Discrimination

  • January 28, 2025

    5th Circ. Says Ex-Teacher's Race Bias Suit Needs 2nd Look

    The Fifth Circuit revived a Black former teacher's suit claiming a Texas charter school ignored her complaints that she faced racist jokes and was denied opportunities because of her race, ruling a lower court needs to reassess whether the school has sovereign immunity.

  • January 28, 2025

    Colo. Atty Hits DC-Area Law Firm With Bias Suit Over Firing

    A Colorado attorney has sued the Washington, D.C.-area firm Volkov Law Group, alleging it discriminated against her based on age and gender when she was "abruptly and unlawfully fired" in October 2023 at the age of 56, and accusing the firm of wrongfully withholding wages.

  • January 28, 2025

    Kosher Worker Wants 9th Circ. Redo In Unpaid OT Suit

    A Ninth Circuit panel erroneously gave religious institutions complete immunity when it held that an Orthodox Jewish organization does not have to face a food worker's suit alleging he was stiffed on overtime pay, he told the appeals court in his bid for rehearing.

  • January 28, 2025

    Berry Appleman, Ex-Tech Lead Resolve Disability Bias Suit

    Berry Appleman & Leiden struck a deal to end a former software tech lead's suit claiming the global immigration firm fired him because side effects from new medication caused him to ask for a reprieve from his demanding workload, according to a filing in Texas federal court.

  • January 27, 2025

    VA To Nix $6.1M In Contracts Under Trump's DEI Order

    The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced Monday that it has placed dozens of employees on paid leave and will cancel $6.1 million worth of contracts as part of efforts to root out diversity, equity and inclusion activities.

  • January 27, 2025

    EEOC Scrubs Info On LGBTQ Bias, AI, Diversity From Website

    The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has recently pulled down a slew of online resources on LGBTQ worker protections and artificial intelligence-based discrimination, as well as a report about unequal opportunity in the high-tech sector.

  • January 27, 2025

    Legal Aid Attys Fight To Keep Suit Over Union Palestine Vote

    The Association of Legal Aid Attorneys infringed on three members' rights by moving to expel them for trying to stop the union from voting on a controversial pro-Palestine resolution, the attorneys said, asking a New York federal judge to preserve claims that the union violated labor and anti-discrimination laws.

  • January 27, 2025

    CVS Can't Beat Catholic Nurse's Suit Over Contraceptive Care

    CVS Health Corp. can't beat a former nurse's lawsuit claiming the pharmacy chain unlawfully tried to force her to provide contraception to patients despite her Catholic beliefs, with a Florida federal judge saying jurors should weigh whether it would've been too difficult for the company to provide an accommodation.

  • January 27, 2025

    SEC OKs Nasdaq Pulling Diversity Rules After 5th Circ. Loss

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has greenlighted Nasdaq's proposal to undo the exchange's rules requiring that companies listed on it disclose board diversity data, following a narrow, en banc ruling from the Fifth Circuit last month finding the rules ran afoul of federal securities law.

  • January 27, 2025

    Suit Over Gender Dysphoria Rule Frozen After Trump Order

    A Texas federal judge paused a Republican lawsuit challenging a former President Joe Biden-era U.S. Health and Human Services rule defining gender dysphoria as a disability, after the agency said it needed to evaluate the impact of a new executive order targeting "gender ideology."

  • January 27, 2025

    Plaintiffs-Side Firm Katz Banks Kumin Opens NY Office

    Plaintiffs-side firm Katz Banks Kumin LLP announced on Monday the opening of a New York City office boasting four attorneys, including three new attorney hires.

  • January 27, 2025

    Judge Tosses Bias Suit Over Deadlines, AI-Generated Filings

    A D.C. federal judge has dismissed the remaining age-discrimination claim in a lawsuit filed by former D.C. Department of Public Works employees after the remaining plaintiff failed to comply with discovery deadlines and submitted filings with inaccurate citations, further raising concerns about the use of AI-generated content.

