Discrimination

  • June 11, 2025

    8th Circ. Probes NLRB's Process In Home Depot 'BLM' Ruling

    An Eighth Circuit panel questioned Wednesday the process behind the National Labor Relations Board's ruling that Home Depot illegally forced out a worker for displaying the letters "BLM" on their apron but didn't tip its hand on whether this move was within the company's rights.

  • June 11, 2025

    Walmart Pharmacist Says Age, Disability Bias Led To Firing

    A former pharmacy manager at a Massachusetts Walmart said he suffered age and disability discrimination following a stroke, then was wrongfully fired after more than 20 years with the retailer.

  • June 11, 2025

    8th Circ. Weighs Protections For Principal's LGTBQ+ Support

    The Eighth Circuit closely scrutinized a former public school principal's free speech case over her advocacy for LGBTQ+ students Wednesday, with the judges hunting for the line at which her campaign may have crossed into protected activity.

  • June 11, 2025

    Siemens Unit Settles Calif. Watchdog's Racial Slur Probe

    California's civil rights enforcement agency said Wednesday that a railway technology company had settled an investigation into a worker's claims that he was wrongly suspended and escorted off the job after complaining about co-workers using racial slurs.

  • June 11, 2025

    Oklahoma Pot Agency Wants Claims Tossed In Retaliation Suit

    The Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority is urging a federal court to throw out Title VII and Age Discrimination in Employment Act claims in a suit by a former contract monitor who alleges she was fired for whistleblowing.

  • June 11, 2025

    DOL, EEOC Noms To Go Before Senate Panel

    President Donald Trump's nominees for key roles in the U.S. Department of Labor and U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission will stand before a Senate committee next week, the panel said Wednesday.

  • June 11, 2025

    Disney's Hiring Is Biased Toward Immigrants, Calif. Court Told

    The Walt Disney Co. illegally fired a human resources specialist because she raised concerns about what she saw as the company's practices of primarily hiring immigrant workers while disproportionately firing African American employees, she told a California state court.

  • June 11, 2025

    Weinstein Convicted Of 1 Charge In Mixed, Partial Verdict

    A Manhattan state court jury on Wednesday convicted movie mogul Harvey Weinstein of sexually assaulting a production assistant, acquitted him of assaulting a former model and indicated it had so far failed to reach a verdict on a charge alleging he raped an actress.

  • June 10, 2025

    Tech Recruiter Settles DOJ Claims It Favored Visa Workers

    A San Francisco Bay Area-based technology recruiting company agreed Tuesday to pay civil penalties and change its recruiting practices to resolve allegations it illegally preferred H-1B visa holders over U.S. workers, marking the government's renewed push under the Trump administration to enforce the Immigration and Nationality Act against companies favoring foreign workers.

  • June 10, 2025

    Ga. Schools Must Face Ex-Principal's Suit Over BLM Support

    A federal judge won't let a Georgia school district out of claims that it forced out a Black former principal over his vocal support for the Black Lives Matter movement, ruling that like the school board's individual members and ex-superintendent before it, the district failed to raise its defenses when it had the opportunity to do so.

  • June 10, 2025

    Atty Accuses City Of 'Game-y' Tactics In Race Bias Settlement

    A North Carolina employment attorney accused the city of Charlotte in federal court Tuesday of being "game-y" by trying to change a Black fire chief's racial bias settlement after both sides agreed to certain terms, saying she wouldn't make him sign something that didn't reflect those promises.

  • June 10, 2025

    Worker's Suit Over Weed Firing Gets Thrown Out

    A construction worker can't sue his employer for wrongful termination on claims that his supervisor wrongly accused him of smoking marijuana while on the job, a Virginia federal judge has ruled, saying state law allows companies to fire workers even on untrue allegations of drug use.

  • June 10, 2025

    Pa. University Seeks Toss Of Sergeant's Retaliation Claims

    The University of Scranton wants a Pennsylvania federal judge to dismiss retaliation and disability bias allegations from a police sergeant who alleged he was fired because he had cancer, telling the district court that the worker hadn't put up enough facts to support some of his claims.

  • June 10, 2025

    Black Honda Worker's Promotion Bias Suit Shipped To Ala.

    Honda's manufacturing arm can send to Alabama a proposed class action alleging its opaque promotional practices unlawfully prevent Black workers from moving up, an Ohio federal judge ruled, saying the worker leading the suit likely would have stayed in the South had he received positions he sought.

  • June 10, 2025

    Brokerage Firm Fired CFO For Starting Family, She Tells Court

    A cloud-based real estate brokerage firm's former chief financial officer was unfairly accused of racking up $17,000 in personal expenses on a company card to justify her termination after her maternity leave ended, she told a New York federal court Tuesday.

  • June 10, 2025

    Feds Say NH Trans Sports Ban Suit Lacks Real Injury

    The U.S. government hopes to escape a New Hampshire lawsuit challenging both state and federal policies prohibiting transgender athletes from competing in women's sports, saying the complaint shows only "speculative future injury."

  • June 10, 2025

    Ala. Mayor Defeats Former Police Chief's Race Bias Suit

    The mayor of Montgomery, Alabama, escaped a lawsuit claiming he harassed a police chief and forced him to resign because he refused to give preferential treatment to Black employees, as a federal judge said there was no evidence of a campaign to oust the law enforcement official.

  • June 10, 2025

    Union, Philharmonic Fight Suits From Suspended Musicians

    A musicians union has asked a New York federal judge to toss two suspended New York Philharmonic players' allegations that the union illegally dropped its fight for their reinstatement, saying it had good reason to abandon the mission after the full extent of their alleged sexual violence was revealed.

  • June 10, 2025

    GOP Lawmakers Launch Probe Into Harvard's Hiring Practices

    A group of House Republicans announced Tuesday that they are opening an investigation into Harvard University's hiring policies to probe whether the institution is shirking Title VII by giving preferences to marginalized applicants when recruiting for open roles.

  • June 10, 2025

    3 Lessons From 3rd Circ. Reviving Fire Dept. Beard Battle

    A recent Third Circuit decision in favor of a Christian fire department worker who wanted to grow facial hair despite the department's no-beard policy holds lessons for employers about handling religious accommodation requests. Here, Law360 looks at three of those lessons.

  • June 10, 2025

    Longtime Reed Smith Employment Pro Joins Fisher Phillips

    An attorney who has focused his career on advising clients on employment and labor matters recently moved his practice to Fisher Phillips' Pittsburgh office after 13 years with Reed Smith LLP.

  • June 10, 2025

    Nev. Pension Plan Urges 9th Circ. To Ax DOJ Military Bias Suit

    Pension credits bought by military service members aren't an accrued benefit under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, Nevada's public employee retirement system argued, urging the Ninth Circuit not to revive the U.S. Department of Justice's suit alleging the state and system overcharged employees for the credits.

  • June 10, 2025

    Amazon Worker Says Military Class Ruling Needs Reopening

    The U.S. Supreme Court declined to weigh in on a case that would have had an impact on a former Amazon employee's request for class status in her military leave suit, the worker told a New York federal court, saying it should reopen her suit and approve class treatment.

  • June 10, 2025

    NY Homeland Unit Resolves Ex-Employee's Harassment Suit

    New York state and its homeland security agency struck a $250,000 deal to end a Hispanic former employee's suit alleging that her boss subjected her to humiliating comments because of her race, gender and sexual orientation until she felt compelled to quit, according to federal court filings.

  • June 10, 2025

    8th Circ. Mulls If Supervisor's Family Remark Signals Sex Bias

    The Eighth Circuit wondered Tuesday whether a Walmart supervisor's supposed rationale for promoting a male employee to a managerial role — that he had a "family to support" — lends credence to a female former employee's sex discrimination claim over the advancement decision.

