Employment

  • September 24, 2024

    Aristocrat Wins Injunction In Slot Machine Trade Secret Row

    A federal judge in Las Vegas blocked gambling game company Light & Wonder Inc. from commercializing its Dragon Train video slot machine game, saying competitor Aristocrat Technologies Inc. is "extremely likely" to succeed in showing L&W misappropriated Aristocrat's trade secrets in developing the game.

  • September 24, 2024

    Chance Cognizant Didn't Discriminate Is '1 In A Billion,' Jury Told

    An attorney for a class of former Cognizant Technology employees alleging the company discriminated against non-South Asian and non-Indian employees told a jury during opening statements of a retrial Tuesday that the probability Cognizant's behavior wasn't racially biased is about one in a billion.

  • September 24, 2024

    Fired United Rentals Worker Denies Competing In New Job

    United Rentals Inc. cannot show that it suffered irreparable harm when an ex-employee started working for a new company after he was fired, and even if it could, his noncompete agreement is unenforceable, the worker said in a filing in Connecticut state court that seeks to stave off a preliminary injunction.

  • September 24, 2024

    Wash. Justices Dubious Of Moonlighting Ban Loophole

    Washington state Supreme Court justices expressed doubt Tuesday that the state's moonlighting protections included an exception allowing companies to ban employees from other businesses in the same industry, saying that would contradict the noncompete statute's aim of supporting mobility for low-wage earners.

  • September 24, 2024

    Ex-Employee Sues Ga. Boiler Co., Alleging Retaliation

    A Black former employee of Combustion and Controls LLC sued the boiler company in Georgia federal court Tuesday, claiming he was treated worse than white co-workers, racially insulted, threatened with violence and ultimately fired after reporting the hostility.

  • September 24, 2024

    2 Ex-American Airlines Workers Seek $8M Sex Assault Verdict

    Counsel for two former American Airlines flight attendants urged a California federal jury during closing arguments Tuesday to make a retired pilot pay $8.1 million over allegations he sexually assaulted the pair at a hotel during a round-trip journey between Los Angeles and Sao Paulo, Brazil.

  • September 24, 2024

    10th Circ. Judge Wants More Info Before Arbitration Decision

    A Tenth Circuit judge suggested Tuesday that the maker of Wonder bread wanted the court to set employment precedent without crucial information, saying the court lacked detail about a wholesaler's relationship with the food manufacturer.

  • September 24, 2024

    DuPont Employee Defends Mass Email In ERISA Trial

    A DuPont employee was scrutinized on the witness stand Tuesday for the way a worker learned about how the chemical company's merger with Dow would impact their benefits, with a judge calling a heavily redacted trial exhibit useless and a plaintiffs' attorney quizzing her on basic email functions.

  • September 24, 2024

    'Salacious' Keches Spat With Ex-Partner Aired In Court

    A former partner of Keches Law has asked a Massachusetts state court for permission to review the personal injury firm's financial records after he was told his shares in the firm are worthless, accusing another attorney of financial misdeeds.

  • September 24, 2024

    NLRB Office Signs Off On Near $450K Deal With Musk Brother

    A Colorado nonprofit co-founded by Elon Musk's brother settled a union's unfair labor practice claims for close to $450,000, according to a National Labor Relations Board announcement Tuesday, with the organization agreeing to pay thousands to laid-off workers and make supervisors undergo federal labor law training.

  • September 24, 2024

    11th Circ. Unleashes Swarm Of 'Hypos' In Fla. Pronoun Case

    An Eleventh Circuit panel on Tuesday peppered attorneys with hypothetical scenarios as they attempted to hammer out the bounds of public school teachers' free speech protections in the classroom, in a case by transgender and nonbinary Florida educators that could ultimately affect other state employees.

  • September 24, 2024

    Tractor Supply Co. Tobacco Fee Violates ERISA, Suit Says

    Tractor Supply Co. illegally charged workers who used tobacco an extra fee through their health insurance plan without explaining they could dodge the charge if they participated in a smoking cessation program, according to a proposed class action filed in Pennsylvania federal court.

  • September 24, 2024

    Combs Accused Of Filming Woman's Rape In New Suit

    Hip-hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs was hit with a civil suit in New York federal court Tuesday alleging he and his former head of security raped a woman in 2001, recorded the assault and later disseminated the video.

  • September 24, 2024

    Darden Committed 'Wage Abuse' Against Workers, Suit Says

    Darden Restaurants failed to pay workers for their overtime hours and did not provide them with full, uninterrupted meal and rest periods, a former employee said in a Private Attorneys General Act lawsuit filed in California state court.

