Bar Complaint Calls Out EEOC Chair's Law Firm DEI Letters

By Grace Elletson

A legal advocacy group asked the Virginia State Bar to investigate whether U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Chair Andrea Lucas violated ethics rules by declining to investigate LGBTQ+ bias complaints and sending letters demanding information from law firms on their diversity, equity and inclusion practices.

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

6th Circ. Hints Support For Superintendent's Suit Over Leave

By Anne Cullen

A Sixth Circuit panel signaled during a hearing Thursday that a trial court prematurely dismissed a school superintendent's lawsuit challenging her continued placement on leave, but the judges wondered if the school official had enough evidence to win at a later phase of litigation.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

DC Circ. Doubts Legality Of Trump's Ouster Of VOA Chief

By Jared Foretek

A D.C. Circuit panel appeared Thursday not to buy the Trump administration's argument that the president had free rein to summarily fire the head of Voice of America last year and suggested that Congress had directly stipulated that the VOA director could only be removed by its board.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Pa. DA Offices Sued Over Interview Questions In Bias Suit

By Matthew Santoni

A 61-year-old lawyer says members of the district attorney's offices in Montgomery and Chester counties asked him questions during job interviews intended to make him uncomfortable and to highlight age and racial disparities he faced as a Black attorney, according to a federal suit he filed in Pennsylvania.

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

'Serious Misconduct' At Live Nation, Ex-VP Says In $35M Suit

By Bonnie Eslinger

Live Nation has been sued in California state court for $35 million by a former vice president claiming it fired him for blowing the whistle on company-wide corporate misconduct, including project revenues that were inflated to score business deals and venue development projects, as well as hiding "junk fees" for tickets.

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

Colo. Court Mulls JBS' Bid To Toss Haitian Workers' Bias Suit

By Rachel Konieczny

A Colorado federal judge declined Thursday to rule on meatpacking giant JBS USA Food Co.'s bids to dismiss a suit and strike class allegations that Haitian workers suffered race-based discrimination and labor violations while working at the facility.  

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ex-EEOC Official Accuses Agency Of 'Ironic' LGBTQ+ Bias

By Hailey Konnath

A former U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission director sued the agency in California federal court Thursday, alleging it forced him, a queer and transgender man, to participate in the "erasure" of LGBTQ+ individuals, a move his attorney called "ironic" for the agency tasked with upholding antidiscrimination laws.

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

7th Circ. Won't Revive Ex-Indiana Worker's Disability Bias Suit

By Patrick Hoff

The Seventh Circuit backed the Indiana Department of Transportation's defeat of a former employee's lawsuit alleging she was fired for needing to work from home because of her kidney transplant, saying she couldn't overcome the agency's explanation that she was insubordinate and performed poorly.

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

Cosmetic Surgery Co. Fights Proposed Penalty In EEOC Suit

By Kelcey Caulder

A cosmetic surgery provider objected to a magistrate judge's recommendation that it be sanctioned for neglecting to keep sales data and messages that may have been relevant in a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission disability bias suit, saying the data has already been provided in other records.

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

Mercedes Fired New Dad After Bias Complaints, Suit Says

By Kelcey Caulder

Mercedes-Benz ignored a Vietnamese American employee's complaints about a manager's racial bias before ultimately firing him after he took leave for the birth of his child, he told a Georgia federal court.

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

Race 'Not A Factor' In Black Teacher's Firing, NC School Says

By Hayley Fowler

A Black teacher in North Carolina was fired for failing to teach his students the necessary curriculum to pass their end-of-grade-level testing, not because he injected race into his lessons, the school argued Thursday in seeking a pretrial win on his discrimination claims.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

NASCAR Not Required To Defend Manager In Harassment Suit

By Susan Smiley

NASCAR and Michigan International Speedway do not have to defend a MIS supervisor or pay his legal fees in a sexual harassment suit filed by a former MIS security guard, a Michigan federal judge said Thursday.

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

Delta Used Coaching Plan To Deny Raise, Sex Bias Suit Says

By Zak Kostro

A female Delta Air Lines aviation maintenance planner working under all-male management was placed on a coaching plan that didn't apply to her male colleagues and was used to deny her a merit raise and suggest performance deficiencies that didn't exist, she said in a complaint in Georgia federal court.

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

Brief

Ex-Emory Healthcare Nurse Takes Race Bias Suit To 11th Circ.

By Kelcey Caulder

A Black travel nurse claiming Emory Healthcare fired her for complaining that she got less training than white colleagues is turning to the Eleventh Circuit after losing her lawsuit, according to a notice filed in Georgia federal court.

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

NC Judge Denies Class, Collective In Yearslong Wage Dispute

By Benjamin Morse

A North Carolina federal judge refused to certify a new round of collective and class claims against an auto parts manufacturer, finding that workers challenging off-the-clock work failed to show their claims could be efficiently resolved on a group basis after several years of litigation.

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

SC County Beats EMT's OT Suit With Firefighter Exemption

By Benjamin Morse

A federal jury sided with a South Carolina county in a lawsuit accusing the county of failing to pay overtime wages to an emergency medical worker, finding that she qualified for a firefighter exemption under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

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

Worker Says H&M Shorted OT For Preshift Setup

By MJ Koo

H&M has been hit with a proposed collective and class action in Illinois federal court alleging that the fashion retailer denied overtime pay to customer service workers who were required to complete computer setup tasks before clocking in each day.

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

Home Improvement Co. Nailed With Misclassification Suit

By Benjamin Morse

A home improvement company's nationwide sales model is built on a misclassification scheme that shortchanged workers, a group of former sales representatives said in a proposed collective and class action filed in Colorado federal court.

