Discrimination

  • June 17, 2025

    Ex-Stone Hilton Employee Adds Sexual Harassment Claim

    A onetime executive assistant has expanded a federal lawsuit against her ex-employer Stone Hilton PLLC — founded by former top prosecutors in the Texas attorney general's office — to include a sexual harassment claim after the Texas Workforce Commission found there is reasonable cause.

  • June 17, 2025

    EEOC Says Survey Sent In Walmart ADA Suit Is Privileged

    The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission shouldn't have to turn over communications with potential class members and third parties in its suit alleging Walmart used a training test to disqualify workers with disabilities, the agency told an Arkansas federal court, arguing that the information is private and protected.

  • June 17, 2025

    Fuel Co. Says Fired CEO's 'Incompetence' Dooms Bias Suit

    A Michigan-based petroleum distributor urged a federal judge to toss its ex-CEO's suit claiming she was fired from the family-run business out of gender and disability bias, arguing that her claims fall flat against evidence that she was sacked for years of lackluster profits under her leadership.

  • June 17, 2025

    2nd Circ. Seems Inclined To Uphold FedEx Race Bias Win

    A Black fired FedEx driver may not have laid out sufficient evidence to get his race discrimination and retaliation suit revived, a Second Circuit panel indicated Tuesday, with one judge saying she wasn't sure how the facts he had presented would be enough for an initial case.

  • June 16, 2025

    Davis Wright Must Face Employment Atty's Defamation Claim

    A Washington state judge refused to toss in their entirety an employment attorney's defamation claims against Davis Wright Tremaine LLP and other firm partners, finding Washington's Uniform Public Expression Protection Act shields the firm from some of the attorney's allegations, but not all.

  • June 16, 2025

    Tyler Perry Hit With 'The Oval' Actor's $260M Sex Assault Suit

    Actor Derek Dixon has accused Tyler Perry of sexually harassing and assaulting him while he was a series regular on the media mogul's political drama, "The Oval," and then retaliating against Dixon when he didn't reciprocate Perry's unwanted advances, according to the actor's $260 million lawsuit filed in Los Angeles.

  • June 16, 2025

    Nurse Lost Job Over Co.'s Belief He Was Trans, Suit Says

    A medical staffing agency misidentified a gay nurse as transgender and unlawfully revoked his job assignment because of his sexual orientation before forcing him out of the company, the worker claimed Monday in North Carolina federal court.

  • June 16, 2025

    Google Says 'Raucous' Pro-Palestine Protests Doom Bias Suit

    Google urged a California judge Monday to toss a proposed class action claiming it illegally fired employees for holding protests at work challenging the company's connections to the Israeli military, arguing civil rights law doesn't protect employees when they turn the workplace into a "raucous theatre."

  • June 16, 2025

    Lowe's Faces Worker Class Claims Over Tobacco Surcharge

    Lowe's overcharges its employees for health insurance if they are tobacco users in violation of federal benefits law, according to a proposed class action filed Monday in North Carolina federal court.

  • June 16, 2025

    Unions Can't Sue Over Canceled Columbia Funds, Judge Says

    A New York federal judge on Monday dismissed two unions' challenge to the Trump administration's decision ending $400 million in funding to Columbia University, saying the unions cannot sue over funding that was never theirs.

  • June 16, 2025

    Ex-Fox News Host, Employee Agree To End Sex Assualt Case

    Former Fox News anchor Ed Henry has settled a lawsuit brought by a former producer who accused him of rape and sexual assault, according to a stipulation of dismissal filed in New York federal court on Monday.

  • June 16, 2025

    HIV, AIDS Patients Denied Class Cert. In CVS Bias Fight

    A California federal judge has refused to certify a proposed class of HIV and AIDS patients alleging CVS Pharmacy Inc. violated federal disability bias protections by making their medication harder to access, finding the proposed group failed to meet the commonality standards under federal law. 

  • June 16, 2025

    ABA Sues Over Trump's 'Law Firm Intimidation Policy'

    The American Bar Association sued dozens of federal officials and agencies in D.C. federal court Monday, saying President Donald Trump and his administration have used the executive branch's vast powers "to coerce lawyers and law firms to abandon clients, causes and policy positions" he doesn't like.

