5th Circ. Faults NLRB's Take On Starbucks Worker's Language

By Braden Campbell

The Fifth Circuit has ordered the National Labor Relations Board to rethink a ruling that Starbucks unfairly fired a union backer who sent profane messages and opened its mail, saying the board did not grapple with evidence showing his "extreme" words were an outlier in a workplace that tolerated some profanity.

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EEOC Poised To Scuttle EEO-1 Reporting Requirement

By Patrick Hoff

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is close to ending its annual collection of workplace demographic data now that a proposed rule that would rescind employers' reporting requirements has been sent to the White House for approval.

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Judge Permanently Blocks NLRB In Constitutionality Case

By Braden Campbell

A Texas federal judge on Friday permanently blocked the National Labor Relations Board from prosecuting a social services platform, saying agency officials' job protections are unconstitutional and inseparable from federal law, and that the board's pursuit of novel remedies flouts its targets' jury rights.

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6th Circ. Backs Machinery Dealer In Fired Worker's FMLA Suit

By Grace Elletson

The Sixth Circuit declined to revive a worker's suit claiming a heavy machinery dealer fired him for seeking leave to manage his mental health and that his union failed to challenge his termination, ruling he lacked evidence that prejudice informed his firing rather than his performance issues.

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Mistrial In Weinstein Case As NY Jury Splits 9-3 To Acquit

By Frank G. Runyeon

A Manhattan judge declared a mistrial Friday on a rape charge against Harvey Weinstein following a deadlock where most jurors voted to acquit the once-powerful Hollywood producer, ending a three-week trial that leaned heavily on the credibility of a single accuser and put questions of consent at the center of the case.

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Fla. Agency Boss Hit With Sanctions In Suit Over Kirk Meme

By David Minsky

A Florida federal judge penalized a state wildlife agency supervisor with attorney fees and ordered parts of her sworn statement removed, saying she misled the court to deny a preliminary injunction in a former worker's lawsuit alleging wrongful termination for posting a meme satirizing slain right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk.

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Roundup

Employment Authority: Circuits Sketch Boundaries On DEI

By Benjamin Morse

Law360 Employment Authority covers the biggest employment cases and trends. Catch up this week with coverage on how federal appellate courts are shaping the boundaries of workplace diversity initiatives amid rising legal challenges, how organized labor is ramping up efforts to influence the use of artificial intelligence on the job and the uncertainty surrounding future overtime rulemaking after the U.S. Department of Labor opted to restore a prior salary threshold rather than introduce a new one.

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Atlanta Court Clerk Says City Fired Her After Maternity Leave

By Benjamin Morse

A former court clerk sued the city of Atlanta and several officials in Georgia federal court, alleging she was fired less than a month after returning from maternity leave in retaliation for whistleblowing, taking leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act and complaining about workplace misconduct.

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Ex-HR Director Drops FMLA Suit Against Telehealth Co.

By Kelcey Caulder

A former human resources manager who alleged she was not given the chance to take paid leave and was fired by Iris Telehealth after suffering a miscarriage last summer has voluntarily dismissed her suit, according to Georgia federal court records.

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CSU Cuts $12M Deal To End Fired Admins' Sex Bias Suit

By Grace Elletson

Two female former California State University administrators announced Friday that CSU will pay them $12 million to resolve their suit claiming they were fired for protesting gender bias and pay discrimination, after a jury awarded one of the women $6 million on her harassment claims.

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Spokane Firefighters Denied Early Win In Vax Exemption Suit

By Patrick Hoff

A federal court refused Friday to hand a quick win to a group of firefighters who said the city of Spokane, Washington, refused to accommodate their religious objections to a COVID-19 vaccine mandate, ruling they hadn't provided enough information about their beliefs.

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Brief

Bag Maker Settles Workers' Race Bias Suit As Trial Looms

By Brian Steele

About two months after losing a summary judgment bid, a plastic and paper bag manufacturer has settled a lawsuit claiming it punished two Black workers for complaining about colleagues' racist comments, Connecticut federal court records show.

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Former Google Employee Alleges Racial Bias Behind Firing

By Celeste Bott

A former Google employee sued the tech giant in Illinois state court, claiming he suffered pervasive racial discrimination from his direct supervisor that ultimately culminated in his termination, purportedly for poor productivity, even when he was at a pace to meet or exceed his revenue targets.

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Brief

Soda Bottler Strikes Deal To End EEOC Disability Bias Suit

By Patrick Hoff

A North Carolina soft drink bottling company has agreed to settle a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lawsuit alleging it refused to permanently hire a probationary employee with multiple sclerosis, according to a federal court filing.

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Texas Oil Co. Defeats Race And ADHD Bias Claims

By José Luis Martínez

A Texas federal judge on Friday ended a former Apache Corp. employee's race and disability discrimination suit before jurors could deliberate, granting motions for judgment by the company and its parent that said the ex-employee was not able to offer evidence on any of her claims.

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Restaurant Group Gets Final OK For $800K Wage Settlement

By Rachel Konieczny

A Colorado state judge on Friday approved a Denver restaurant group's $800,000 settlement of a class action by workers who accused it of failing to fully compensate employees and firing a worker who refused to sign a form barring him from joining a class action.

