Discrimination

  • April 18, 2024

    Purdue Beats Chinese Professor's Promotion Bias Suit

    An English literature professor at a Purdue University campus failed to convince an Indiana federal judge that she was passed over for a promotion because she's Chinese, as the judge found that the white instructor who won the job had qualifications justifying her selection.  

  • April 18, 2024

    EEOC Stance In Bellwether AI Suit Raises Stakes For Vendors

    The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently suggested that software vendor Workday may be liable if its artificial intelligence-powered hiring tools unlawfully screen out certain groups of applicants, a position that experts said could encourage private class actions if courts agree.

  • April 18, 2024

    Store Chain's Background Checks Discriminate, EEOC Says

    Convenience store chain Sheetz discriminated against nonwhite job applicants by basing hiring decisions on criminal history checks and refusing to let rejected job-seekers appeal those decisions, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission told a Maryland federal court.

  • April 17, 2024

    6th Circ. Wont Upend Nashville Worker's Retaliation Win

    The Sixth Circuit declined Wednesday to scrap a $260,000 jury win for a Nashville, Tennessee, school administrator who said she was fired for conducting a racial bias investigation, stating it's too soon for the panel to rule on whether a bankruptcy proceeding nullifies the award.

  • April 17, 2024

    Wells Fargo Headed To Trial In Ex-Exec's COVID-Era ADA Suit

    Wells Fargo is headed to trial over a former investment director's Americans with Disabilities Act claim in a suit alleging he lost his job following an accommodation request after his employer prepared to mandate a return to office, with a North Carolina federal judge also trimming the former employee's age discrimination suit.

  • April 17, 2024

    4 Questions The Justices' Bias Ruling Leaves To Lower Courts

    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision Wednesday softening the requirements for bringing a Title VII case over a job transfer marked a massive win for workers, but experts said the full breadth of the ruling will remain unknown until lower courts tackle the questions the justices left unanswered.

  • April 17, 2024

    Port Authority Worker Takes Race Bias Suit To 3rd Circ.

    A Black woman who claimed the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey didn't promote her because of her race and complaints about discrimination told the Third Circuit on Wednesday that a lower court ignored facts that should have worked in her favor when it dismissed her lawsuit.

  • April 17, 2024

    Seattle Says Firefighters' Amended Vax Complaint Still Flawed

    The city of Seattle insisted Wednesday that fatal flaws remain in an amended complaint from firefighters who sued over the city's COVID-19 vaccine mandate, including a failure to link religious discrimination and due process claims to Seattle Fire Chief Harold Scoggins and other named defendants.

  • April 17, 2024

    Fox Rothschild Hires Employment Atty In Atlantic City

    Fox Rothschild LLP has added a labor and employment partner with decades of experience in collective bargaining, resolving workplace disputes and risk management to its Atlantic City, New Jersey, office.

  • April 17, 2024

    10th Circ. Upholds Block On Job Seeker's 'Meritless' Filings

    The Tenth Circuit on Wednesday refused to let a Nigerian job applicant ask a trial court to reconsider dismissing his race and age discrimination lawsuit against Garmin International Inc., ruling the lower court was within its right not to entertain his request based on his series of frivolous motions.

  • April 17, 2024

    Marine Co. Settles EEOC Suit Over Yanked Job Offer

    A Louisiana-based marine services company agreed to shell out $45,000 settlement to resolve a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission suit alleging it illegally revoked a job offer after finding out the candidate took prescribed medication to treat ADHD, according to the EEOC.

  • April 17, 2024

    School District To Pay $200K To End EEOC Age Bias Suit

    An Illinois school district will pay about $206,000 to bring an end to a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission suit claiming it capped salary increases for teachers over 45 to dodge increased retirement payments, the agency said Wednesday.

  • April 17, 2024

    WashU Medical School Settles Claims Of Asylee Bias, Firing

    The Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has settled claims that it fired a worker who complained that he was being forced to prove he held asylum, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

  • April 17, 2024

    Lewis Brisbois Adds Employment Pro From Fisher Phillips

    Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP announced Wednesday it has brought aboard a new partner to lead the Denver branch of its national labor and employment practice who has more than 10 years of law firm experience, most recently at Fisher Phillips.

  • April 17, 2024

    Ogletree Expands Into Western NY With Ex-Goldberg Atty

    Management-side employment firm Ogletree Deakins is expanding into western New York, announcing Tuesday that it is adding a shareholder in Buffalo from Goldberg Segalla.

  • April 17, 2024

    Welch's Rehire Challenge Should Fail, Judge Recommends

    Welch Foods should comply with an arbitrator's order to rehire a Teamsters-represented worker fired for making vulgar comments to a female co-worker, a Pennsylvania federal magistrate judge said, recommending that the district judge toss the company's challenge to the order.

  • April 17, 2024

    11th Circ. Says Haitian Worker's Bias Suit Isn't 'Shotgun' Case

    The Eleventh Circuit revived a Black Haitian worker's suit claiming she was fired from two government contractors for complaining that she wasn't receiving raises or promotions because of her race, saying the lower court was too critical when it tossed her suit as a "shotgun pleading."

  • April 17, 2024

    Fisher Phillips Adds Longtime Littler Atty In Ohio

    A longtime Littler Mendelson PC attorney has joined international labor and employment firm Fisher Phillips as a partner in its Cleveland office.

  • April 17, 2024

    Discovery In $500M Severance Fight Against X, Musk Will Wait

    A California federal judge paused discovery in a suit claiming X, formerly Twitter, owes $500 million in severance to the workers the company laid off after Elon Musk's takeover, saying the court should wait to sort out the company's dismissal bid.

