Discrimination

  • October 08, 2025

    Georgia Public Defender's Office Must Face Atty's Bias Suit

    A Georgia federal judge on Tuesday allowed an attorney's claims of race and gender bias against the Chattahoochee Circuit Public Defender's Office and its leader to move forward, but dismissed claims against the state's Public Defender Standards Council and its leader.

  • October 08, 2025

    7th Circ. Won't Rethink Reviving Christian Teacher's Bias Suit

    The Seventh Circuit declined a school district's invitation to revisit a panel opinion that reinstated a religious bias suit from a Christian teacher who said he was forced to quit because he wouldn't refer to transgender students by their preferred names.

  • October 07, 2025

    NY Appeals Court Nixes Chris Cuomo's Arbitrator Bias Claim

    Ex-CNN anchor Chris Cuomo on Tuesday could not convince a New York appeals court to revive his bid to disqualify the JAMS arbitrator overseeing his $125 million unlawful termination claim against CNN due to the arbitrator's representation of the news network more than two decades ago.

  • October 07, 2025

    9th Circ. Rejects 'Kitchen Sink' Challenge To Vaccine Mandate

    A Ninth Circuit panel on Monday upheld a lower court's rejection of a lawsuit brought by dozens of former employees of a nonprofit healthcare system who claimed Washington state's requirement that healthcare workers be vaccinated against COVID-19 violated their statutory and constitutional rights.

  • October 07, 2025

    9th Circ. Ruling Endorses Broad Approach To Age Bias Claims

    The Ninth Circuit's reinstatement of an age discrimination lawsuit against a convenience store chain upended a trial judge's strict take on the rules for pursuing such cases, a development that means courts and litigants should take a comprehensive view when assessing the viability of older workers' bias claims, experts said.

  • October 07, 2025

    9th Circ. Cuts Atty Fee Award In Cop's Retaliation Suit

    The Ninth Circuit on Tuesday slashed an approximately $600,000 attorney fee award in a city police officer's retaliation case, saying a trial court's adjustment based on the supposed risk plaintiff's counsel assumed by taking on the lawsuit contributed to a $200,000 miscalculation.

  • October 07, 2025

    5th Circ. Upends $8M Race Bias Win For Black City Manager

    The Fifth Circuit scrapped an $8 million verdict Tuesday for a Black city manager in his racial bias case against the Texas municipality that fired him, unpersuaded that discrimination played any role in the city's effort to recoup his $400,000 severance package.

  • October 07, 2025

    Senate Confirms Trump's Pick For EEOC, Restoring Quorum

    The Senate voted along party lines Tuesday to confirm an assistant U.S. attorney to serve on the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, restoring the agency to its full decision-making capacity after months without a quorum.

  • October 07, 2025

    NC Housing Authority Fights $2.3M Hostile Workplace Verdict

    The public housing authority in Charlotte, North Carolina, said a jury should never have heard evidence about alleged discrimination in one of its programs during a former coordinator's hostile work environment trial, telling a federal judge to reverse the $2.3 million verdict or order a new trial.

  • October 07, 2025

    Ex-Reed Smith Atty Says NJ Pay Bias Law Goes Back 6 Years

    A former Reed Smith LLP attorney suing the firm for gender discrimination told a New Jersey appeals court Tuesday that a 2018 equal pay law was intended by the Legislature to be a "game changer" and be applied retroactively, expanding the scope of her claims.

  • October 07, 2025

    Walgreens Seeks Atty Sanctions For 'Baseless' Claims

    Walgreens has called on a Georgia federal judge to slap sanctions on counsel for a former pharmacist suing the chain for discrimination, arguing that she should pay for the company's efforts to dismiss a handful of claims with "no legal basis" after her attorney refused to voluntarily drop them.

  • October 07, 2025

    Accenture Settles With Worker Who Blamed His Firing On DEI

    Consulting firm Accenture has agreed to resolve a sex bias suit from a former employee who alleged that the company declined to promote him and eventually fired him so it could advance less experienced women to achieve gender parity goals, according to an Illinois federal court filing.

  • October 07, 2025

    Air Medic Ends EEOC Disability Bias Suit Over Nixed Job Offer

    A helicopter ambulance company has agreed to pay an air mechanic $59,000 to resolve a disability bias suit in an Alabama federal court from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging the business yanked back a job transfer offer because the worker was prescribed opioids.