  • September 24, 2024

    Dems Urge Full 9th Circ. To Rethink Worker's Trafficking Loss

    Democratic lawmakers urged the en banc Ninth Circuit to rethink a split decision tossing Cambodian workers' human trafficking suit against a California importer, arguing Congress specifically amended the federal law following another erroneous Ninth Circuit ruling in the case, and the majority's refusal to apply those amendments retroactively undermines congressional authority.

  • September 24, 2024

    Sheppard Mullin Adds Paul Hastings Employment Leader

    The co-leader of Paul Hastings LLP's wage and hour practice group has jumped to Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP in California, the firm said Tuesday.

  • September 24, 2024

    EMS Workers Get Class Status In Sex, Race Pay Gap Suit

    A New York federal judge approved on Tuesday emergency medical services workers to proceed as a class in their lawsuit alleging New York City paid them less in relation to their almost exclusively white, male counterparts at the fire department, despite differences in rank and responsibility.

  • September 24, 2024

    DC Circ. Says Arb. Board Must Handle Rail Union Grievance

    Amtrak lost its appeal to a ruling that ordered an arbitration board to consider whether the rail company must use union labor on a newly acquired building, with the D.C. Circuit upholding a Washington, D.C., federal judge's decision Tuesday.

  • September 24, 2024

    Conn. Judge Sends Law Firm's Trade Secrets Case To Fla.

    A Connecticut boutique law firm must go to Florida if it wants to continue pursuing its trade secrets case against a consultant it accused of making off with some of its confidential information because the Constitution State is an improper venue, a federal judge has ruled.

  • September 24, 2024

    Do GCs Even Know Company's AI Use? Survey Raises Doubts

    Top legal officers appear badly misaligned with other executives or are misinformed on the use of artificial intelligence at their companies, especially in the human resources area, according to a new survey released Tuesday. 

  • September 23, 2024

    Coinbase Brings On Ex-Citadel Legal Chief With SEC Chops

    Coinbase announced on Monday it has hired Ryan VanGrack to serve as its vice president of legal, where he will be overseeing civil litigation, regulatory probes, employment and intellectual property matters for the crypto exchange after spending seven years with Citadel Securities as general counsel.

  • September 23, 2024

    Ex-Adviser Can't Seek Due Process Update, Justices Told

    A Morgan Stanley unit on Friday urged the U.S. Supreme Court not to tackle a purported circuit split over whether "manifest disregard of the law" remains a valid reason for vacating an arbitral award, arguing that a former employee missed his chance to press the argument in the lower courts.

  • September 23, 2024

    Nonprofit, Union Say Janus Doesn't Apply To NYC Dues Fight

    Two New York City public defenders cannot leverage the U.S. Supreme Court's Janus ruling to stop paying their union because the ruling only applies to public employees and they're technically employed by a nonprofit, argued their employer, union and the city in a motion to dismiss their lawsuit.

  • September 23, 2024

    Kroger Fights FTC's Bid To Move Constitutionality Case

    Kroger is fighting to keep its challenge to the Federal Trade Commission's in-house courts in Ohio federal court, pushing back against the agency's effort to get it paused or moved to Oregon, where the FTC's case against the company's merger with Albertson's is already playing out.

  • September 23, 2024

    DOJ Adds AI Risk To Corporate Compliance Program

    The U.S. Department of Justice's Criminal Division is now weighing how companies manage risk related to artificial intelligence and potentially stymie whistleblowers, one of several updates to the division's policies on evaluating corporate compliance programs announced by a senior official on Monday.

Expert Analysis

  • NCAA Settlement May End The NIL Model As We Know It

    Author Photo

    The recent House v. NCAA settlement in California federal court, in which the NCAA agreed to allow schools to directly pay March Madness television revenue to their athletes, may send outside name, image and likeness collectives in-house, says Mike Ingersoll at Womble Bond.

  • 5 Steps For Gov't Contractor Affirmative Action Verification

    Author Photo

    As the federal contractor affirmative action program certification deadline approaches, government contractors and subcontractors should take steps to determine their program obligations, and ensure any required plans are properly implemented and timely registered, say Christopher Wilkinson at Perkins Coie and Joanna Colosimo at DCI Consulting.