  • April 17, 2024

    DHL To Pay $8.7M To End Long-Running EEOC Race Bias Suit

    Logistics company DHL will pay $8.7 million to resolve a 14-year-old U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission suit alleging it gave Black workers more difficult and dangerous work assignments than white employees, according to an agreement filed in Illinois federal court.

  • April 17, 2024

    Justices Ease Pathway For Title VII Suits Over Job Transfers

    The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits discriminatory job transfers even if they don't come with significant harm, a declaration that clears the way for more workplace bias suits to move ahead.

  • April 16, 2024

    Al Roker Fired Producer For Supporting DEI Policy, Suit Says

    Television producer William Schultz has sued Al Roker and his production company in New York federal court, alleging that he was wrongfully fired from the show "Weather Hunters" after voicing support for an initiative to bring minority writers onto the PBS children's show.

  • April 16, 2024

    What To Watch Now That EEOC Pregnant Worker Rule Is Final

    The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's recently finalized rule to implement the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act poses new compliance questions for employers and is all but certain to be challenged in court, experts say. Here are three areas to keep an eye on now that the final regulations are out.

  • April 16, 2024

    NY High Court Zeroes In On Abortion Coverage Exemptions

    New York's highest court grappled Tuesday with whether a state regulation's exemption process shielding religious groups from a requirement that employee health plans cover abortions conflicted with a 2021 U.S. Supreme Court decision, with multiple judges questioning the constitutionality of the carveout procedure.

  • April 16, 2024

    Russell Simmons Says Rape Accuser Already Settled In 1997

    A lawyer for hip-hop mogul and Def Jam Recordings co-founder Russell Simmons told a Manhattan federal judge Tuesday that a 1997 settlement agreement and release bars a former label executive from pursuing her rape claims in court.

Expert Analysis

  • What We Learned From 2022's Top FCRA Developments

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    Significant Fair Credit Reporting Act activity in 2022 — from Article III standing decisions to regulatory guidance for consumer reporting agencies and furnishers — will provide crucial direction to industry, courts and litigants in 2023, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • Insights On New Protections For Pregnant, Nursing Workers

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    Amy Epstein Gluck at FisherBroyles discusses how the recently enacted Pregnant Workers Fairness and PUMP Acts build on protections for pregnant and nursing workers that are not provided by existing anti-discrimination laws, and explains next steps for employer compliance.

  • NY Adult Survivors Act Look-Back: What Orgs Must Know

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    With the look-back window for New York's Adult Survivors Act now open, survivors of past sexual abuse have a new opportunity to file civil claims — so organizations that could face litigation should take specific steps to ensure best practices both before and after lawsuits arise, say Michael Appelbaum and Christina Holdsworth at Goldberg Segalla.

  • How To Navigate New State Pay Transparency Laws In 2023

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    A recent wave of state pay transparency laws has confused many employers about how to recruit across state lines, so companies may consider overhauling recruiting practices, standardizing job postings and including hourly wage or salary ranges for all positions, say Sara Higgins and Michael Ryan at Foley & Lardner.

  • Key Calif. Law Changes Employers Should Know This Year

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    With many of the California employment laws passed last year already in effect, now is the time for companies to update their handbooks and policies regarding off-work cannabis use, reproductive health protections, pay data reporting and more, say Lisa Reimbold and Monique Eginli at Clark Hill.

  • The Top FMLA And ADA Lessons Of 2022: Part 2

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    Attorneys at Dechert dissect several significant Americans with Disabilities Act decisions handed down by U.S. circuit courts in 2022 to clarify when employers are obliged to provide reasonable accommodations and offer tips for staying compliant with recent interpretations of the ADA.

  • The Top FMLA And ADA Lessons Of 2022: Part 1

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    Attorneys at Dechert review lessons from the biggest Family and Medical Leave Act and Americans with Disabilities Act opinions of 2022 to help employers develop clear employee call-in policies, determine remote worker FMLA eligibility and tackle fraudulent use of leave while staying compliant with these complicated statutes.

  • What Employers Must Know About Speak Out Act Compliance

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    The recently enacted Speak Out Act prohibits predispute employment contracts from including nondisclosure and nondisparagement clauses related to sexual harassment and assault, so employers may want to check their agreements for overly broad language, as well as compliance with more-expansive state laws, says Joe Hatley at Spencer Fane.

  • Top 10 Employer Resolutions For 2023

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    A recent wave of pivotal judicial, legislative and executive actions has placed an even greater responsibility on employers to reevaluate existing protocols, examine fundamental aspects of culture and employee relations, and update policies and guidelines to ensure continued compliance with the law, say Allegra Lawrence-Hardy and Bria Stephens at Lawrence & Bundy.

  • Key Developments From State Attorneys General In 2022

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    For lawyers and observers of state attorneys general, 2022 brought a year full of advocacy, enforcement actions and politics, including departures from the National Association of Attorneys General, bipartisan data privacy and consumer protection issues, a continued focus on public health crises and more, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • Learning From This Year's Legal Industry Discrimination Suits

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    To limit the risk of lawsuits and make the workplace a more welcoming environment for female attorneys, it is important to reflect on lawyers' recent discrimination and sexual harassment claims against law firms and public employers, says Hope Comisky at Griesing Law.

  • Justices' 2 Pending Affirmative Action Rulings Carry DEI Risk

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    The anticipated U.S. Supreme Court rulings this term in favor of a pair of higher education affirmative action cases could hamper future corporate efforts in diversity, equity and inclusion because the end of affirmative action could infiltrate employment litigation, says Elena Schiefele at Sanford Heisler.

  • 10 Ways To Combat Risks When Cos. Reduce Their Workforce

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    Layoffs due to the ongoing recession may result in employee and U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claims, and other legal risks, so employers should consider these tips to prepare for a reduction in their labor force, say attorneys at Proskauer.