Jets' Arbitration Bid In Firing Case Meets Skeptical Panel

By Carla Baranauckas

A New Jersey appellate court on Wednesday questioned the New York Jets' bid to limit a federal arbitration exemption to sexual harassment victims and reporters, probing whether the law might also protect an employee who claims she was fired because of harassment allegations involving others.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ga. Appeals Court Grapples With Nurses' COVID-Era Pay Fight

By Kelcey Caulder

A Georgia appeals court wrestled Wednesday with whether nurses who traveled to Florida for jobs at state-run COVID-19 testing sites were owed pay just for showing up in the Sunshine State — or if being assigned a shift triggered a staffing company's pay obligations. 

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

NC Corrections Dept. Escapes Ex-Officer's HIV Hiring Bias Suit

By P.J. D'Annunzio

North Carolina's corrections system has beaten a lawsuit in which a previously fired state prison officer alleged that an offer to work at another state prison was withdrawn because he is HIV positive, with a federal judge finding the man failed to show discrimination cost him the job.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Brief

EEOC Set To Revoke Guidance On Workers' Criminal History

By Patrick Hoff

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is poised to roll back guidance on the use of workers' arrest and conviction records in employment decisions, now that the proposed rescission has been sent to the White House for review.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Eldercare Co.'s Wage Class Fight Bound For Wash. High Court

By Ben Adlin

Washington's highest court agreed Tuesday to take up whether an appellate panel rightly revived two workers' proposed wage-and-hour class action against an eldercare provider despite the plaintiffs' membership in a separate class action against the company that was previously settled.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ga. Atty Wants Ex-Firm's Nearly $100K Arbitration Win Erased

By Adrian Cruz

A Georgia attorney has asked a Georgia federal judge to vacate a nearly $100,000 arbitration award in favor of her former firm in a retaliation and harassment suit, arguing the arbitrator exceeded his powers in handing down the decision.

3 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Okla. Pot Agency Accused Of Retaliating Over Gender Pay Gap

By Jonathan Capriel

The Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority was hit with a sex discrimination and retaliation lawsuit by a former employee who claims the agency reprimanded her for pointing out that she was paid less than her male colleagues, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court Tuesday.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Televangelist, Network Owner Face Off In Race Bias Trial

By Susan Smiley

A Michigan federal jury was told on Wednesday that deciding a Black televangelist's race discrimination claim against the white owner of a religious network will require deciding if the owner's sharing of a meme was racist or simply a joke between old friends that was misunderstood.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Fired Childcare Director Fights To Keep Bias Suit Alive

By MJ Koo

A former director at a Colorado childcare center pushed back on her ex-employer's bid to dismiss her pregnancy discrimination suit, saying the company's termination notice cited her medical appointments and approved remote work as reasons for firing her.

Response attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

US Bank Keeps Workers' Break Suit In Seattle Federal Court

By Ben Adlin

A proposed wage-and-hour class action targeting U.S. Bank NA will remain in federal court, a Seattle judge ruled Tuesday, finding that the bank sufficiently showed that the dispute is worth more than $5 million and thus eligible for removal under the Class Action Fairness Act.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Colo. Legislative Aide Says He Was Fired For Pay Complaints

By Benjamin Morse

A Colorado state representative fired a senior legislative aide after he objected to doing campaign work on taxpayer-funded time and complained that she failed to fairly pay him for hundreds of hours of campaign work, according to a suit filed in Colorado state court.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ex-Fifth Third Worker Claims Unpaid Prep Work Violated FLSA

By Sydney Price

An ex-Fifth Third Bank customer service representative has hit her former employer with a proposed class action accusing it of violating the Fair Labor Standards Act by refusing to pay her and other employees for time spent preparing to work.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Holtec CEO Says Atty Is Confusing Jury Over Confidential Doc

By George Woolston

Holtec International CEO Krishna Singh accused counsel for the company's former chief financial officer of attempting to confuse jurors in New Jersey state court when he asked whether Singh was aware the ex-CFO had said information in a draft document meant for a prospective investor was false.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Josh Cellars Co. Says Ex-Prez Has 'Deep' Litigation Funding

By Aaron Keller

Companies behind the Josh Cellars wine brand say they should be allowed to introduce an ex-president's alleged litigation funding deals during an upcoming Connecticut jury trial, arguing they're necessary to defend against his assertions regarding a corporate operating agreement and to refute a possibly misleading portrayal of the parties' resources.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

NLRB Memo Signals Narrower View Of Protected Activism

A recent National Labor Relations Board memo concluding that Microsoft lawfully discharged two employees who conducted a pro-Palestinian protest on company property indicates that the current NLRB general counsel may take a more restrictive view of when political or social advocacy qualifies as protected activity, say attorneys at Franczek.

Memorandum attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Why And How To Build A Neurodiversity-Informed Practice

By better understanding neurodiversity and implementing simple accommodations for clients with autism, ADHD or learning differences, attorneys can build stronger relationships with those who may otherwise struggle to obtain and benefit from legal services, while developing good habits that will benefit everyone they represent, says Ting Cheung at Sanford Heisler.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Split Congress Could Spur Competing Probes, Cleary Finds

By Courtney Bublé

If the new year brings an era of divided Congress, then "dueling investigations" into the same topics should be expected, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP said in a report it released Thursday.

Report attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Baker Donelson Elects Department Chair As President, COO

By Tracey Read

Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC has elected a litigator who chairs the financial services department as its next president and chief operating officer, the Memphis, Tennessee-headquartered firm announced Thursday.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Morgan Lewis Forms Council To Steer EMEA Strategy

By Kevin Penton

Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP is creating a 12-member council for Europe, the Middle East and Africa that it anticipates will work to advance regional priorities, enhance collaboration opportunities and improve services to global clients, the firm announced Thursday.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

DLA Piper Taps 2 O'Melveny Lawyers For Leadership Roles

By Jack Rodgers

DLA Piper has hired two O'Melveny & Myers LLP lawyers as the new leaders in two D.C.-based intellectual property groups, one of whom was the leader of his prior firm's International Trade Commission litigation group.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Foley & Lardner Adds Ex-DOJ Antitrust Official In DC Office

By James Boyle

A former assistant chief in the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division moved back recently into the private sector and joined Foley & Lardner LLP's Washington, D.C., office.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Sheppard Mullin Hit With Class Action Over Data Breach

By Jake Maher

A former Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP paralegal launched a proposed class action against the firm in California federal court on Wednesday over a cyberattack it had in August, in which she says at least 1,000 people's names and Social Security numbers were stolen.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Buzbee Faces $970K Fee Bid In Dismissed Conspiracy Cases

By Lynn LaRowe

A Mississippi lawyer is asking a Texas state court to award her more than $970,000 in fees after defeating claims that she and her law firm conspired with rapper Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP to retaliate against prominent Houston plaintiffs attorney Tony Buzbee and two of his former clients.

Motion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

New Fraud Division Flexes Might In Latest Enforcement Policy

By Phillip Bantz

The National Fraud Enforcement Division's new corporate enforcement policy emphasizes the quick pursuit of certain types of fraud through data analysis and staff resources, expands the target list beyond traditional healthcare providers and highlights the division's growing dominance within the U.S. Department of Justice, experts say.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

IP Rights Group Urges Against Litigation Funding Disclosure

By Elliot Weld

An inventor rights advocacy group has told a federal courts rules committee that requiring the disclosure of who is funding civil litigation would put independent inventors at a disadvantage when trying to enforce patents against a larger company.

Letter attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »