Discrimination

  • July 09, 2026

    5th Circ. Says Workers Needn't Mitigate Emotional Damages

    Employees who prevail on sexual harassment claims under federal law don't need to take steps to reduce their emotional distress damages, the Fifth Circuit ruled Thursday, affirming a jury's award of compensatory and punitive damages against a regional airline in a case of first impression for the circuit.

  • July 09, 2026

    10th Circ. Won't Revive Bias Claims Against Kansas Judge

    A Kansas court clerk was unable to revive her gender discrimination suit against a state court judge after the Tenth Circuit on Thursday affirmed the lower court's decision to grant Kansas summary judgment on the woman's claims.

  • July 09, 2026

    Colo. Panel Says EFAA Covers Bartender's Retaliation Claim

    A Denver strip club can't arbitrate a former bartender's claim that she was fired for lodging a lawsuit alleging a supervisor sent her unwanted messages, with a Colorado appeals court ruling Thursday that federal law barring arbitration of sexual harassment allegations applied to her entire case.

  • July 09, 2026

    Shell Defends Withholding Worker Race Data From Union

    A National Labor Relations Board judge should toss allegations that three Shell affiliates violated federal labor law by refusing to give the United Steelworkers lists of their employees broken down by race, Shell argued, saying the union has no right to "individualized racial information."

  • July 09, 2026

    Arizona Atty Faces Possible Sanctions Over Bogus Quotes

    An Arizona federal judge is mulling fee sanctions against an attorney found to have included erroneous quotations in a brief she filed in her client's employment discrimination case, amid what he called her history of "improper litigation conduct" in the pending matter and previous cases.

  • July 09, 2026

    Ulta Fired Black Trans Worker Who Reported Bias, Suit Says

    A Black transgender Ulta employee claimed in a California state lawsuit that she was fired by her boss weeks after she filed a discrimination complaint against her superior, who had previously made disparaging remarks about transgender people and communities of color.

  • July 09, 2026

    Sam's Club Reaches Deal With Ex-Worker In Miscarriage Suit

    Sam's Club and a former employee who alleged she suffered a miscarriage after the retailer failed to accommodate work restrictions related to her attempt to become pregnant through in vitro fertilization have reached a settlement.

  • July 09, 2026

    Magistrate Judge Trims Worker's Union Bias Case

    A New York magistrate judge has recommended tossing a discrimination claim in a Black operating engineer's lawsuit claiming that an International Union of Operating Engineers local retaliated against him for opposing the local's job referral hall practices, finding that the worker fell short in proving he was discriminated against.

  • July 09, 2026

    Ex-Associate Says Jackson Lewis Pushed Her Out After Leave

    A former associate attorney who was on the partnership track at Jackson Lewis PC has brought suit against the employment law firm in California state court, alleging that it refused to accommodate her temporary medical restrictions after she returned from leave and pressured her to accept a demotion or resign.

  • July 09, 2026

    7th Circ. Says Educator's Retaliation Case Needs 2nd Look

    The Seventh Circuit reopened an educator's lawsuit alleging that a Wisconsin state agency unlawfully demoted her because she refused to embrace the state education department's views on equity and race, saying a trial court jumped the gun when it tossed her First Amendment claim.

  • July 09, 2026

    DOL Says It Wants To Track When And How Americans Use AI

    The U.S. Department of Labor wants to begin surveying Americans about artificial intelligence in order to better understand how the technology is shaping the way they live and work, according to a Thursday notice from the agency seeking feedback on the data collection effort.

  • July 08, 2026

    3 Things To Know About The EEOC's Deregulatory Push

    The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's recently unveiled, rollback-focused agenda targets policy documents on employee hiring procedures, workers' abortion-related protections, affirmative action programs and national origin discrimination, and promises the elimination of the agency's long-standing worker demographic surveys. Here are three things to know about the EEOC's deregulatory plan.

  • July 08, 2026

    Split 3rd Circ. Revives UPMC Doc's Suit Over Anti-DEI Article

    The Third Circuit partly revived a University of Pittsburgh Medical Center cardiologist's lawsuit over the professional backlash he faced for publishing an article criticizing race-based "affirmative action" in choosing medical students, with the court majority calling his bosses' reaction a defamatory "hit job."