Expert Analysis

  • Top 5 Issues For Employers To Audit Midyear

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    Six months into 2024, developments from federal courts and regulatory agencies should prompt employers to reflect on their progress regarding artificial intelligence, noncompetes, diversity initiatives, religious accommodation and more, say Allegra Lawrence-Hardy and Lisa Haldar at Lawrence & Bundy.

  • Tailoring Compliance Before AI Walks The Runway

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    Fashion industry players that adopt artificial intelligence to propel their businesses forward should consider ways to minimize its perceived downsides, including potential job displacements and algorithmic biases that may harm diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, say Jeffrey Greene and Ivory Djahouri at Foley & Lardner.

  • Where Anti-Discrimination Law Stands 4 Years After Bostock

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    On the fourth anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark Bostock ruling, Evan Parness and Abby Rickeman at Covington take stock of how the decision, which held that Title VII protects employees from discrimination because of their sexual orientation and gender identity, has affected anti-discrimination law at the state and federal levels.

  • Politics In The Workplace: What Employers Need To Know

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    As the 2024 election approaches and protests continue across the country, employers should be aware of employees' rights — and limits on those rights — related to political speech and activities in the workplace, and be prepared to act proactively to prevent issues before they arise, say attorneys at Littler.

  • What High Court Ruling Means For Sexual Harassment Claims

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    In its recent Smith v. Spizzirri decision, the U.S. Supreme Court held that a district court compelling a case to arbitration is obligated to stay the case rather than dismissing it, but this requirement may result in sexual harassment cases not being heard by appellate courts, says Abe Melamed at Signature Resolution.

  • 5 Steps For Gov't Contractor Affirmative Action Verification

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    As the federal contractor affirmative action program certification deadline approaches, government contractors and subcontractors should take steps to determine their program obligations, and ensure any required plans are properly implemented and timely registered, say Christopher Wilkinson at Perkins Coie and Joanna Colosimo at DCI Consulting.

  • New OSHA Memo Helps Clarify Recordkeeping Compliance

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    Based on recent Occupational Safety and Health Administration guidance on whether musculoskeletal disorders are recordable injuries under the agency's recordkeeping regulation, it appears that OSHA may target active release techniques and stretching programs during its inspections, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Cos. Must Stay On Alert With Joint Employer Rule In Flux

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    While employers may breathe a sigh of relief at recent events blocking the National Labor Relations Board's proposed rule that would make it easier for two entities to be deemed joint employers, the rule is not yet dead, say attorneys at ​​​​​​​Day Pitney.

  • One Contract Fix Can Reduce Employer Lawsuit Exposure

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    A recent Fifth Circuit ruling that saved FedEx over $365 million highlights how a one-sentence limitation provision on an employment application or in an at-will employment agreement may be the easiest cost-savings measure for employers against legal claims, say Sara O'Keefe and William Wortel at BCLP.

  • The State Of Play In DEI And ESG 1 Year After Harvard Ruling

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    Almost a year after the U.S. Supreme Court decided Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, attorney general scrutiny of environmental, social and governance-related efforts indicates a potential path for corporate diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives to be targeted, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • Water Cooler Talk: Sick Leave Insights From 'Parks And Rec'

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    Tracey Diamond and Evan Gibbs at Troutman Pepper spoke with Lisa Whittaker at the J.M. Smucker Co. about how to effectively manage sick leave policies to ensure legal compliance and fairness to all employees, in a discussion inspired by a "Parks and Recreation" episode.

  • Navigating Title VII Compliance And Litigation Post-Muldrow

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Muldrow v. St. Louis has broadened the scope of Title VII litigation, meaning employers must reassess their practices to ensure compliance across jurisdictions and conduct more detailed factual analyses to defend against claims effectively, say Robert Pepple and Christopher Stevens at Nixon Peabody.

  • Why Employers Shouldn't Overreact To Protest Activities

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    Recent decisions from the First Circuit in Kinzer v. Whole Foods and the National Labor Relations Board in Home Depot hold eye-opening takeaways about which employee conduct is protected as "protest activity" and make a case for fighting knee-jerk reactions that could result in costly legal proceedings, says Frank Shuster at Constangy.