Employment

February 10, 2025
Former Palm GC's Racial Bias Claim Should End, Judge Says

A New York federal judge has recommended dismissing a race discrimination claim brought by an ex-general counsel for The Palm steakhouse chain's owner while allowing her retaliation and breach of contract claims to proceed to arbitration, concluding that the company's onetime top lawyer had not shown the restaurant had "discriminatory intent."
February 10, 2025
Ex-SEC Atty's Bias Case Not Holding, Despite Deal Talks

A Pennsylvania federal judge refused Friday to delay the upcoming trial in a lawsuit filed by a former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission lawyer who sued the agency for racial and age discrimination, despite a letter to the court saying that the parties are making progress toward a settlement.
February 10, 2025
Mass. Justices May Greenlight Ex-Court Atty's Firing Case

Massachusetts' highest court on Monday hinted that it will allow a former ghostwriter for the state's intermediate appellate court to continue pursuing his wrongful firing claims against a former supervisor, but not necessarily against two higher-ups, in a challenge to the extent of common-law immunity for public officials.
February 10, 2025
House Dems Form Rapid Response Litigation Working Group

House Democrats announced on Monday a new litigation initiative to confront the Trump administration and the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency, which has been slashing federal funding, from stopping some government services and firing workers without Congressional approval.
February 10, 2025
Little Caesars Cheated Workers Out Of OT, Suit Claims

Pizza chain Little Caesars didn't pay workers for the time they spent responding to texts and phone calls outside their scheduled shifts, a former co-manager said in a proposed class and collective action filed in Michigan federal court on Monday.
February 10, 2025
Former X Workers Can't Force Arbitration For Their Claims

A California federal judge refused to force X to arbitrate several former workers' claims that they say should have already proceeded through arbitration but for the social media company's unlawful dragging of its feet, saying none of the parties can arbitrate their disputes in his district.
February 10, 2025
Verizon Escapes Workers' Suit Over Lead-Covered Cables

A Pennsylvania federal judge threw out a lawsuit filed on behalf of utility workers alleging Verizon endangered them by failing to properly dispose of lead-covered cables on telephone poles, ruling that allegations of suffering common ailments were not enough to support a class action.
February 10, 2025
Goldstein Rearrested After Feds Say He Hid Millions In Crypto

U.S. Supreme Court lawyer and SCOTUSblog publisher Tom Goldstein was arrested again Monday following his earlier release on criminal tax evasion charges, after prosecutors alleged that he secretly made millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrency transactions in recent days and was a serious risk to flee.
February 10, 2025
2nd Circ. Backs UBS In Retaliation Case That Justices Revived

A split Second Circuit panel sided Monday with UBS in a whistleblower case that a fired worker managed to get the U.S. Supreme Court to revive, ruling that the jury instructions that preceded the worker's trial court win were too unclear to let his victory stand.
February 10, 2025
Court Won't Reinstate NLRB Brief In Newspaper Union Suit

A federal judge won't reinstate a brief stricken from the record in a dispute between the National Labor Relations Board and the publisher of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, saying Friday that the board had misinterpreted her courtroom's rules and procedures.
February 10, 2025
Sheriff's Office Must Face Workers' Wage Payment Suit

A North Carolina federal judge refused to throw out a wage and hour class action that detention center employees lodged against a sheriff's office, adopting a magistrate judge's finding that the case should head to a jury after none of the parties objected to his opinion.
February 10, 2025
'Stand Down': CFPB's Acting Chief Pulls Employees Off Job

The Trump administration's acting Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Russell Vought told agency staff on Monday to "stand down" from doing any work, the latest in a series of rapid-fire moves that are sidelining the agency and prompting employees to sue.
February 07, 2025
2nd Circ. Orders In-House Counsel Docs In Grand Jury Case

The Second Circuit on Friday ruled that an in-house attorney for a publicly traded company under federal investigation in New York must turn over communications as part of a grand jury investigation under the crime-fraud exception to attorney-client privilege.
February 07, 2025
Apple Drops Suit Over Leaks To Press As Engineer Apologizes

A California judge on Thursday granted Apple's request to drop a lawsuit against a former employee who allegedly leaked sensitive company information to journalists and others, the same day the software engineer issued a public apology for his "profound and expensive mistake."
February 07, 2025
NJ Statehouse Catch-Up: Offshore Wind, AI, Neurodiversity