  • October 06, 2025

    Ex-USAID Contractors Call Trump Cuts Political Retaliation

    Former contractors employed by the U.S. Agency for International Development claim their contracts were unlawfully terminated en masse because the Trump administration believed their work functioned as "indirect financial support for the Democratic Party," according to a lawsuit filed in the Court of Federal Claims.

  • October 06, 2025

    Morgan Stanley Race Bias Suit In NY Closed After Settlement

    A decade-old suit accusing Morgan Stanley of discriminating against its African American financial advisers and depriving them of lucrative opportunities has come to a close after the final plaintiff reached a settlement with the financial institution.

  • October 06, 2025

    2nd Circ. Declines To Reconsider NFL Arbitration Decision

    The Second Circuit on Monday declined the NFL's request to reconsider its finding that the league offers arbitration "in name only" and that it cannot force fired Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores to arbitrate his racial discrimination claims.

  • October 06, 2025

    6th Circ. Backs Firing Over Graffiti, Rejects Bias Claims

    The Sixth Circuit on Monday upheld the dismissal of a fired delivery driver's claim that his employer used allegations he painted crass graffiti on trusses as a facade to let him go for making a disability claim, finding no strong link between his workers' compensation request and his later termination.

  • October 06, 2025

    Amtrak Settles Black Worker's Bias Suit Alleging Union Snubs

    Amtrak and a labor union have agreed to settle a Black conductor's suit alleging she was blocked from securing senior union committee assignments out of bias against her race, age and gender, according to a Monday docket entry in Connecticut federal court.

  • October 06, 2025

    Meta Accused Of Retaliation In Pregnancy Discrimination Suit

    A former manager for Meta claims in a lawsuit filed in California federal court Friday that the company discriminated against her for pregnancy-related leave, giving her unfair reviews and overloading her with work before firing her weeks after she reported bias to the human resources department.

  • October 06, 2025

    Ex-Aldi Employee Accuses Grocery Chain Of Retaliation

    Supermarket chain Aldi targeted and wrongfully fired a former risk analyst because of her disability that at times caused her to have anxiety attacks, according to a lawsuit in Illinois federal court.

  • October 06, 2025

    HVAC Co. Ends EEOC Suit Over Missing Workforce Reports

    An HVAC products manufacturer has reached a deal with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission promising to file future annual workforce demographic data reports with the agency, after the EEOC filed a suit in Texas federal court accusing the business of shirking reporting requirements.

  • October 06, 2025

    Atty Awarded $203K Despite 'Borderline Frivolous' ADA Claim

    A federal judge in Washington state has confirmed a $203,523 JAMS arbitration award issued to a Seattle-area lawyer, permanently ending the attorney's disability bias suit against a personal injury firm he alleged fired him over an alcoholism relapse.

  • October 06, 2025

    Walmart Settles EEOC Suit Over Sign Language Interpreters

    Walmart has agreed just days before a trial was set to start in Kansas federal court to pay two deaf workers $300,000 to resolve a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission suit claiming the retail giant said it couldn't afford to provide the employees with on-the-job interpreters.

  • October 06, 2025

    Justices Won't Review EFAA's Effect On Wage Claims

    The U.S. Supreme Court rejected on Monday an invitation to consider whether the 3-year-old Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act can also push workers' wage and hour claims into federal court.

  • October 06, 2025

    Justices Skip Unpaid Texas Tech Mentor's Retaliation Suit

    The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to review a former Texas Tech University graduate research assistant's suit alleging she lost an unpaid mentor position for complaining about a professor's sexual harassment, leaving intact the Fifth Circuit's finding that she wasn't technically an employee.

Expert Analysis

  • 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

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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.

  • Eye On Compliance: ADA Accommodations For Obesity

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    As the classification of "obesity" as a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act continues to evolve, employers should note federal district and state court deviations from U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission guidelines, which have deemed obesity to be a qualifying impairment, no matter the cause, says Lauren Stadler at Wilson Elser.

  • 3rd. Circ. Ruling Shows Employers Where To Put ADA Focus

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    A recent Third Circuit decision in Morgan v. Allison Crane & Rigging, confirming that the Americans with Disabilities Act protects some temporarily impaired employees, reminds employers to pursue compliance through uniform policies that head off discriminatory decisions, not after-the-fact debates over an individual's disability status, says Joseph McGuire at Freeman Mathis.