  • January 27, 2025

    Employment Group Of The Year: Gibson Dunn

    Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP scored significant employer-side wins this year, including a Texas federal court's decision to nationally invalidate a federal rule banning noncompetes and defeating misclassification claims against Uber in Massachusetts, once again earning the firm a spot among the 2024 Law360 Employment Groups of the Year.

  • January 27, 2025

    EEOC Drops Suit Seeking Settlement Cash From Delivery Co.

    The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission dropped a suit against a food delivery company claiming it failed to fulfill its end of a settlement resolving a former worker's disability bias charge, telling a Virginia federal court that the company paid the missing cash.

  • January 27, 2025

    Philly VA Worker Fired Over Pregnancy Leave, Suit Says

    A food service worker at the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center was denied her leave and accommodation requests during her pregnancy and eventually fired for being absent too much, she said in a suit filed in Pennsylvania federal court.

  • January 27, 2025

    Plastics Co. Settles EEOC Race Bias, Retaliation Suit

    A plastics manufacturer will pay a Black former worker $60,000 to settle a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission suit brought in Wisconsin federal court claiming the business fired him days after he complained that a white worker leveled racial slurs at him.

  • January 24, 2025

    Companies Risk White House Wrath By Keeping DEI Programs

    For companies pushing forward with their diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives amid a torrent of attacks from President Donald Trump and his allies, there are myriad potential risks ahead — and murky questions about the legal parameters of Trump's anti-DEI agenda.

  • January 24, 2025

    Mich. Justices Pass On FCA Employee's Racial Slur Appeal

    The Michigan Supreme Court on Friday refused to revive a Black man's racial discrimination lawsuit that alleged his supervisor at FCA US LLC regularly called him a racial slur, although two justices, while concurring with the decision, disagreed that the man insufficiently alleged a racially hostile work environment.

  • January 24, 2025

    DOL Ends All Contractor Bias Probes Following Trump Order

    The U.S. Department of Labor on Friday halted all investigations and enforcement in the wake of President Donald Trump's executive order earlier this week pulling a longstanding, core legal authority used to prevent federal contractors from discriminating against workers.

  • January 24, 2025

    Ex-Koch Managers Ask 11th. Circ. To Undo Assault Verdict

    The Eleventh Circuit on Friday considered whether to reverse assault and battery verdicts against two former Koch Foods human resource managers accused of inviting an employee to their home, propositioning her and subjecting her to disciplinary action at work when she refused their advances.

  • January 24, 2025

    BCBS Has 'High Hurdle' For New $13M Trial, Mich. Judge Says

    A Michigan federal judge on Friday told Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan it had a "high hurdle" to meet for him to say a new trial is warranted, after a jury awarded almost $13 million to a worker who was fired after being denied religious accommodation from the company's COVID-19 mandatory vaccine policy.

  • January 24, 2025

    4 Pitfalls Employers Face When They Wean Off Remote Work

    President Donald Trump issued an executive order on his first day in office requiring nearly all federal employees to return to physical offices, a shift away from telework that some private sector companies are also embracing. Here, experts discuss four errors that private employers make when implementing return-to-work policies.

  • January 24, 2025

    EEOC Disability Bias Suit Tossed Following Nixed Evidence

    A mortgage and financial services company on Friday defeated a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lawsuit alleging it unlawfully refused to hire a woman because she took pain medication, after a Washington federal judge ruled midtrial that a key piece of evidence shouldn't have been shown to jurors.

  • January 24, 2025

    'Vanderpump Rules' Alum's Racism Suit Sent To Arbitration

    A Los Angeles judge has ordered arbitration in "Vanderpump Rules" alum Faith Stowers' racism lawsuit against NBCUniversal Media and Bravo, saying the reality TV personality's contracts clearly required such disputes to be handled outside of court.

  • January 24, 2025

    LA Prosecutors Close Marilyn Manson Probe Without Charges

    Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman announced Friday he's declining to bring criminal charges against rock star Marilyn Manson, saying domestic violence allegations fall outside the statute of limitations and the office is unable to prove various women's sexual assault claims beyond a reasonable doubt.