The retraction of New Jersey's fourth offshore wind solicitation came alongside a wave of legislative and regulatory activity that also proposed workplace rules to bolster inclusivity and a new compensation path for assault victims
February 07, 2025
9th Circ. Judge Doubts Justices' FLSA Test Fits Cracker Barrel

A Ninth Circuit judge was skeptical Friday of Cracker Barrel's bid to upend an order granting servers collective status based on the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling that Fair Labor Standards Act exemptions don't warrant heightened evidence standards, telling counsel the justices' conclusion "doesn't seem like a tight fit" for this case.
February 07, 2025
Kroger Chain Says Strike Is Bid To Force 'Multi-Union' Talks

The Kroger-owned grocery chain King Soopers sued the union representing Colorado workers on Friday in federal court, alleging strikes at King Soopers stores in the state are a pressure tactic to "force multi-union bargaining" on the company and other employers.
February 07, 2025
Wis. Football Player Gets Additional Year Of Eligibility

A federal judge has granted a University of Wisconsin football player another year of eligibility, overriding the NCAA's five-year-rule and noting that the landscape of college athletics has shifted.
February 07, 2025
Judge OKs $2.7M In Atty Fees From $23M FBI Sex Bias Deal

A D.C. federal judge on Friday approved $2.7 million in fees for attorneys representing a class of women accusing the Federal Bureau of Investigation of holding them to sexist double standards, part of a $22.6 million settlement resolving the lawsuit.
February 07, 2025
Teamsters Pension Plan Overseers Skirt Mismanagement Suit

The caretakers of a Teamsters pension plan dodged a mismanagement lawsuit Friday, with a New York federal judge dismissing the plan participants' claims that the plan's trustees and advisers greenlighted risky investment decisions and hefty plan management fees.
February 07, 2025
Employment Authority: Ex-NLRB Member's Firing Suit Impact

Law360 Employment Authority covers the biggest employment cases and trends. Catch up this week with coverage of the impact of former National Labor Relations Board member Gwynne Wilcox's suit challenging her firing, how libertarian law firms will continue their fight against rules the U.S. Department of Labor rolled out during Joe Biden's presidency and what employers can do if they want to maintain diversity, equity and inclusion programs after President Donald Trump's anti-DEI push.
February 07, 2025
Construction Groups Push To Ax DBA Final Rule For Good

The U.S. Department of Labor made rootless arguments to save its final rule updating how prevailing wages are calculated under the Davis-Bacon Act, construction groups told a Texas federal court, continuing their push to entirely ax the already partially blocked rule.
February 07, 2025
Pa. Medical Pot Co. Beats Consultant's IP Breach Claims

A Pennsylvania federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit filed by a consultant claiming that his methods for growing plant tissue samples was stolen by a medical cannabis company he worked with, ruling that the consultant's system was not a protected trade secret.
February 07, 2025
Jewish Woman Says Discrimination At Tesla Led To Her Layoff

Tesla is facing a discrimination and retaliation lawsuit in Texas state court from a former sales staffer who says she was subjected to a hostile workplace because she is Jewish and a woman and was then booted from the company after complaining about the bias to human resources.
February 07, 2025
Ex-Mass. State Sen. Gets 18 Months For Pandemic, Tax Fraud

A former Massachusetts state senator was sentenced to 18 months in prison Friday after being convicted of fraudulently collecting pandemic unemployment benefits and failing to report consulting income he was also earning at the time on his tax returns.

Expert Analysis

7 Ways 2nd Trump Administration May Affect Partner Hiring

President-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House will likely have a number of downstream effects on partner hiring in the legal industry, from accelerated hiring timelines to increased vetting of prospective employees, say recruiters at Macrae.
4 Novel Issues From The Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni Suits

A series of lawsuits arising from actress Blake Lively's sexual harassment and retaliation complaint against her "It Ends With Us" co-star, Justin Baldoni, present novel legal issues that employment and defamation practitioners alike should follow as the litigation progresses, say attorneys at Dorsey & Whitney.
E-Discovery Quarterly: Rulings On Custodian Selection

Several recent rulings make clear that the proportionality of additional proposed custodians will depend on whether the custodians have unique relevant documents, and producing parties should consider whether information already in the record will show that they have relevant documents that otherwise might not be produced, say attorneys at Sidley.
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.