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

Judges Call Ruling On USAID Shutdown Standing Unusual

By Jared Foretek

At least two D.C. Circuit judges on Thursday appeared to take some issue with a lower court's ruling that Oxfam and the union for U.S. Agency for International Development workers couldn't bring their challenges to the agency's dismantling in district court, with one panelist calling the district judge's ruling "unconventional."

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Unions Urge Judge To Keep AI Surveillance Case Alive

By Britain Eakin

Unions challenging the Trump administration's alleged surveillance of noncitizens' viewpoints to find targets for immigration enforcement urged a New York federal judge Wednesday to reject the government's dismissal bid, saying First Amendment injuries to their members give them standing.

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

5-Hour Energy Founder Blasts Fired Exec's Severance Claims

By Pete Brush

Billionaire energy drink mogul Manoj Bhargava told a Manhattan federal jury Thursday that he fired an executive from a publishing business he bought because the executive helped run it "into the ground" — pushing back against the man's severance claims.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Meijer Escapes Most Claims In Tobacco Fee ERISA Suit

By Grace Elletson

A Michigan federal judge significantly narrowed a proposed class action that accused Meijer Inc. of charging employees an illegal health plan fee for using tobacco, ruling Thursday that the shopping center company complied with federal benefits law by giving workers a six-month window to dodge the full charge.

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

Axiom Space Says Ex-Lobbyist Can't Work At Rival

By José Luis Martínez

Axiom Space Inc. urged a Texas federal judge Thursday to stop its former policy adviser from working for rival commercial space infrastructure firm Vast Inc., arguing that a noncompete deal and his knowledge of confidential information warrant a temporary restraining order.

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

Alaska Air Credit Union Left Members' Info Exposed, Suit Says

By Ben Adlin

A Las Vegas woman has lodged a proposed class action against a Washington-based credit union that provides services to Alaska Airlines employees and their families, claiming the financial institution failed to use reasonable security measures to protect members' personal data that was exposed in a cyberattack.

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

11th Circ. Affirms Arbitration In Ex-Sears CEO Yacht Case

By Caroline Simson

The Eleventh Circuit affirmed much of an order compelling arbitration in the Cayman Islands of claims brought by a seaman who was injured aboard a luxury 288-foot yacht allegedly owned by billionaire and former Sears CEO Edward Lampert, saying its precedent on such matters remains good law.

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

Jones Day Adds Labor Attorney From McDermott In SF

By Katherine Smith

Jones Day has added a former McDermott Will & Schulte partner who advises leading companies on a wide range of labor and employment matters as a partner in its labor and employment practice in its San Francisco office, the firm has announced.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

New DEI Clauses Will Reshape FCA Exposure For Contractors

As federal agencies mandate new procurement language aimed at curbing contractors' DEI practices and embedding False Claims Act materiality concepts into antidiscrimination obligations, contractors should account for both compliance and litigation risks before signing, and understand the legal constraints that govern FCA materiality, say attorneys at Seyfarth.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Series

Officiating Football Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Though they may seem to have little in common, officiating football has sharpened many of the same skills that define effective lawyering in management-side labor and employment: preparation, judgment, composure, credibility and ability to make difficult decisions in real time, says Josh Nadreau at Fisher Phillips.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

DLA Piper Clears Vote To End Verein, Unify Leadership

By Tracey Read

DLA Piper announced Friday that firm partners on both sides of the Atlantic have "overwhelmingly approved" a plan to dissolve its Swiss verein structure effective May 1.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Exclusive

Judge Albright Reflects On 8 Years Shaping Patent Law

By Dani Kass

U.S. District Judge Alan Albright will be walking away from the Western District of Texas at the end of the summer, ready to head back into patent litigation work. He talked with Law360 on Friday about the rockier elements of his judgeship and lessons he'll take into private practice.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Commerce Department's General Counsel Departs

By Christine DeRosa

The U.S. Department of Commerce's general counsel has left the agency after just over a year, the agency confirmed on Friday.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

In what may be a first, a federal judge has ordered BJ's Wholesale Club to put an investor's climate-related proxy proposal up for a vote of the shareholders at the company's annual meeting. And a new study shows that more in-house counsel are staying in place despite pay increases slowing amid less competition for talent.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Consovoy McCarthy PLLC, Butler Prather LLP, Bowen Painter LLC and Cannella Snyder LLC lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Fluor Corp. can be held liable for a veteran's state-based injury claims stemming from a 2016 suicide bombing in Afghanistan.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Laura Stewart Liberty

The past week in London has seen a Hong Kong company sue the government and a COVID-19 PPE company linked to Tory peer Michelle Mone, an oligarch bring a fresh claim against a rival in a long-running feud, a rugby league club sue over a canceled mass dance event, and Visa and Mastercard hit with legal action from H&M, Eurostar, and Bang & Olufsen. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Oregon Lawyer Ordered To Pay Attorney Fees For Use Of AI

By Matt Perez

An Oregon attorney was sanctioned by a state appellate court for filing a brief containing a fabricated list of authorities because she used generative artificial intelligence, marking the first case in the jurisdiction to present the option of awarding attorney fees as a sanction as opposed to fines payable to the court.

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

Akin Can't 'Recast' Appeal As Good-Faith Effort, 9th Circ. Told

By Lauren Berg

A European winemaker slammed attempts by a U.S. importer and its Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP attorneys to "recast a frivolous appeal as a good-faith effort," saying they should have to pay monetary sanctions for pursuing what the Ninth Circuit called a "self-indulgent" appeal of a valid arbitration award.

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

Atty, Brother Say Father's Last Will Altered In Secret

By Emily Sawicki

A Blank Rome LLP attorney and his brother have sued the attorney who executed their father's will in New Jersey federal court, alleging the lawyer preyed on their ailing father toward the end of his life to alter his beneficiaries through undue influence, forgery and fraud.

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

In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »