7th Circ. Scraps American Airlines Toxic Uniforms Suit

By Linda Chiem

The Seventh Circuit said Tuesday that American Airlines employees suing over allegedly toxic uniforms didn't have sufficient expert evidence suggesting the uniforms triggered their allergic reactions and other health symptoms, rejecting their bid to invoke the legal doctrine of res ipsa loquitur to infer a defect or negligence.

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3rd Circ. Rejects Ex-Union President's Speedy-Trial Fight

By P.J. D'Annunzio

A Third Circuit panel on Tuesday said a former union president convicted of embezzlement alongside former International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 98 business manager John Dougherty was not denied a speedy trial in his yearslong prosecution, ruling that delays in the case were justified. 

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Unions Ask 1st Circ. To Spur Ruling On 'Loyalty Question'

By Carolyn Muyskens

Federal worker unions have asked the First Circuit to force a district judge to rule on their request to stop the federal government from asking job candidates how they'd advance Trump administration policies, saying their motion has sat undecided for nearly seven months.

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Ex-Reed Smith Atty Seeks Appellate Review Of Bias Damages

By George Woolston

A former Reed Smith LLP attorney suing the firm for gender discrimination urged a state appeals court Tuesday to grant her bid to appeal a ruling on her available damages, arguing that the appeal is necessary to clarify a prior appellate decision.

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6th Circ. Revives Superintendent's Suit Over Forced Leave

By Patrick Hoff

The Sixth Circuit reopened a Michigan school superintendent's lawsuit alleging she was subjected to a sham misconduct investigation and involuntarily placed on leave because she's a woman who made unpopular decisions, ruling a trial court applied an improperly high standard when it refused to let her amend her complaint.

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Citi Illegally Fired Risk Exec For Raising Issues, Suit Says

By Sarah Jarvis

Citigroup Inc. has been sued by a former senior risk management executive who alleged the bank fired her after she flagged risk deficiencies and identified problems with Citi's anti-money laundering risk management controls, and the bank has pushed back on her bid to proceed anonymously.

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CU Regents Ask Judge To Toss Black Board Member's Suit

By Rachel Konieczny

Members of the University of Colorado Board of Regents asked a federal judge to dismiss a fellow board member's lawsuit alleging she was sanctioned for opposing a university-funded campaign that stereotyped Black people, arguing that she was disciplined for breaching her fiduciary duties and that the defendant members have immunity.

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Remote Workers Tell 6th Circ. Boot-Up Time Compensable

By MJ Koo

Remote call center workers handling inbound patient calls from home have argued before a Sixth Circuit panel that their employer failed to pay them in accordance with the Fair Labor Standards Act for pre-shift computer startup work integral to their jobs.

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Serv-U-Success Hit With FLSA Overtime Pay Suit

By Melanie Dorsey

A former assistant manager at a retail company filed a proposed collective action in Michigan federal court accusing Thrifty Retail Services Logistics LLC, doing business as Serv-U-Success, of failing to properly calculate overtime pay by excluding bonuses and other nondiscretionary compensation from workers' regular rates of pay.

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Brief

Colo. Judge Moots Casino's Bid To Toss Wage Suit

By MJ Koo

A Colorado federal judge shelved a casino operator's bid to dismiss a wage and hour suit after the worker who brought the case filed an updated complaint.

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Justices Asked To Revive $77M In Trade Secret Damages

By Elliot Weld

Plastics manufacturer Trinseo Europe GmbH has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to restore a verdict of more than $77 million that it won stemming from trade secret misappropriation allegations against a former Dow Chemical Co. employee and engineering firm KBR, saying the Fifth Circuit went against precedent when it endorsed an approach to damages that "is the antithesis of flexible."

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Software Co. Says Exec Is Taking Trade Secrets To Rival

By Julie Manganis

Software company EnterpriseDB asked a Massachusetts judge to stop a former vice president from jumping to competitor Couchbase, citing both a noncompete agreement and evidence that he downloaded hundreds of documents prior to his departure.

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How PAGA Proposal Could Expand Calif. Labor Agency's Role

The California Labor and Workforce Development Agency's recently proposed regulations governing the Private Attorneys General Act signal a more structured and agency-driven enforcement approach, so risk management will depend on employers' ability to evaluate opportunities for effectuating a cure and navigate a more active administrative process, say attorneys at Lathrop.

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The Paradoxical Duty To Adopt AI When You Can't Bill For It

Both billing for hours saved using artificial intelligence and preserving billable time by not adopting AI may violate rules of professional conduct, but until bar associations' ethics rules catch up to this emerging economic dilemma, firms must decide how to adjust fee structures themselves, says Ines Lassalle at Peyrot & Associates.

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Full Fed. Circ. To Hear Immigration Judges' Firing Challenge

By Ganesh Setty

The Federal Circuit on Wednesday agreed to conduct en banc review over the firing of two immigration judges, after the Merit Systems Protection Board ruled that they constituted inferior officers who are subject to at-will removal by the president.

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No Discipline For DOJ Atty's 'Lapse Of Judgment' In ICE Case

By Emily Sawicki

A Rhode Island federal prosecutor who knowingly withheld information about a detainee's criminal history at the behest of immigration enforcement, leading to an "unfounded attack" against a federal judge by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement following the detainee's release, violated his duty of candor but will not face discipline, the district's chief judge determined.

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Trump Halts Clayton Director Hearing Over Blue-Slip Dispute

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump directed Jay Clayton, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, not to appear for his confirmation hearing Wednesday on his nomination to be director of national intelligence, in part over a blue-slip issue.

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Maya Kowalski Sues Ex-Atty Over Fees, Funding Loan

By Carolina Bolado

Maya Kowalski, the subject of the Netflix documentary "Take Care of Maya," filed a malpractice suit against her former attorney on Wednesday, accusing him of charging excessive fees and improperly orchestrating an advance funding loan after winning a $213 million judgment.

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Sanctioned IP Atty Tells Fed. Circ. 'Integrity' On The Line

By Elliot Weld

An attorney who was sanctioned in a trade dress infringement case due to what a judge said were his repeated misrepresentations has asked the Federal Circuit to lift the penalties against him and his client, saying his "professional and personal integrity, and my family, depends on it."

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Bosch Receives First DOJ Declination Under New Policy

By Sarah Jarvis

German technology company Bosch on Wednesday became the first company to avoid criminal prosecution under a new U.S. Department of Justice enforcement policy after it cooperated with the federal government and agreed to pay $36 million to settle allegations it improperly exported technology products to sanctioned Chinese company Huawei.

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DOJ's Pot Shift Leaves Key Questions For Cannabis Industry

By Sam Reisman

The Trump administration's recent moves to relax federal restrictions on marijuana through the administrative process will have unclear ramifications for all industry players unless Congress steps in to rewrite cannabis law, attorneys heard Wednesday.

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