Discrimination

  • January 20, 2026

    High Court Won't Review Timeliness Of MSU Bias Suit

    The U.S. Supreme Court refused Tuesday to hear an Asian Michigan State University worker's challenge to a Sixth Circuit ruling that his race and age bias suit had been filed too late, despite his argument that the deadline for filing federal discrimination suits needs to be clarified.

  • January 16, 2026

    Law360 Names Practice Groups Of The Year

    Law360 would like to congratulate the winners of its Practice Groups of the Year awards for 2025, which honor the attorney teams behind litigation wins and significant transaction work that resonated throughout the legal industry this past year.

  • January 16, 2026

    Amazon Fights Class Claims That Clunky HR App Broke ADA

    Amazon urged a Washington federal judge on Thursday to pull the plug for good on a lawsuit from workers who claim the company violated state and federal disability law by dragging its heels on accommodations requests filed through its A to Z human resources app, saying the workers again failed to adequately plead their case.

  • January 16, 2026

    Littler Adds Epstein Becker Employment Litigator In Calif.

    Littler Mendelson PC announced that an attorney from Epstein Becker Green is joining its Century City, California, office as a shareholder, bringing a wealth of experience in employment law. 

  • January 16, 2026

    Bikini Barista Boss Says AG Can't Bring Sex Harassment Suit

    The owner of Seattle-area "bikini barista" company Paradise Espresso urged a state judge to dismiss Washington's lawsuit accusing him of sexual harassment and withholding pay from workers, arguing the state's attorney general lacks authority to bring the case.

  • January 16, 2026

    Legal Nonprofit Settles EEOC Suit Over Atty Fired On Leave

    A Philadelphia legal services organization secured court approval Friday for a $240,000 deal to end a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lawsuit alleging it unlawfully fired a staff attorney who was on leave for post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.

  • January 16, 2026

    Security Guard Gets $5.5M Jury Win In Sex Harassment Case

    A federal jury in Atlanta said that a former security guard who alleged she was sexually harassed and assaulted by her ex-employer's vice president of operations should get $5.5 million in damages, attorneys for the ex-worker announced Friday. 

  • January 16, 2026

    Judge Backs Employment Law Firm's 'Harmless Flirting' Ad

    A New York federal judge said an employment law firm would probably win its constitutional challenge to the rejection of a billboard advertising its willingness to sue companies that dismiss sexual harassment as "harmless flirting," calling a Syracuse airport authority's concerns that the ad pushed false information "nonsense."

  • January 16, 2026

    Maurene Comey Fights DOJ Bid To Toss Firing Suit

    Former Manhattan federal prosecutor Maurene Comey has urged a New York federal court to reject the U.S. Department of Justice's bid to dismiss her firing suit, arguing her claims belong before the district court and not under the jurisdiction of a non-independent board now controlled by the president.

  • January 16, 2026

    J&J Largely Loses Bid To Toss Former Atty's NJ Bias Suit

    A New Jersey federal judge largely shot down Johnson & Johnson's bid to scrap a former company data privacy attorney's racial and gender discrimination suit and rejected its bid to sanction her over the case.

  • January 16, 2026

    11th Circ. Affirms Toss Of Worker's Bias Suit Against UPS

    The Eleventh Circuit has ruled that an Alabama district court rightly tossed a Black worker's discrimination suit against UPS, rejecting her arguments that she should have been allowed to revise her case.

  • January 16, 2026

    2nd Circ. Backs School Official In Librarian's Race Bias Suit

    A Black librarian could not show that race discrimination drove a New York school superintendent to pull a job offer from her, the Second Circuit ruled, affirming a federal judge's decision.

  • January 16, 2026

    La. State Court Greenlights Challenge To Gender Care Ban

    A Louisiana state judge sided with a group of transgender teenagers who argue the state's ban on gender-affirming care for minors is unconstitutional, denying the state's bid to dismiss the case, according to an announcement Friday from the minors' attorneys.