  • July 08, 2026

    9th Circ. Says Netflix Harassment Suit Belongs In Arbitration

    A former Netflix employee must arbitrate her lawsuit alleging the streaming giant fired her for raising concerns about its sexually charged office environment, with the Ninth Circuit ruling Wednesday that her dispute began before a law banning mandatory arbitration of sexual harassment claims took effect.

  • July 08, 2026

    EEOC Says Toy Maker Illegally Fired Pregnant Worker

    A children's toys and home products manufacturer unlawfully fired a pregnant assembly worker after improperly assessing negative attendance points for absences related to her pregnancy and mental health conditions, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleged Wednesday in Ohio federal court.

  • July 08, 2026

    Ga. Judge Rejects UPS Plaintiff's Bid To Force Recusal

    A Georgia federal judge reportedly disciplined for having sexual intercourse in her chambers and attending a political event has opted not to recuse herself in the case of a former UPS employee in his dismissed racial discrimination lawsuit.

  • July 08, 2026

    UNC Must Face Retaliation Suit Over Abbreviated Fellowship

    The University of North Carolina can't escape an ophthalmologist's lawsuit alleging it shortened his fellowship for complaining that a colleague mistreated him because he's Egyptian and in his 40s, with a federal judge finding enough evidence to link his complaint to the decision to let him go.

  • July 08, 2026

    2nd Circ. Won't Reinstate Ex-UConn Prof's Race Bias Suit

    The Second Circuit backed the dismissal Wednesday of an Asian American former professor's race bias suit against the University of Connecticut, ruling he hasn't shown he was treated differently from white colleagues when he was accused of misusing funds and having a romantic relationship with a subordinate.

  • July 08, 2026

    Ex-Worker Says KPMG Fired Him For Resisting Easter Work

    Accounting giant KPMG LLP fired a manager for complaining that his supervisors fabricated negative performance feedback to justify an unwarranted performance improvement plan after he objected to working on religious holidays, according to a lawsuit filed in Georgia federal court.

  • July 08, 2026

    McDonald's Ends Suit Alleging Rampant Sex Harassment

    McDonald's has struck a deal with two workers to end their proposed class action claiming the fast food giant allowed sexual harassment to go unchecked in its restaurants, prompting an Illinois federal judge to formally shutter the case.

  • July 07, 2026

    Entrepreneur Can't Sue Over Ex-Worker's Hill Testimony

    The D.C. Circuit on Tuesday nixed a multimillionaire executive's defamation suit against a former employee whose testimony to Congress helped secure passage of a law barring the arbitration of sexual assault and harassment claims, litigation that also sought to undo an arbitral award favoring the former employee.

  • July 07, 2026

    9th Circ. Appears Icy Toward Calif. Captive Meeting Law

    The Ninth Circuit seemed hesitant Tuesday to unblock a 2-year-old California law that prohibits employers from punishing workers for skipping what are commonly known as captive audience meetings in which companies convey views about political or religious topics, with two judges suggesting that the statute infringes on employers' free speech rights.  

  • July 07, 2026

    Vape Co. Accused Of Racial Bias Toward Black Manager

    A retail marketing manager for a high-end maker of cannabis vape products, Puffco, claims she was subjected to daily race- and gender-based harassment, functionally demoted after taking medical leave and then retaliated against after complaining to HR, according to a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County court.

  • July 07, 2026

    6th Circ. Revives Pilot's Disability Claims In Vaccination Row

    In an unpublished opinion issued Monday, a Sixth Circuit panel revived some disability claims brought against Kalitta Air LLC by a cargo pilot after he was fired for refusing to get a second COVID-19 vaccine because he suffered a severe reaction from the first dose.

  • July 07, 2026

    Mayo Sacked Research Director For Flagging Flaws, Suit Says

    Mayo Clinic retaliated against and eventually terminated its director of research operations after she brought up concerns about security, safety and privacy regarding the medical center's use of artificial intelligence and other protocols, according to a lawsuit filed in Minnesota federal court on Monday.

Expert Analysis

  • 7 Tips For Employers On Calif. Decision-Making Tech Rules

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    Over the next eight months, many California employers must prepare to comply with challenging new requirements under the California Consumer Privacy Act that constitute the most comprehensive set of rules in the country on the use of automated decision-making technology, say attorneys at Littler.

