Discrimination

  • December 09, 2024

    2nd Circ. Compares Trader Joe's Execs' COVID Trips For Bias

    The way that Trader Joe's treated a similarly situated male employee is critical to the success of a sex discrimination lawsuit brought by a female ex-vice president who was fired after taking a vacation in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, judges of the Second Circuit suggested Monday.

  • December 09, 2024

    Auto Parts Co., EEOC Strike Deal In Sex Harassment Suit

    An auto parts company will pay $35,000 to end a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission suit alleging it ignored a female worker's claims that she was sexually assaulted at a plant and eventually fired her, the agency said Monday.

  • December 09, 2024

    Diddy Drama Pits Jay-Z, Quinn Emanuel Against Texas PI Firm

    Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter on Monday denied raping a 13-year-old alongside indicted hip-hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs and identified himself as the purported victim of extortion by Texas personal injury attorney Tony Buzbee, days after Buzbee sued Jay-Z's law firm, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP, for harassment in the escalating fight.

  • December 09, 2024

    2nd Circ. Restores Challenge To Conn. Atty Anti-Racism Rule

    The Second Circuit on Monday revived a challenge to a new rule for Connecticut attorneys intended to reduce discrimination, ruling that the alleged chilling effect the two suing lawyers detailed in their complaint gives them standing even if the rule hasn't been enforced against them.

  • December 09, 2024

    Famous Steakhouse Chain's Ex-GC Gets Go-Ahead For Bias Suit

    The ex-general counsel of iconic steakhouse chain The Palm Restaurant can move ahead with a discrimination lawsuit claiming she was ousted after a 2020 bankruptcy sale, a New York federal court ruled Monday.

  • December 09, 2024

    Union Says Flight Attendant Withdrew Grievance, Can't Sue

    A United Airlines flight attendant withdrew the grievance she filed after getting fired over a 2021 passenger confrontation regarding mask compliance, and thus gave up her shot to sue her union, the union told a Colorado federal court, seeking to dismiss the worker's fair representation allegations.

  • December 09, 2024

    Ride Hailing Co. Refused To Hire Deaf Drivers, EEOC Says

    A Dallas-based luxury ride-hailing company refused to hire deaf and hard-of-hearing drivers and tried to push them into car-washing positions instead, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission told a Virginia federal court.

  • December 09, 2024

    Sex Harassment Award Wrongly Shrunk, EEOC Tells 11th Circ.

    The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission told the Eleventh Circuit that a trial court was too quick to cut down a former car dealership worker's $830,000 jury verdict in her case claiming she was sexually harassed on the job, stating that a damages cap was improperly applied.

  • December 09, 2024

    Justices Spurn Worker's Challenge To 'Honest Belief' Firing

    The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to review a Fourth Circuit decision holding that a Baltimore utility's "honest belief" that a worker was misusing medical leave justified the employee's termination, according to high court orders released Monday.

  • December 06, 2024

    UPS Worker Can't Revive USERRA Retaliation Suit At 9th Circ.

    The Ninth Circuit upheld the dismissal of a UPS worker's suit claiming the delivery company stalled his efforts to get back to work after an injury because he sued the business alleging discrimination against service members, finding on Friday that company policy drove the delay.

  • December 06, 2024

    Firm Can't Strike Settlement Talks From Ex-Receptionist's Suit

    Arizona-based personal injury firm Rafi Law Group PLLC's counterclaim against a former receptionist and its motion to strike a portion of her retaliation complaint have both been rejected by a federal judge who said the firm did not sufficiently support its motions.

  • December 06, 2024

    5th Circ. Hints Support For Nurse's Case Over Racist Patients

    The Fifth Circuit appeared troubled Friday by a lower court's dismissal of a Black nurse aide's assertions that a Texas hospital regularly reassigned him based on patients' racial preferences, with one judge calling the ejection of the worker's testimony "wrong."

  • December 06, 2024

    No Proof Man Promoted Over Woman At Banking Dept., NJ Says

    New Jersey has urged a state court to throw out gender discrimination and retaliation claims from a former acting director at the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance, arguing she didn't show she was passed over for a promotion because of her gender.