  • January 16, 2026

    NY Forecast: 2nd Circ. Weighs Arbitration Ban In TikTok Case

    This week, the Second Circuit will consider TikTok's bid to overturn a federal judge's decision keeping a former executive's age and gender bias suit in court instead of sending it to arbitration.

  • January 15, 2026

    Univ. Of Arkansas Drops New Law Dean, Reportedly Over Brief

    The ACLU of Arkansas and others Thursday criticized the University of Arkansas for reversing its decision to hire legal scholar Emily Suski as its law school dean, reportedly due to political pressure generated by her support for transgender student athletes in an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court.

  • January 15, 2026

    Air Force Asks Justices Not To Hear COVID Vax Back Pay Case

    The U.S. Air Force urged the U.S. Supreme Court to not hear a reservist's bid for back pay after he refused to follow its now-overturned COVID-19 vaccine mandate on religious grounds, arguing its sovereign immunity bars compensatory damages claims. 

  • January 15, 2026

    Verizon, Calif. Strike Diversity Deal In Frontier Takeover

    California utility regulators approved Verizon's takeover of Frontier Communications' fiber network Thursday, after the wireless giant has reached several agreements to support statewide diversity and digital equity initiatives.

  • January 15, 2026

    Inability To Work In Person Sinks Fired Employee's ADA Suit

    The Fourth Circuit backed the dismissal of a disability bias suit from a worker who claimed a private aircraft servicer fired her for seeking remote work to manage her breast cancer diagnosis, ruling her termination was fair game because she couldn't consistently perform in-person duties critical to her role.

  • January 15, 2026

    Ex-Coach Says NJ University's Gender Bias Led To Her Firing

    An award-winning Montclair State University softball coach told a New Jersey federal court that the university wrongfully fired her following an investigation into alleged misconduct that she said was tainted with gender bias and failed to let her respond.

  • January 15, 2026

    DOJ Targets Minnesota's Affirmative Action Hiring Policies

    The U.S. Department of Justice told a federal court that Minnesota's affirmative action hiring policies for government positions violate civil rights law by handing opportunities to workers based on their identity.

  • January 15, 2026

    2nd Circ. Seems Reluctant To Wrap Up EEOC Union Bias Suit

    The Second Circuit appeared skeptical Thursday of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's push to wind down a more than half-century-old race discrimination case against unions and apprenticeship programs, questioning whether bias still pervaded the organizations' practices.

  • January 15, 2026

    6th Circ. Says Cop's Rap Videos, Not Race Bias, Got Him Fired

    The Sixth Circuit declined to revive a suit from a Black cop who said race bias cost him his job, ruling he couldn't overcome evidence that he was actually terminated for creating and posting rap videos that depicted him brandishing guns and simulating shooting a homeless person.

  • January 14, 2026

    Full 5th Circ. Will Revisit PWFA's Constitutionality

    The Fifth Circuit late Wednesday vacated a split panel opinion allowing enforcement of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act against the state of Texas, granting an en banc rehearing to consider whether the U.S. Constitution required House lawmakers' physical presence to have a quorum when the statute was approved.

  • January 14, 2026

    Wells Fargo Brass Gets 1st OK For 'Fake' Diversity Suit Deal

    A California federal judge has granted the first green light to a settlement reached between Wells Fargo investors and executives in a derivative suit claiming the bank's leadership failed to address the company's discriminatory lending practices and engaged in "fake" interviews with diverse candidates.

  • January 14, 2026

    Judge Questions If Workers' Attys Can Handle AI Bias Class

    A California federal judge called out the attorneys for a proposed class of workers who accused human resources software company Workday of using biased artificial intelligence to screen out job applicants, saying Wednesday that evidence indicated they'd been "asleep at the wheel."

Expert Analysis

  • Challenging A Class Representative's Adequacy And Typicality

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    Recent cases highlight that a named plaintiff cannot certify a putative class action unless they can meet all the applicable requirements of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, so defendants should consider challenging a plaintiff's ability to meet typicality and adequacy requirements early and often, say attorneys at Womble Bond.

