Discrimination

  • October 08, 2025

    Ex-AI Chief Says US Bank Can't Dodge Race Bias Claims

    The former head of U.S. Bank's artificial intelligence efforts says he looped in the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission within the required time frame before suing the bank for discrimination, telling a North Carolina federal judge not to toss his claims.

  • October 08, 2025

    Utility Escapes $5M Disability Bias Award For Fired Worker

    A Washington federal judge scuttled a $5 million jury award for a water utility worker in his disability bias case alleging he was fired for seeking an accommodation for an on-the-job injury, ruling that trial evidence didn't show the ordeal was emotionally taxing enough to justify the multimillion-dollar amount.

  • October 08, 2025

    Tech Services Co. Fired IT Chief For FMLA Request, Court Told

    A provider of business technology services terminated its information technology director after 21 years of service following his request to take time off to care for his wife while she recovered from endometriosis-related surgery, according to a complaint filed in Ohio federal court.

  • October 08, 2025

    3 Bias Petitions To Watch As High Court Term Gets In Gear

    A new U.S. Supreme Court term kicked off this week, and the justices already have several pending petitions on their plates that could impact antidiscrimination law, including a challenge to the high court's landmark same-sex marriage ruling from 2015. Here, Law360 looks at three bids for review that discrimination lawyers should have on their radar.

  • October 08, 2025

    Welder Asks Fla. High Court To Revive Whistleblower Claims

    A welder mechanic asked the Florida Supreme Court on Wednesday to revive his whistleblower retaliation claims against his former employer, Gulf Power Co., arguing that state law requires only that he reasonably believed a violation of law or regulation occurred, not that he have to prove an actual violation.

  • October 08, 2025

    3rd Circ. Upholds Ruling In Debt Collector's Trade Secrets Suit

    A Third Circuit let stand a ruling that work passwords are not trade secrets and that the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act is inapplicable to workplace policy violations in an appeal from a debt collection company suing two former employees.

  • October 08, 2025

    High Court Won't Hear Challenge To Seattle's Caste Bias Ban

    The U.S. Supreme Court declined to review a challenge to Seattle's ban on caste discrimination, turning away a former resident's claims that the ordinance violated the rights of South Asians and Hindus.

  • October 08, 2025

    7th Circ. Backs DePaul In Ex-Instructor's Race Bias Suit

    The Seventh Circuit on Wednesday upheld DePaul University's win over a former religious studies instructor's suit claiming he wasn't rehired because he's Arab American, finding he couldn't overcome the school's explanation that he was let go because of allegations he'd sexually assaulted a student.

  • October 08, 2025

    Black Atty Hits Ga. Public Defender Council With Bias Suit

    The Georgia Public Defender Council and chief public defender in the Atlanta Judicial Circuit were sued by a former assistant public defender who claimed he was fired and faced an "unwarranted" bar complaint after expressing concerns about a demotion that would deprive his unit of its "sole Black male attorney."

  • 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.

Expert Analysis

  • EEOC Wearable Tech Guidance Highlights Monitoring Scrutiny

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's recent fact sheet on wearable technologies cautions against potential issues with federal anti-discrimination laws and demonstrates growing concern from regulators and legislators about intrusive technologies in the workplace, say attorneys at Littler.

  • 4 Employment Law Areas Set To Change Under Trump

    Author Photo

    President Donald Trump's second term is expected to bring significant changes to the U.S. employment law landscape, including the potential for updated worker classification regulations, and challenges to diversity, equity and inclusion that are already taking shape, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • What Employment Bias Litigation Looks Like After Muldrow

    Author Photo

    Nine months after the U.S. Supreme Court created an undemanding standard for discrimination claims in Muldrow v. St. Louis, Eric Schnapper at the University of Washington discusses how the Title VII litigation landscape has changed and what to expect moving forward.

  • 10 Key Worker-Friendly California Employment Law Updates

    Author Photo

    New employment laws in California expand employee rights, transparency and enforcement mechanisms, and failing to educate department managers on these changes could put employers at risk, says Melanie Ronen at Stradley Ronon.

  • How PAGA Reform Can Inform Employer Strategies In 2025

    Author Photo

    While recent changes to California's Private Attorneys General Act will not significantly reduce PAGA claims, employers can use the new law to potentially limit their future exposure, by taking advantage of penalty reduction opportunities and more, say attorneys at Thompson Coburn.

  • How Deregulation Could Undermine Trump's Anti-DEI Agenda

    Author Photo

    While rolling back federal agency power benefited conservative policies during the Biden administration, it will likely undermine President Donald Trump's ability to wield agencies like the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives beyond the federal workforce and into the private sector, says Ally Coll at the Purple Method.

  • Trump Should Pass On Project 2025's Disparate Impact Plan

    Author Photo

    The Trump administration should reject Project 2025's call to eliminate the disparate impact doctrine because, as its pro-business Republican creators intended, a focus on dismantling unnecessary barriers to qualified job candidates serves companies' best interests more successfully than the alternatives, says Susan Carle at American University.

  • Expect A Big Shake Up At The EEOC Under 2nd Trump Admin

    Author Photo

    During President-elect Donald Trump’s second term, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is likely to significantly shift its focus and priorities, especially where workplace DEI initiatives, immigration enforcement, LGBTQ+ rights and pregnancy protections are concerned, say attorneys at Stoel Rives.

  • 4 Novel Issues From The Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni Suits

    Author Photo

    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.

  • Religious Accommodation Lessons From $12.7M Vax Verdict

    Author Photo

    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.

  • Lessons From United's Axed Win In Firing Over Online Pics

    Author Photo

    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.

  • How Trump Admin May Approach AI In The Workplace

    Author Photo

    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.

  • Lessons Learned From 2024's Top FMLA Decisions

    Author Photo

    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.