  • December 06, 2024

    Logistics Co., Ex-Worker Strike Deal In Suit Over Racist Threat

    A logistics company has agreed to resolve a Black former employee's lawsuit claiming the company failed to protect him from a racist threat from a white co-worker who had warned him that he could be lynched, according to filings in Pennsylvania federal court.

  • December 06, 2024

    Calif. Forecast: Bay Area Transit Agency Seeks Vax Trial Redo

    In the coming week, attorneys should watch for a potential ruling on a motion for judgment or a new trial in a COVID-19 vaccination mandate case by San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District workers. Here's a look at that case and other labor and employment matters on deck in California.

  • December 06, 2024

    NY Forecast: 2nd Circ. Weighs Reviving Prevailing Wage Suit

    This week, the Second Circuit will consider an attempt from workers to revive their suit accusing a fire suppression company of violating state and federal wage and hour law by not paying them prevailing wages on public projects. Here, Law360 looks at this and other cases on the docket in New York.

  • December 05, 2024

    Columbia Can't Escape Muslim Prof's Religious Bias Claims

    A New York federal judge narrowed a suit Thursday from a Muslim professor who said she was blocked from tenure-track positions at Columbia University's graduate school of education, axing age bias allegations while letting her religious discrimination and retaliation claims advance.

  • December 05, 2024

    Kraft Heinz, Ex-Worker Settle 'Miami Vice' Costume Firing Suit

    The Kraft Heinz Co. has settled a free speech lawsuit by a terminated white manager and school board candidate accused of jeopardizing the company's reputation by wearing blackface before his employment during a Halloween attempt to look like the character Ricardo Tubbs from the television show "Miami Vice."

  • December 05, 2024

    San Antonio Beats Former Police Officer's Bias Suit

    San Antonio defeated a former police officer's lawsuit claiming she was fired because she is an Armenian and Lebanese woman in her 40s, with a Texas federal judge finding it was an off-duty altercation with construction workers, not bias, that cost her the job.

  • December 05, 2024

    Tesla Can't 'Pretend' Dismissal Was Stay Order, 9th Circ. Says

    A Ninth Circuit panel on Thursday doubted Tesla's arguments that a California federal court had jurisdictional authority to enforce its arbitration win against an ex-Tesla engineer's defamation claims, with one judge noting that Tesla asked to dismiss the engineer's case and it can't now "pretend" the dismissal was a stay order.

  • December 05, 2024

    Black Corrections Worker Says Bias Cost Him 5 Promotions

    A Black and Nigerian-born Ohio prison worker in his sixties accused the prison he once worked in of discriminating against him for his race, his national origin and his age Thursday, claiming in a new lawsuit that he was passed over for five separate promotions because of the purported bias.

  • December 05, 2024

    Jury Backs NYC In Worker's ADA Battle Over Surgery Leave

    A federal jury sided with New York City in an administrative hearing officer's lawsuit claiming supervisors messed with her work assignments because she requested time off for kidney-related surgery, finding she hadn't provided enough evidence to back up her retaliation allegations.

  • December 05, 2024

    UPS Settles Deaf Worker's Suit Over Denied Interpreters

    UPS has reached a deal with a deaf package handler to shutter his suit filed in Wisconsin federal court claiming the delivery company wouldn't provide interpreters for important meetings and blocked him from securing promotions, according to a court filing Thursday.

  • December 05, 2024

    Gossip, Not Pregnancy, Got Secretary Fired, Court Told In Ga.

    A Georgia county and the chief judge of its juvenile court are asking a Georgia federal court for an early dismissal of a suit alleging they fired a secretary because she became pregnant, arguing she was instead fired for spreading a false rumor after being reprimanded.

  • December 05, 2024

    11th Circ. Won't Reopen Security Worker's Pay Bias Case

    The Eleventh Circuit refused to revive a security officer's lawsuit claiming she was paid less than male colleagues and removed from her post after she complained, saying many co-workers she identified had more responsibilities than she did.

