Employment

February 18, 2025
Steward Says Mass. Owes $22M For Withheld Patient Claims

Steward Health Care has sued Massachusetts in Texas bankruptcy court to recover $22 million, which the insolvent hospital operator alleged it is owed for treating low-income patients in Massachusetts after the company filed for Chapter 11 relief.
February 18, 2025
White House Says City Can't Show Harm From Anti-DEI Orders

The Trump administration urged a Maryland federal court Tuesday not to block its executive orders curtailing diversity, equity and inclusion programs, saying the city of Baltimore and other challengers hadn't shown any of their funding has been affected by the orders.
February 18, 2025
States Ask 5th Circ. To Rethink Contractor Wage Hike Ruling

Republican attorneys general in Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana called on the full Fifth Circuit to reconsider a panel's decision backing the Biden administration's contract worker minimum wage hike, saying the ruling contradicts at least 11 other precedential decisions.
February 18, 2025
DC Court Asked To Block DOGE's Access To Taxpayer Data

A federal judge should block the U.S. Treasury Department's reported provision of taxpayer data to the Department of Government Efficiency, halt DOGE's access and order its software uninstalled from Treasury systems, unions and advocacy organizations said in a complaint.
February 18, 2025
Fired White Sox Trainer's Discrimination Suit Gets New Life

An Illinois state appeals court has revived a discrimination lawsuit from the former head trainer for the Chicago White Sox alleging the team fired him due to his sexual orientation, finding that the club may have tried to avoid litigation through deceptive means.
February 18, 2025
NY High Court Upholds Ethics Commission In Cuomo Case

New York's highest court on Tuesday affirmed the constitutionality of the state's recently revamped ethics commission in an order reversing a lower court ruling that sided with embattled former Gov. Andrew Cuomo amid an investigation related to his use of government employees to help him publish and promote a book.
February 18, 2025
Goldstein's Overseas Ties Make It 'Easier To Flee,' Judge Says

U.S. Supreme Court advocate and SCOTUSblog publisher Tom Goldstein has lost a second attempt to shield his more than $3 million residence in Washington, D.C., from forfeiture in his criminal tax evasion case as a Maryland federal judge ruled Tuesday that he remains a "significant flight risk."
February 18, 2025
Compliance Boss Took $9M In Clients, Investment Firm Says

A Connecticut investment firm with $360 million in assets under management says its former chief compliance officer violated trade secrets and computer fraud laws by taking eight clients worth $9.3 million and secretly joining a competitor, all despite bearing responsibility for his now-former firm's data confidentiality measures.
February 18, 2025
EEOC Backs Off Trans Bias Suits, Citing Trump Order

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is walking away from seven lawsuits accusing businesses of discriminating against transgender or nonbinary employees, telling courts the suits conflict with President Donald Trump's executive order stating the government only recognizes two genders.
February 18, 2025
5th Circ. Won't Rethink DOL Win In OT Threshold Dispute

The full Fifth Circuit refused to reconsider its decision finding the U.S. Department of Labor has the authority to create a salary threshold as part of its role in defining overtime exemptions, rejecting a Dairy Queen franchise owner's argument that the opinion conflicts with U.S. Supreme Court precedent.
February 18, 2025
DC Circ. Affirms Co. Must Bargain Despite Ballot Box Claim

The D.C. Circuit on Tuesday denied a building management services company's challenge to a union representation election based on the claim that a National Labor Relations Board official left a ballot box unattended, supporting the board's conclusion that the business illegally refused to bargain.
February 18, 2025
Landscaping Co. Says Workers Exempt From Earning OT

A landscaping company urged a Kansas federal court to grant it a win in a workers' class action accusing it of stiffing them on overtime wages, saying by loading trucks and performing safety checks on trailers, the workers fall under a Fair Labor Standards Act exemption.
February 17, 2025
Labor Groups Denied Block On DOGE's Agency Access

A Washington, D.C. federal judge again declined to block Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency from accessing three federal agencies' data, saying worker and consumer advocates haven't shown that the department's agents don't belong.
February 16, 2025
Trump Admin Asks Justices To OK Special Counsel Firing

The Trump administration has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to allow the president's firing of a top government ethics watchdog to move forward, arguing a Washington, D.C., federal judge unlawfully seized executive power when she issued an order temporarily reinstating the official pending a legal challenge.
February 14, 2025
Trump Aims To End Limits On President's Power To Fire

President Donald Trump has his sights set on taking down a 90-year-old U.S. Supreme Court ruling that protects certain government officials from being fired, a U.S. Department of Justice letter confirms, and he plans to leverage his prior legal victories to deliver the precedent's death knell and expand presidential power.
February 14, 2025
DC Judge Declines To Block New OPM Email System

A D.C. federal judge on Monday declined to temporarily stop the Office of Personnel Management from using a new centralized messaging system that a putative class of federal employees claims is insecure.
February 14, 2025
EPA Fires Hundreds Of Employees, Cuts Millions In Contracts

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Friday kept up the pace of cuts to staffing and spending, firing 388 probationary workers and canceling $60 million in contracts related to diversity, equity and inclusion and environmental justice programs.
February 14, 2025
VA Fires More Than 1,000 As Part Of Trump Cuts

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs said it dismissed more than 1,000 probationary employees Thursday, part of a wave of layoffs sweeping across federal agencies as the Trump administration pursues "large-scale" cuts to the government workforce.
February 14, 2025
9th Circ. Told DOL Can't Shield Contractor Demographic Data

The Center for Investigative Reporting told the Ninth Circuit on Friday that federal contractors' workforce demographic reports were not protected by a commercial data exemption to the Freedom of Information Act, as there was no "intimate information" in those reports.
February 14, 2025
NHL, CHL Ask Court to Toss Junior Players' Antitrust Lawsuit

The National Hockey League has asked a Washington federal court to toss an antitrust lawsuit challenging a rule that dictates where junior athletes can play, arguing that most enforcement of the rule took place in Canada.
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."

Expert Analysis

Religious Accommodation Lessons From $12.7M Vax Verdict

A Michigan federal jury’s recent $12.7 million verdict against Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan starkly reminds employers of the risks they face when assessing employees’ religious accommodation requests, highlighting pitfalls to avoid and raising the opportunity to consider best practices to follow, say attorneys at Williams & Connolly.
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.