  • Boeing Saga Underscores Need For Ethical Corporate Culture

    Author Photo

    In the wake of recent allegations about Boeing’s safety culture, and amid the U.S. Department of Justice’s new whistleblower incentives, business leaders should reinvigorate their emphasis on compliance by making clear that long-term profitability requires ethical business practices, says Maxwell Carr-Howard at Dentons.

  • New OSHA Memo Helps Clarify Recordkeeping Compliance

    Author Photo

    Based on recent Occupational Safety and Health Administration guidance on whether musculoskeletal disorders are recordable injuries under the agency's recordkeeping regulation, it appears that OSHA may target active release techniques and stretching programs during its inspections, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • A Closer Look At Feds' Proposed Banker Compensation Rule

    Author Photo

    A recently proposed rule to limit financial institutions' ability to award incentive-based compensation for risk-taking may progress through the rulemaking process slowly due to the sheer number of regulators collaborating on the rule and the number of issues under consideration, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • Why Jurors Balk At 'I Don't Recall' — And How To Respond

    Author Photo

    Jurors often react negatively to a witness who responds “I don’t remember” because they tend to hold erroneous beliefs about the nature of human memory, but attorneys can adopt a few strategies to mitigate the impact of these biases, say Steve Wood and Ava Hernández at Courtroom Sciences.

  • Series

    Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    Atop the list of ways fishing makes me a better lawyer is the relief it offers from the chronic stress of a demanding caseload, but it has also improved my listening skills and patience, and has served as an exceptional setting for building earnest relationships, says Steven DeGeorge​​​​​​​ at Robinson Bradshaw.

  • Exploring Alternatives To Noncompetes Ahead Of FTC Ban

    Author Photo

    Ahead of the Sept. 4 effective date for the Federal Trade Commission's noncompete ban, employers should seek new ways to protect their proprietary and other sensitive information, including by revising existing confidentiality and nondisclosure agreements, says Harvey Linder at Culhane.

  • 10 Tips To Build Trust With Your Witness During Trial Prep

    Author Photo

    Preparing a witness for deposition or trial requires more than just legal skills — lawyers must also work to cultivate trust with the witness, using strategies ranging from wearing a hat when conducting mock cross-examination to offering them a ride to court before they testify, say Faye Paul Teller and Sara McDermott at Munger Tolles.

  • DOL's New OT Rule Will Produce Unbalanced Outcomes

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Department of Labor's new salary level for the Fair Labor Standards Act overtime exemption is about 65% higher than the current threshold and will cause many white collar employees to be classified as nonexempt because they work in a location with a lower cost of living, not because of their duties, says Stephen Bronars at Edgeworth Economics.

  • 5th Circ. Venue-Transfer Cases Highlight Mandamus Limits

    Author Photo

    Three ongoing cases filed within the Fifth Circuit highlight an odd procedural wrinkle that may let district courts defy an appellate writ: orders granting transfer to out-of-circuit districts, but parties opposing intercircuit transfer can work around this hurdle to effective appellate review, says Charles Fowler at McKool Smith.

  • A Healthier Legal Industry Starts With Emotional Intelligence

    Author Photo

    The legal profession has long been plagued by high rates of mental health issues, in part due to attorneys’ early training and broader societal stereotypes — but developing one’s emotional intelligence is one way to foster positive change, collectively and individually, says attorney Esperanza Franco.

  • To Make Your Legal Writing Clear, Emulate A Master Chef

    Author Photo

    To deliver clear and effective written advocacy, lawyers should follow the model of a fine dining chef — seasoning a foundation of pure facts with punchy descriptors, spicing it up with analogies, refining the recipe and trimming the fat — thus catering to a sophisticated audience of decision-makers, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • 3 Wage And Hour Tips For A Post-Chevron World

    Author Photo

    Employers can take three steps to handle day-to-day wage and hour compliance in the event that the U.S. Supreme Court soon reshifts the administrative law landscape by overturning the Chevron doctrine, which could cause a massive sea change in the way we all do business, say Seth Kaufman and Matthew Korn at Fisher Phillips.

  • 8 Steps Companies Should Take After An Internal Investigation

    Author Photo

    Given the U.S. Department of Justice’s increasing focus on corporate compliance and remediation of misconduct, companies must follow through in several key ways after an internal investigation to ensure history does not repeat itself, say Jonathan Aronie and Joseph Jay at Sheppard Mullin.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Employment archive.
Hello! I'm Law360's automated support bot.

How can I help you today?

For example, you can type:
  • I forgot my password
  • I took a free trial but didn't get a verification email
  • How do I sign up for a newsletter?
Ask a question!