  • What To Know About NY's Employment Credit Check Ban

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    An amendment to the New York state Fair Credit Reporting Act prohibiting applicants' or employees' consumer credit history from being used in employment-related decisions statewide will take effect in a few days, so employers should update policies, train teams and audit positions for narrow exemptions, say attorneys at Reed Smith.

  • Gender-Expansive Calif. Equal Pay Laws Widen Employer Risk

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    California's recent amendments to strengthen its Equal Pay Act and Pay Transparency Act aim to shrink the wage gap, not only for women, but also for nonbinary and transgender employees, creating new compliance obligations for employers and increasing their potential exposure, say attorneys at the Jhaveri-Weeks Firm.

  • AI Recruiting Suit Shows Old Laws May Implicate New Tools

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    The Fair Credit Reporting Act allegations recently filed in Kistler v. Eightfold AI, are the latest example of broad definitional language in legacy statutes proving far more dangerous to companies deploying artificial intelligence – particularly in hiring – than any purpose-built artificial intelligence regulation, say attorneys at Ogletree.

  • What's Missing From Latest Gov't Claims Against Harvard

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    The most interesting thing about the Trump administration’s recent civil rights enforcement efforts targeting Harvard University is its decision not to assert violations of the False Claims Act when given the opportunity, despite signals that its enforcement efforts will include use of the federal FCA, say attorneys at Bass Berry.

  • Preparing For New Calif. Pay Data Reporting Requirements

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    California's S.B. 464 overhauls the state's pay data reporting framework by requiring employers to use job categories that are based on the Standard Occupational Classification system, increasing both the potential visibility of pay disparities and the complexity of compliance, say attorneys at Kaufman Dolowich.

  • Justices May Hesitate To Limit Courts' Arbitration Review

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    Based on Monday's argument in Jules v. Andre Balazs, the U.S. Supreme Court seems poised to preserve federal jurisdiction over arbitral award enforcement stemming from actions originated in federal court, a holding that would markedly limit the court's 2022 Walters v. Badgerow decision, says Ashwini Jayaratnam at DarrowEverett.

  • Spotlight On Legal Battles Over EEOC Subpoena Powers

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    Attorneys at Wilson Elser consider the spate of litigation over the past year, spurred by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s focus on alleged religious discrimination at universities, and corporate diversity, equity and inclusion practices, and how it may affect the attempts to assert privacy rights against the agency's broad subpoena powers.

  • NFL Hiring Bias Ruling Signals Trend Away From Arbitration

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    A New York federal court's recent decision in Flores v. NFL, declining to compel arbitration in a class action alleging racial discrimination in the league's hiring practices, reflects courts' increasing reluctance to allow private dispute resolution for systemic discrimination claims, says Masood Ali at Segal McCambridge.

  • Flashpoints In Focus: Harassment At Work After Epstein Files

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    The recent release of millions of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking scheme has renewed a movement to hold perpetrators of sexual assault and harassment responsible, making it a perfect time for employers to ensure they have a strong system for preventing and addressing workplace harassment, say attorneys at Seyfarth.

  • NYC Leave Law Expands Compliance Beyond Written Policies

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    Following recent amendments to New York City's Earned Safe and Sick Time Act that expand its uses, give employees 32 hours of immediately available time off and create a right to request schedule changes, compliance now turns on whether employees can use time off without facing barriers or discipline, say attorneys at Polsinelli.

  • 3rd Circ. Must Reject EEOC's Flawed Equal Pay Theory

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    To avoid illogical outcomes, the Third Circuit, in Cartee-Haring and Marinello v. Central Bucks School District, should refute the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s recently filed amicus brief in support of the plaintiffs’ bias claims based on pay compared with one single co-worker, say Allan King at Littler and Stephen Bronars at Edgeworth Economics.

  • How Cos. Should Prepare For NY RAISE Act Compliance

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    With the New York Responsible AI Safety and Education Act taking effect March 19, state regulators will expect subject artificial intelligence governance policies to understand whether appropriate safeguards and protocols are in place to prevent or mitigate discriminatory or adverse outcomes by frontier models, says Michael Paulino at Gordon Rees.