  • Age Bias Ruling Holds Harassment Policy Lessons

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    A Kansas federal court's recent decision in Holman v. Textron Aviation, rejecting an employee's assertion that his termination for failing to report harassment was pretextual and due to age bias, provides insight into how courts analyze whether actions are pretextual and offers lessons about enforcing anti-harassment policies, say attorneys at Ogletree.

  • Employer Tips As Deepfakes Reshape Workplace Harassment

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    As the workplace harassment landscape faces the rising threat of fabricated media that hyperrealistically depict employees in sexual or malicious contexts, employers can stay ahead of the curve by tracking new legal obligations, and proactively updating policies, training and response protocols, say attorneys at Littler.

  • How To Balance AI Adoption With Employee Privacy Risks

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    As artificial intelligence transforms the workplace, organizations must learn to leverage AI's capabilities while safeguarding against employee privacy risks and complying with a complex web of regulations, including by vetting vendors, mitigating employee misuse and establishing a governance framework, say attorneys at Jackson Lewis.

  • How Ending OFCCP Will Affect Affirmative Action Obligations

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    As President Donald Trump's administration plans to eliminate the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, which enforces federal contractor antidiscrimination compliance and affirmative action program obligations, contractors should consider the best compliance approaches available to them, especially given the False Claims Act implications, say attorneys at Ogletree.

  • Employer Best Practices For Navigating Worker Separations

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    As job cuts hit several major industries, employers should take steps to minimize their exposure to discrimination claims, information leaks and enforcement challenges, such as maintaining sound documentation, strategic planning and legal coordination, says Mark Romance at Day Pitney.

  • Employer Tips For Responding To ICE In The Workplace

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    Increased immigration enforcement under President Donald Trump's administration has left employers struggling to balance their compliance obligations with their desire to provide a safe workplace, so creating a thorough response plan and training for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's presence at the workplace is crucial, say attorneys at Hanson Bridgett.

  • Handbook Hot Topics: Shifting Worker Accommodation Rules

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    Since President Donald Trump took office, many changes have directly affected how employers must address accommodation requests, particularly those concerning pregnancy-related medical conditions and religious beliefs, underscoring the importance of regularly reviewing and updating accommodation policies and procedures, say attorneys at Kutak Rock.

  • Shifting DEI Expectations Put Banks In Legal Crosshairs

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    The Trump administration's rollbacks on DEI-friendly policies create something of a regulatory catch-22 for banks, wherein strict compliance would contradict established statutory and administrative mandates regarding access to credit for disadvantaged communities, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.

  • Compliance Tips After Court Axes EEOC's Trans Rights Take

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    A Texas federal court's recent decision struck portions of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's 2024 guidance pertaining to sexual orientation and gender identity under Title VII, barring their use nationwide and leaving employers unsure about how to proceed in their compliance efforts, say attorneys at Dorsey & Whitney.

  • 5 Insurance Claims That Could Emerge After NCAA Settlement

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    Following the recent NCAA class action settlement that will allow revenue sharing with college athletes, there may be potential management liability for universities, their executive leadership and boards that could expose insurers to tax, regulatory, breach of contract and other claims, says Sarah Abrams at Baleen Specialty.

  • 8th Circ. Ruling Highlights Complicated Remote Work Analysis

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    The Eighth Circuit’s recent opinion in Kuklenski v. Medtronic USA demonstrates that the applicability of employment laws to remote workers is often a fact-driven analysis, highlighting several parameters to consider when evaluating what state and local laws may apply to employees who work remotely, say attorneys at Vedder Price.

  • Philly Law Initiates New Era Of Worker Protections

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    A new worker protection law in Philadelphia includes, among other measures, a private right of action and recordkeeping requirements that may amount to a lower evidentiary standard, introducing a new level of accountability and additional noncompliance risks for employers, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.