  • June 16, 2025

    Worker Asks 4th Circ. To Rethink Tossed Pregnancy Bias Suit

    A former medical center worker who claims she was fired out of pregnancy bias urged the Fourth Circuit to reconsider upholding the dismissal of her suit, arguing the panel ignored evidence that she performed her job successfully when crediting her ex-employer's defense that she was fired for subpar work.

  • June 16, 2025

    Meta, Shutterstock Say Ex-Worker Must Arbitrate Pay Bias Suit

    A former Giphy engineer should arbitrate her lawsuit claiming Meta, and later Shutterstock, paid her less than male colleagues when they took over the online GIF database, the tech companies told a New York federal court, arguing she can't avoid an agreement she signed when Meta began its acquisition.

  • June 16, 2025

    Former DOJ Worker's Disability Bias Suit Trimmed In Texas

    A Texas federal judge has cut out several claims, including those alleging a hostile work environment, from a former Department of Justice human resources employee's lawsuit, leaving intact only claims for retaliation and disability discrimination relating to the termination of her employment.

  • June 16, 2025

    Ga. Judge Won't Revive Attorney's Lien On Former Client

    The former attorney of a onetime Georgia county auditor cannot recover attorney fees from her earlier representation of the auditor in a whistleblower suit, a federal judge has ruled, finding she failed to prove she was prevented from fully and fairly litigating her case.

  • June 16, 2025

    Ex-Employee Accuses NFL's Chiefs Of Racial Bias After Firing

    The Kansas City Chiefs' former director of player engagement is accusing the team in Missouri federal court of unjustly firing him and retaliating against him because he is Black, and that other Black employees received disproportionate treatment compared to white workers.

  • June 16, 2025

    5th Circ. Won't Keep Dish Bias Case Out Of Arbitration

    The Fifth Circuit reinstated a Hispanic former Dish Network employee's suit claiming he was forced out in favor of a younger, white worker, but said the case had to remain in arbitration because he hadn't shown an agreement he signed was invalid.

  • June 16, 2025

    Town Pushed Out Older, Black Worker Out Of Bias, Suit Says

    A North Carolina town forced a Black worker to retire due to his age after refusing to properly staff and fund his wastewater treatment facility with the same resources handed to white managers, he said in a race and age bias suit in federal court.

  • June 16, 2025

    High Court Won't Revisit Landmark Religious Freedom Ruling

    The U.S. Supreme Court vacated and remanded a case from a Roman Catholic diocese in New York on Monday, bypassing for now the chance to overturn a landmark ruling that restricts First Amendment religious freedom challenges.

  • June 13, 2025

    Jefferson Health Hit With Disability Bias Suit By Ex-Director

    A longtime Thomas Jefferson University Hospital employee filed a retaliation suit in New Jersey state court Wednesday alleging she was ousted from her job for taking sick time and blowing the whistle about what she considered to be improper vendor relationships and language in a grant application.

  • June 13, 2025

    Fired CSX Worker Says FMLA Claims Are Timely

    A former CSX Transportation Inc. employee's suit claiming he was fired for taking leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act were on pause while a similar class action was being litigated, he told a Florida federal judge Friday, urging the court to reject the transport company's dismissal bid.

  • June 13, 2025

    Employment Lawyers' Weekly DEI Cheat Sheet

    A California federal judge partially blocked President Donald Trump's executive order targeting governmental diversity and inclusion policies, the anti-DEI group founded by Trump advisor Stephen Miller called for a federal investigation into Johnson & Johnson, and a new study from New York University School of Law flagged the risks of DEI retreat.

  • June 13, 2025

    PwC Can't Get Sex Harassment Suit Kicked To Arbitration

    A New York federal judge declined to toss a former PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP principal's lawsuit alleging male colleagues berated her and took credit for her work before forcing her out, ruling a law curbing mandatory arbitration covered claims that she was mistreated because of her gender.

Expert Analysis

  • The Risks Of Employee Political Discourse On Social Media

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    As election season enters its final stretch and employees increasingly engage in political speech on social media, employers should beware the liability risks and consider policies that negotiate the line between employees' rights and the limits on those rights, say Bradford Kelley and James McGehee at Littler.

  • 7th Circ. Rulings Offer Employee Vaccine Exemption Guidance

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    Dawn Solowey and Samantha Brooks at Seyfarth explain how two recent Seventh Circuit rulings in Passarella v. Aspirus and Bube v. Aspirus could affect litigation involving employee vaccine exemptions, and discuss employer best practices for handling accommodation requests that include both religious and secular concerns.

  • Employers Should Not Neglect Paid Military Leave Compliance

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    An August decision from the Ninth Circuit and the settlement of a long-running class action, both examining paid leave requirements under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, are part of a nationwide trend that should prompt employers to review their military leave policies to avoid potential litigation and reputational damage, says Bradford Kelley at Littler.

  • Old Employment Law Principles Can Answer New AI Concerns

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    Despite growing legal and regulatory concerns about how artificial intelligence tools may affect employment decisions and worker rights, companies should take comfort in knowing that familiar principles of employment law and established compliance regimes can still largely address these new twists on old questions, say attorneys at Foley & Lardner.

  • NYC Wage Info Bill Highlights Rise In Pay Transparency Laws

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    With New York City the latest to mull requiring companies to annually report employee wage data, national employers should consider adapting their compliance practices to comply with increasingly common pay transparency and disclosure obligations at state and local levels, says Kelly Cardin at Littler Mendelson.

  • Workday AI Bias Suit Suggests Hiring Lessons For Employers

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    As state laws and a federal agency increasingly focus on employment bias introduced by artificial intelligence systems, a California federal court's recent decision to allow a discrimination suit to proceed against Workday's AI-driven recruitment software, shows companies should promptly assess these tools' risks, say attorneys at Williams & Connolly.

  • How Anti-DEI Bill Could Affect Employers' Diversity Efforts

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    Sen. J.D. Vance's recently introduced Dismantle DEI Act would substantially limit employers’ ability to implement and promote workplace diversity, equity and inclusion, but there are still steps employers can take to support a diverse workforce, says Peter Ennis at Cozen O’Connor.

  • US Labor And Employment Law Holds Some Harsh Trade-Offs

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    U.S. labor and employment laws have evolved into a product of exposure-capping compromise, which merits discussion in a presidential election year when the dialogue has focused on purported protections of middle-class workers, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Water Cooler Talk: Immigration Insights From 'The Proposal'

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    Tracey Diamond and Evan Gibbs at Troutman Pepper chat with their colleague Robert Lee about how immigration challenges highlighted in the romantic comedy "The Proposal" — beyond a few farcical plot contrivances — relate to real-world visa processes and employer compliance.

  • Employers Face Uncertainty After Calif. Justices' Slur Ruling

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    In Bailey v. San Francisco District Attorney's Office, the California Supreme Court recently ruled that a singular use of a racial slur may be sufficiently severe to support a hostile work environment claim, leaving employers to speculate about what sort of comments or conduct will meet this new standard going forward, says Stephanie Roeser at Manatt.

  • 9th Circ. Ruling Flags Work Harassment Risks Of Social Media

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    The recent Ninth Circuit ruling in Okonowsky v. Garland, holding an employer could be liable for a co-worker's harassing social media posts, highlights new challenges in technology-centered and remote workplaces, and underscores an employer's obligation to prevent hostile environments wherever their employees clock in, say Jennifer Lada and Phillip Schreiber at Holland & Knight.

  • Eye On Compliance: NY's New Freelance Protection Law

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    New York's Freelance Isn't Free Act is set to take effect later this month, meaning employers must be proactive in ensuring compliance and take steps to mitigate risks, such as updating documentation and specifying correct worker classification, says Jonathan Meer at Wilson Elser.

  • 3 Notes For Arbitration Agreements After Calif. Ruling

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    After last month's California Supreme Court decision in Ramirez v. Charter Communications invalidated several arbitration clauses in the company's employee contracts as unconscionable, companies should ensure their own arbitration agreements steer clear of three major pitfalls identified by the court, say attorneys at Cooley.