Expert Analysis

  • Breaking Down EEOC's Final Rule To Implement The PWFA

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    Attorneys at Littler highlight some of the key provisions of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's final rule and interpretive guidance implementing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which is expected to be effective June 18, and departures from the proposed rule issued in August 2023.

  • How To Prepare As Employee Data Reporting Deadlines Near

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    As filing deadlines approach, government contractors and private companies alike should familiarize themselves with recent changes to federal and California employee data reporting requirements and think strategically about registration of affirmative action plans to minimize the risk of being audited, say Christopher Durham and Zev Grumet-Morris at Duane Morris.

  • Address Complainants Before They Become Whistleblowers

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    A New York federal court's dismissal of a whistleblower retaliation claim against HSBC Securities last month indicates that ignored complaints to management combined with financial incentives from regulators create the perfect conditions for a concerned and disgruntled employee to make the jump to federal whistleblower, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • Why Corporate DEI Challenges Increasingly Cite Section 1981

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    As legal challenges to corporate diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives increase in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on race-conscious college admissions last year, Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act is supplanting Title VII as conservative activist groups' weapon of choice, say Mike Delikat and Tierra Piens at Orrick.

  • Inside OMB's Update On Race And Ethnicity Data Collection

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    The Office of Management and Budget's new guidelines for agency collection of data on race and ethnicity reflect societal changes and the concerns of certain demographics, but implementation may be significantly burdensome for agencies and employers, say Joanna Colosimo and Bill Osterndorf at DCI Consulting.

  • New Wash. Laws Employers Should Pay Attention To

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    The Washington Legislature ended its session last month after passing substantial laws that should prompt employers to spring into action — including a broadened equal pay law to cover classes beyond gender, narrowed sick leave payment requirements for construction workers and protections for grocery workers after a merger, say Hannah Ard and Alayna Piwonski at Lane Powell.

  • The Shifting Landscape Of Physician Disciplinary Proceedings

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    Though hospitals have historically been able to terminate doctors' medical staff privileges without fear of court interference, recent case law has demonstrated that the tides are turning, especially when there is evidence of unlawful motivations, say Dylan Newton and Michael Horn at Archer & Greiner.

  • Anti-DEI Complaints Filed With EEOC Carry No Legal Weight

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    Recently filed complaints against several companies' diversity, equity and inclusion programs alleging unlawful discrimination against white people do not require a response from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and should not stop employers from rooting out ongoing discriminatory practices, says former EEOC general counsel David Lopez.

  • How DEI Programs Are Being Challenged In Court And Beyond

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    In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's affirmative action decision last year declaring the consideration of race in university admissions unconstitutional, employers should keep abreast of recent litigation challenging diversity, equity and inclusion training programs, as well as legislation both supporting and opposing DEI initiatives in the workplace, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • What Minority Biz Law Ruling Could Mean For Private DEI

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    A Texas federal court’s recent decision to strike down key provisions of the Minority Business Development Act illustrates the wide-reaching effects of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2023 Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard decision across legal contexts, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.

  • Texas Hair Bias Ruling Does Not Give Employers A Pass

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    A Texas state court’s recent decision, holding that a school could discipline a student with locs for refusing to cut his hair, should not be interpreted by employers as a license to implement potentially discriminatory grooming policies, says Dawn Holiday at Jackson Walker.

  • Broadway Ruling Puts Discrimination Claims In The Limelight

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    A New York federal court's recent decision in Moore v. Hadestown Broadway that the employers' choice to replace a Black actor with a white actor was shielded by the First Amendment is the latest in a handful of rulings zealously protecting hiring decisions in casting, say Anthony Oncidi and Dixie Morrison at Proskauer.

  • Breaking Down California's New Workplace Violence Law

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    Ilana Morady and Patrick Joyce at Seyfarth discuss several aspects of a new California law that requires employers to create and implement workplace violence prevention plans, including who is covered and the recordkeeping and training requirements that must be in place before the law goes into effect on July 1.