Expert Analysis

  • Justices Mull Sex-Based Classification In Trans Law Case

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    After the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in U.S. v. Skrmetti this week, it appears that the fate of the Tennessee law at the center of the case — a law banning gender-affirming healthcare for transgender adolescents — will hinge on whether the majority read the statute as imposing a sex-based classification, says Alexandra Crandall at Dickinson Wright.

  • Pa. Ruling Highlights Challenges Of Employer Arb. Appeals

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    A Pennsylvania federal court's recent ruling in Welch Foods v. General Teamsters Local Union No. 397 demonstrates the inherent difficulties employers face when seeking relief from labor arbitration decisions through appeals in court — and underscores how employers are faced with often conflicting legal priorities, says Daniel Johns at Cozen O'Connor.

  • 7 Ways To Prepare For An I-9 Audit Or Immigration Raid

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    Because immigration enforcement is likely to surge under the upcoming Trump administration, employers should take steps to ensure their staff is trained in employment eligibility verification requirements and what to do in the event of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement I-9 audit or workplace raid, say attorneys at Littler.

  • California Supreme Court's Year In Review

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    Attorneys at Horvitz & Levy highlight notable decisions on major questions from the California Supreme Court's last term, including voter initiatives, hostile work environment and the economic loss rule.

  • Disentangling Various Forms Of Workplace Discrimination

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    Pay inequity can be missed where it exists and misidentified due to incorrect statistics, leaving individuals to face multiple facets of discrimination connected by a common root cause, meaning correct identification and measurement is crucial, says Daniel Levy at Advanced Analytical.

  • Key Requirements In New Maryland Pay Transparency Laws

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    Although several jurisdictions now require pay transparency in job advertisements, Maryland's new law is among the broadest in the country, both in terms of what is required and the scope of its applicability, says Sarah Belger at Quarles & Brady.

  • Lessons From EEOC Case Of Fla. Worker Fired After Stillbirth

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    A recent federal court settlement between a Florida resort and a fired line cook shows that the U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission sees stillbirth as protected under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, also providing four other important lessons, says Gordon Berger at Pierson Ferdinand.

  • Advising Employers As AI Meets DEI And Discrimination

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Though companies can use artificial intelligence tools to develop more diverse and inclusive workforces, counsel should also prepare employers for how AI can stymie these efforts, provoke discrimination claims and complicate resulting litigation, says Emily Schifter at Troutman Pepper.

  • A Look At The Hefty Demands In Calif. Employer AI Draft Regs

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    California's draft regulations on artificial intelligence use in employment decisions show that the California Privacy Protection Agency is positioning itself as a de facto AI regulator for the state, which isn't waiting around for federal legislation, says Lily Li at Metaverse Law.

  • Federal Salary History Ban's Reach Is Limited

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    Though a newly effective Office of Personnel Management rule takes important steps by banning federal employers from considering job applicants' nonfederal salary histories, the rule's narrow applicability and overconfidence in the existing system's fairness will likely not end persistent pay inequities, says Margaret House at Kalijarvi Chuzi.

  • 2nd Circ. Hostile Workplace Ruling Widens Arbitration Pitfalls

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    The Second Circuit’s recent decision, affirming the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act applies to a worker whose workplace hostility claims arose before the law’s 2022 enactment, widens the scope of the law — and the risks of unenforceable arbitration agreements for employers, say attorneys at Hinshaw.

  • Title VII Compliance Lessons From Raytheon Age Bias Suit

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    A Texas federal court’s recent refusal to dismiss age discrimination claims from a former Raytheon employee, terminated after he admitted to acts that Raytheon says violated its harassment policy, nonetheless illustrates strategies employers can use to protect themselves when facing competing Title VII workplace obligations, say attorneys at Segal McCambridge.

  • How The Presidential Election Will Affect Workplace AI Regs

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    The U.S. has so far adopted a light-handed approach to regulating artificial intelligence in the labor and employment area, but the presidential election is unlikely to have as dramatic of an effect on AI regulations as it may on other labor and employment matters, say attorneys at Littler.