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Brief

Realty Co. Workers Lose Bid To Fight Collective Cert. Denial

By Abigail Harrison

A North Carolina federal court declined to let employees alleging a property management company shortchanged them on overtime wages haul a recent order denying a bid for collective certification into the Fourth Circuit. 

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Brief

DOL Wants English Standard In Labor Certs For Drivers

By Tom Lotshaw

The U.S. Department of Labor said new guidance clarifies that employers must include an English proficiency standard in job orders and labor certification applications for positions that would have foreign workers operate commercial motor vehicles.

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6th Circ. Won't Rehear Kellogg, FedEx Mortality Table Suits

By Kellie Mejdrich

The Sixth Circuit on Friday refused to rethink a panel's earlier decision that revived two proposed class actions against cereal giant Kellogg and transportation company FedEx in which retirees allege that their pension payments were lowballed due to outdated mortality tables used in conversions.

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McKesson Settles Trade Secrets Suit Against Former Exec

By Zach Dupont

A healthcare services company and the former senior executive it accused of disclosing confidential information and trade secrets reached a settlement, dismissing the case less than two months after the company filed its complaint, according to a joint stipulation for dismissal filed Friday in Colorado federal court.

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9th Circ. Won't Revisit Wash. Professor Free Speech Ruling

By Crystal Owens

The Ninth Circuit won't revisit a decision saying the University of Washington violated a computer science professor's First Amendment rights after he voiced opposition to the school's policy that acknowledges Indigenous tribes as the traditional caretakers of the campus' land.

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Nursing Home Ch. 11 Trustee Sues Ex-Execs Over Lost Funds

By Matthew Santoni

The trustee for a group of bankrupt Western Pennsylvania nursing homes says four former Comprehensive Healthcare Management Services executives improperly drained the companies of assets that should have been available to creditors, and asked a federal bankruptcy court to claw some of the money back.

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Startup Founder Disputes Increasingly Turn On Governance

Recent Delaware developments suggest that as courts place increasing emphasis on board process, independence and oversight in founder-led startups, the growing intersection of governance, technology risk and investor oversight is accelerating both the emergence and escalation of founder disputes, says mediator Frank Burke.

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Model Jury Instructions Provide Next Step In Aligning DTSA

As the Defend Trade Secrets Act turns 10, new model jury instructions published by the Sedona Conference map emerging issues and jurisdictional splits, representing a significant step toward harmonizing DTSA trial practice, says Amy Candido at Simpson Thacher.

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What Jury Holdouts Can Teach Trial Lawyers About Strategy

Though a hung jury can be a disappointment, a psychological understanding of jury holdouts can help trial lawyers shape their damages arguments and understand leadership and group composition as a function of jury selection, says Clint Townson at Townson Litigation.

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3 AI Adoption Mistakes GCs Should Avoid

The pressure in-house legal teams face to quickly adopt artificial intelligence tools, combined with budget constraints and the need to evaluate a crowded market of options, sets the stage for implementation mistakes that are often difficult to undo, says former 23andMe general counsel Guy Chayoun.

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Murdaugh Sues Ex-Court Clerk Who Swayed Murder Trial Jury

By Jack Karp

Disgraced attorney Alex Murdaugh is suing the court clerk whose attempt to influence the jury in his murder trial led the South Carolina Supreme Court to overturn his murder conviction.

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Morgan & Morgan Atty Barred From Harvard Suit Over AI Error

By Chris Villani

A Massachusetts judge on Monday said a Morgan & Morgan PA attorney may not appear before him in a suit against Harvard University over the theft of body parts donated to its medical school, saying the lawyer did not learn his lesson after signing off on briefs in another case with fake case law generated by artificial intelligence.

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Trump Seeks Circuit Seats For 2 Judges He Appointed

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump's recent picks for the Eighth and Tenth Circuits mark the first time in his second administration that he's seeking to elevate judges he appointed in his first term.

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Health Co. Wants Kirkland Off IP Case For 'Cardinal Sin'

By Elliot Weld

A healthcare company suing medical technology company Commure Inc. over alleged trade secret theft has said Kirkland & Ellis LLP should be disqualified from representing Commure because the healthcare company had tried to retain Kirkland prior to filing the suit and shared confidential information before anyone asked who the defendant was going to be.

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Analysis

Half The Nation's Bar Apps Could Remove Rape Questions

By Cara Bayles

By next year, it's possible that about half of U.S. jurisdictions will have amended character and fitness questions to avoid dredging up aspiring lawyers' sexual trauma. But while advocates hail the reforms as progress, concerns linger about the patchwork this could create across the country.

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Ex-Willkie Atty Banned By SEC For Insider Trading

By Emily Sawicki

A former Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP mergers and acquisitions attorney who earlier this month admitted to taking part in a widespread BigLaw insider trading scheme will be barred from representing a client before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a minimum of four years, according to an order the agency issued Monday.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court this past week handled a broad mix of celebrity estate litigation, merger disputes, investor suits, record demands, sanctions fights and questions over corporate moves away from Delaware.

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