8th Circ. Won't Revive Wells Fargo 401(k) Forfeiture Suit

By Gina Kim

The Eighth Circuit on Tuesday affirmed a lower court's decision tossing a former Wells Fargo employee's proposed class action alleging the financial services firm unlawfully used forfeited 401(k) funds to offset its own matching contributions rather than covering plan expenses, but noted the suit should've been tossed without prejudice.

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Alaska Airlines Strikes Deal In Military Pilots' Leave Suit

By Grace Elletson

Alaska Airlines has agreed to settle a pilot's class action claiming the company didn't let employees on military leave accrue the same amount of sick and vacation time benefits civilian employees collected on other types of leave, according to a Washington federal court filing.

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Insurer Needn't Cover Pre-Policy Losses, 8th Circ. Says

By Hope Patti

A quadriplegic woman is not entitled to benefits under a long-term care policy, the Eighth Circuit affirmed, saying the policy expressly states that it does not cover the loss of ability to perform daily living activities that existed before it went into effect.

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Brief

Ga. Lets Gig Workers Tap Into Benefits Without Status Shift

By Kelcey Caulder

Georgia gig workers can access benefits like health insurance and retirement savings plans without giving up independent contractor status under legislation recently signed by Gov. Brian Kemp. 

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Cigna Says HIPAA Doesn't Save Website Privacy Suit

By Matthew Santoni

A proposed group of Cigna health plan participants can't cite HIPAA to keep up their claims that the insurer improperly tracked their private information through its websites, since the privacy law doesn't cover the kind of information the company collected, the insurer told a Pennsylvania federal court.

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Celgene Gets Final OK For $239M Deal, Atty Fees

By Emilie Ruscoe

Investors in biopharmaceutical company Celgene Corp. have gotten a final nod for their $239 million deal to end proposed class claims that the company overstated commercial prospects for two of its drugs, and the investors' four-firm legal team will get fees and costs of nearly $57.3 million for their work on the case.

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Bernstein Litowitz Client Wins Battle To Lead Kyndryl Suit

By Sydney Price

Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP will lead a proposed class of investors accusing information technology services company and IBM spinoff Kyndryl Holdings Inc. of misleading shareholders with representations that the company had sufficient control over its cash management practices, a Manhattan federal judge said on Tuesday.

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Brief

Employee Benefits Atty Joins Freshfields From Debevoise

By Andrea Keckley

Freshfields LLP has hired a former Debevoise & Plimpton LLP attorney who focuses on the employment and executive compensation aspects of mergers and acquisitions and private equity transactions.

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4 Emerging Approaches To AI Protective Order Language

Over the last year, at least five federal district courts have issued or analyzed specific protective order provisions restricting the use of generative artificial intelligence platforms with protected materials, establishing that proactive AI-specific provisions are now standard practice and demonstrating that no single model works for every case, says Joel Bush at Kilpatrick.

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How They Won It

Attys For Tufts Profs Didn't Blink In A Tenure Standoff

By Julie Manganis

When Jennifer Henricks and Kevin Peters first learned what was happening to tenured professors at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston a few years ago, they knew that what was at stake involved more than just a dispute over the terms of a contract.

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Palestinian Ex-Associate Slaps DLA Piper With Bias Claim

By Lynn LaRowe

DLA Piper has been hit with a federal civil rights lawsuit in Illinois from a former summer associate alleging discrimination, a hostile work environment and retaliation based on her identity as a Palestinian, Gazan, Arab and Muslim woman.

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Fired Immigration Judge Says Trump Can't Skirt Bias Laws

By Grace Elletson

A former immigration judge urged a D.C. federal court not to throw out her bias suit challenging her firing, arguing the U.S. Department of Justice was pushing the "breathtaking proposition" that the president was empowered to commit unlawful discrimination.

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Law Student Can't Get School To Nix Kirk Comment Discipline

By Mike Curley

A Texas federal judge on Tuesday said the court cannot force Texas Tech University's leaders to rescind a reprimand against a law student who allegedly celebrated following the death of Charlie Kirk, as the university has sovereign immunity.

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Michigan Dems Noncommittal On Trump's Judicial Pick

By Courtney Bublé

Michigan's two Democratic senators played it coy on Tuesday when asked if they would support the district court nominee for their state that the president announced the night before.

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PayPal Settles Gov't DEI Probe With Small Biz Program

By Sarah Jarvis

The U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday that it has reached a settlement with PayPal Inc. to end an investigation into what the department said was a discriminatory investment program for Black- and minority-owned businesses.

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