 13, 2025
DOL Board Revives Mich. Gutter Co.'s H-2B Bid For Helpers

A U.S. Department of Labor appeals board judge partly reversed the denial of a Michigan gutter company's petition to hire five foreign workers for temporary installation help, ruling a certifying officer, or CO, unreasonably rejected payroll info that the company submitted to justify its need.
February 13, 2025
Cruise Co.'s Bid To Force Spa Worker Into Arbitration Fails

A Florida federal judge denied Norwegian Cruise Line's bid to force a masseuse's negligence and unseaworthiness lawsuit into Bahamian arbitration, saying the company isn't a signatory to her underlying employment agreement and that it failed to establish an exception to send the case out of court.
February 13, 2025
Landscape Workers Seek Sanctions Over Lacking Class Lists

U.S. citizens and H-2B landscape workers have called on a Kansas federal judge to sanction a company accused of cheating them out of overtime pay, saying it supplied "woefully incomplete" class lists that were not in compliance with court orders.
February 13, 2025
House Republican Debuts Independent Contractor Status Test

A U.S. House Republican who has vocally opposed Democratic-backed analyses for determining whether a worker is an independent contractor or employee announced two bills related to the issue Thursday, proposing a new worker classification standard in one of the measures.
February 13, 2025
Ga. Plant Boss Accused Of Trying To Bribe Opposing Counsel

The director of a Georgia plastics manufacturing plant has been accused of offering to pay the attorney representing a brother and sister in a federal discrimination lawsuit in exchange for a quick settlement, with the siblings claiming the defendant's "assertions are tantamount to bribery and fraud."
February 13, 2025
Congress' Dems Call For Fired NLRB Member's Reinstatement

President Donald Trump should immediately reinstate the Democratic member of the National Labor Relations Board he fired in January, House and Senate Democrats told the White House on Thursday, saying that leaving the board without a quorum "encourages bad employers to violate the law and trample on workers' rights."
February 13, 2025
Amazon Worker's $1.6M Fee Bid Slashed In Military Bias Suit

A Washington federal judge awarded an Amazon worker a fraction of the $1.6 million in attorney fees he requested in his recently settled suit claiming the company blocked him from promotions due to his military service, finding the outcome of the case didn't warrant an amount that high.
February 13, 2025
Small But Mighty Busy: 1st Circ. A Hub For Anti-Trump Suits

The Boston-based First Circuit will play an outsize role in litigation challenging the aggressive start to President Donald Trump's second administration, but the liberal stronghold's philosophic divergence with the U.S. Supreme Court may make any victories fleeting.
February 13, 2025
Goldstein Freed As Judge Doubts Feds' Crypto Claims

A Maryland federal magistrate judge on Thursday ordered Tom Goldstein released from jail after expressing skepticism toward federal prosecutors' claims that the SCOTUSblog publisher and U.S. Supreme Court advocate secretly made millions of dollars' worth of cryptocurrency transactions in recent days.
February 13, 2025
6th Circ. Won't Revive Ex-Professor's Promotion Bias Suit

The Sixth Circuit stood by a lower court's ruling against a Black former English professor at Delta College in her promotion bias suit, ruling that she failed to provide meaningful evidence that she was passed over for a promotion because of her race and her pro-unionization sentiments.
February 13, 2025
Ex-DraftKings Engineer Wants Parental Leave Suit Kept In Play

A former DraftKings engineer asked a Massachusetts federal court not to toss his suit accusing the company of firing him the day after he asked to take parental leave, saying he can benefit from a Massachusetts paid leave law despite living in Wisconsin.
February 12, 2025
Calif. Panel Upends Bakery's Bias Suit Win Over Gay Wedding

A California appeals court on Tuesday reversed a California bakery's trial court victory in a discrimination lawsuit challenging its refusal to sell a wedding cake to a lesbian couple, finding that a wedding cake design standard the bakery had leaned on was facially discriminatory.
February 12, 2025
Feds Cleared Of Intentional Intrusion Over Diddy's Jail Notes

Prosecutors did not intentionally invade Sean "Diddy" Combs' attorney-client privilege when they received photographs of his handwritten notes that were taken during a security sweep of the prison, a Manhattan federal judge ruled Wednesday, rejecting the music mogul's request for relief in his sex-trafficking case.
February 12, 2025
Trump's Federal Worker Resignation Offer Gets Green Light

A Massachusetts federal judge on Wednesday lifted an order temporarily blocking President Donald Trump's federal worker "deferred resignation" offer and allowed it to proceed, ruling that unions representing hundreds of thousands of federal workers don't have standing to challenge the directive.
February 12, 2025
UPS Gets New Trial As Judge Voids Driver's Reduced Verdict

A Washington federal judge who previously slashed a former UPS worker's employment case win from $238 million to $40 million granted the employer's bid for a new trial Wednesday, concluding that the plaintiff's counsel repeatedly shared inadmissible evidence with jurors.
February 12, 2025
Unions Beef Up Suit To Keep DOGE Out Of Federal Agencies

Unions and nonprofits seeking to stop Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency from accessing the U.S. Department of Labor's data have enhanced their injunction request, looking also to shield the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's and Department of Health and Human Services' data and prove they have standing to sue.
February 12, 2025
DOJ Removes For-Cause Protection For FTC, Other Agencies

The U.S. Department of Justice has determined that for-cause removals for members of the Federal Trade Commission, National Labor Relations Board and Consumer Product Safety Commission are unconstitutional, acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris informed Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., ranking Democrat of the Senate Judiciary Committee, in a letter Wednesday.
February 12, 2025
Trump's Trans Sports Ban Challenged In New Hampshire Suit

President Donald Trump's executive order banning transgender individuals from competing in women's sports was hit with its first court challenge Wednesday, as two New Hampshire trans teenagers added the federal government to their lawsuit challenging a similar state-level policy.
February 12, 2025
OSC Sues FEMA Worker Who Skipped Trump Houses

The U.S. Office of Special Counsel, whose leader President Donald Trump is attempting to fire, filed a complaint Tuesday seeking to discipline a Federal Emergency Management Agency staffer who instructed employees last fall to avoid homes with Trump campaign signs.
February 12, 2025
FCC Chief Says Comcast To Be Probed For Supporting DEI

The FCC's new leader is going after Comcast and NBCUniversal for their efforts to be diverse and inclusive, revealing Wednesday that he had directed the agency to open an investigation into the pair of companies to ensure they aren't "promoting invidious forms of discrimination."

Expert Analysis

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.
Identifying Deepfakes During Evidence Collection, Discovery

Excerpt from Practical Guidance

Attorneys must familiarize themselves with the tools used to create and detect deepfakes — media manipulated by artificial intelligence to convincingly mimic real people and events — as well as best practices for keeping this fabricated evidence out of court, says Bijan Ghom at Saxton & Stump.
An Associate's Guide To Career Development In 2025

As the new year begins, associates at all levels should consider establishing career metrics, fostering key relationships and employing other specific strategies to help move through the complexities of the legal profession with confidence and emerge as trailblazers, say EJ Stern and Amanda George at Fractional Law Firm.