Judge Wary Of EEOC's Challenge To Yale Hospital Age Testing

By Aaron Keller

A Connecticut federal judge on Thursday said oral arguments forced her to rethink whether to require a trial in the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's challenge to age-based employee cognition tests at Yale New Haven Hospital, indicating the EEOC presented a solid case and that Yale's defenses might be stronger.

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NY Lawyer's Wage, Bias Suit Tossed Over Venue

By Benjamin Morse

A New York federal judge has tossed an attorney's wage and hour and race discrimination suit against Oklahoma-based Arnold & Smith Law, finding that the Eastern District of New York was the wrong venue because the events underlying her federal claims occurred elsewhere.

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US Bank Should Face Ex-AI Chief's EEOC Claim, Judge Says

By Sydney Price

The former head of artificial intelligence at U.S. Bank should be allowed to proceed with his discrimination claim against the bank, a North Carolina magistrate judge recommended Thursday, adding that two other claims should be dismissed as not timely or not sufficiently pled.

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NLRB Seeks To Permanently Block Calif. Fill-In Law

By Katherine Smith

The National Labor Relations Board urged a California federal court to bar a state law allowing the state labor board to perform certain duties if the national board cannot, arguing that recent decisions in other cases "confirmed" the court should find the law is preempted.

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Colo. Judge Says GEO Appeal Can't Oust Court's Jurisdiction

By Zach Dupont

A Colorado federal judge ruled Thursday that he will continue to have jurisdiction over a case from detainees accusing private prison operator GEO Group of forcing inmates to do labor without proper compensation despite a pending appeal from the prison group, according to courtroom minutes.

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Engineer Hits RTX With Age, Disability Bias Suit Over Ouster

By Julie Manganis

A former senior engineer for defense contractor RTX Corp. in Massachusetts says he was sidelined and then set up for termination after he disclosed he suffered from attention deficit disorder and later requested time off for surgery for another medical condition.

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Pilots Look To Dodge Airline's Sanctions Bid Over Group Chat

By Emily Brill

A group of pilots is doing its best to fulfill Hawaiian Airlines' discovery request in a legal dispute over COVID-19 vaccine mandate exemptions, the pilots told a Hawaii federal judge, asking him not to sanction them for taking time to redact and format a Telegram group chat.

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Amazon Sued Over Destroyed Meds, Leave And Bias Claims

By Kelcey Caulder

Amazon Web Services Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. have been sued in Georgia federal court by a disabled veteran who alleged Amazon "took and destroyed" his prescription medication and then forced him onto reduced-pay leave for six months and placed him on an unjustified performance plan for reporting what happened.

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Brief

Colo. Employment Firm, Lawyer Settle Wage Dispute

By Rachel Konieczny

A Denver employment law firm and a former attorney with the firm have settled the attorney's lawsuit that claimed the firm did not pay her all wages and commissions she is owed, according to a filing in Colorado federal court Thursday.

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Cannabis Shop Denies Tip Theft, Renews Counterclaims

By Jonathan Capriel

A Michigan cannabis dispensary has fired back against an employee who accused it of tip theft, claiming she is the one who stole, by secretly applying customers' loyalty points without their knowledge to pocket the cash difference.

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Ex-USI Manager Denies Enticing Clients To Rival Brokerage

By Brian Steele

A former employee of the insurance brokerage giant USI told a Connecticut federal judge that the restrictive covenants he entered are unenforceable and he cannot be held liable for allegedly violating them when clients followed him to a rival firm.

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Feds Want Ex-Google Engineer To Get Over 5 Yrs For AI Theft

By Dorothy Atkins

Prosecutors have urged a California federal judge to sentence ex-Google software engineer Linwei Ding to nearly 6 years in prison for stealing artificial intelligence trade secrets, while Ding argued that the government's suggestion is based on speculative evidence and he deserves only home confinement since he was acquitted of economic espionage.

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SEC Moves Closer To Curtailing Executive Pay Disclosures

By Jessica Corso

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has moved one step closer to curtailing the amount of information that corporate executives must reveal about their pay, informing the White House that the agency could soon propose updated executive compensation regulations.

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Ex-West Point Prof Says Climate Science Stand Cost Him Job

By Tom Lotshaw

A former West Point professor is alleging in New York federal court that the military academy violated his First Amendment rights when it forced him out after he voiced opposition to a directive to stop teaching cadets about human contributions to climate change.

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Salad Chain Gets OK For Lease Auction, New Ch. 11 Loan

By Rick Archer

A Texas bankruptcy judge on Thursday gave drive-thru chain Salad and Go permission to take out replacement Chapter 11 financing on new terms and put about 130 leases up for auction, including 65 originally slated for a $105 million private sale.

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NLRB Ruling Highlights Risk From Employee Handbook Test

A National Labor Relations Board judge's recent decision to strike down a workplace rule that only theoretically inhibited protected employee activity highlights the great risks employers face under the board's 2023 ruling in Stericycle and explains why this strict standard may be rolled back under the newly Republican-majority board, says Daniel Johns at Cozen O'Connor.

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ERC Filing Deadlines Raise Tax Adviser Liability Risk

To minimize their risk, employee retention credit providers and tax advisers should understand that agreements to extend clients’ two-year deadline for challenging disallowances are not effective until the IRS countersigns, and implement an action plan to track filing deadlines and consider other proactive steps, says Michael Williams at CFOMW.

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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: August Lessons

In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses seven recent rulings from cases involving Class Action Fairness Act jurisdiction, appellate jurisdiction, attorney fees and employment rights.

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Series

Taekwondo Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Taekwondo has taught me to recognize when to fight for a position and when to focus on finding a solution, and that the best outcomes are often achieved by solving problems — all of which has improved my work as a bankruptcy lawyer, mediator and Subchapter V trustee, says Amy Denton Mayer at Berger Singerman.

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Exclusive

Inside The $150M Immigration Contract That Wasn't

By Daniel Connolly

The leader of a small Houston-based law firm says she was "blindsided" by an announcement from the federal government that her 24-attorney shop had won a $150 million no-bid contract to represent thousands of immigrant children in deportation proceedings.

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ABA Faces Uphill Battle To Remain As Law School Accreditor

By Emma Cueto

The American Bar Association council responsible for accrediting law schools is fighting on multiple fronts to retain its status as a nationwide accreditor, fending off challenges at both the federal and state levels.

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Dems Say DOJ Opinion Aims To Foil Oversight Of White House

By Courtney Bublé

With midterm elections right around the corner, Senate Democrats are worried the new legal opinion from the U.S. Department of Justice could let the Trump Administration obstruct congressional oversight of the White House.

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Google Users' Atty Fee To Be In 'Realm' Of $147M, Judge Says

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge indicated Thursday that he won't give the full $147 million in fees sought by lawyers who won a $425 million class action verdict against Google for unlawfully collecting user information, but he said their "really excellent lawyering" deserves an amount "within that realm."

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Womble Bond Asks To Drop Dutch Software Client Over Rift

By Hayley Fowler

Womble Bond Dickinson is looking to pull its representation of a Dutch software company after five years of a bitter trademark battle, citing a "fundamental disagreement" that has allegedly made it impossible for the firm to move forward as counsel of record.

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