The Second Circuit shut down a suit Thursday from workers who claimed Yale New Haven Health violated their rights by subjecting them to a COVID-19 vaccine mandate, saying their constitutional claims were doomed by a lack of state involvement.
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TOP NEWS

2nd Circ. Spikes Yale Health Workers' Vax Mandate Challenge

By Grace Elletson

The Second Circuit shut down a suit Thursday from workers who claimed Yale New Haven Health violated their rights by subjecting them to a COVID-19 vaccine mandate, saying their constitutional claims were doomed by a lack of state involvement.

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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.

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Mich. Justices Mull Bias Claim Of Same-Sex Wedding Officiant

By Melanie Dorsey

The Michigan Supreme Court on Thursday questioned whether the state's civil rights law protects employees from discrimination based on their association with people in protected classes, as a former Calvin University professor argued that the school unlawfully fired him for officiating a same-sex wedding.

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FedEx Inks $30M Deal In Wash. Breaks, Noncompete Suit

By MJ Koo

FedEx has agreed to pay up to nearly $31 million to settle claims in a Washington federal court that it failed to provide required meal and rest breaks, manipulated employee time records and barred lower-earning workers from holding outside jobs.

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Feds Bar Microsoft, Adobe, Others From Visa Program

By Britain Eakin

Vice President JD Vance said Thursday that the Trump administration has suspended Microsoft, Adobe and other technology companies from utilizing a program that allows H-1B visa holders to apply for green cards, saying Microsoft in particular has "abused" the system.

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Pasadena Worker Accuses 9th Circ. Of 'Lies' In COVID Ruling

By Craig Clough

A Pasadena police employee on Thursday failed to convince the Ninth Circuit to give him a second shot at suing the city over its COVID-19 vaccination policy, rejecting his argument that a panel decision in the matter was "rife with lies, misstatements, material omissions and total fabrications."

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Lawmakers Push For Protections In $10M Spirit Data Sale

By Kelcey Caulder

More than 120 mostly Democratic lawmakers raised concerns Thursday about the proposed $10 million sale of Spirit Airlines' internal data to Google for artificial intelligence training, saying the sale would involve an "extraordinary volume" of internal records containing individuals' sensitive information.

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Starbucks Says NLRB Ignored Repeat Dress Code Violations

By Lauren Berg

Starbucks asked the Fifth Circuit on Thursday to vacate a National Labor Relations Board decision that the coffee chain flouted federal labor law by stepping up dress code policy enforcement without bargaining beforehand, arguing management at a unionized Oregon store followed the company's established corrective action policy.

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DISCRIMINATION

Ex-Thermo Fisher Manager Blames Age, Sex Bias For Ouster

By Julie Manganis

A former senior director of research and development at Thermo Fisher Scientific alleged that he was sidelined and then forced out as part of an effort by the Massachusetts-based company to weed out older workers and promote a more "youthful" and "progressive" image.

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Televangelist Tells Mich. Jury Network Owner Was 'Obnoxious'

By Susan Smiley

A Black televangelist suing his former network testified to a Michigan federal jury on Thursday that he was drawn in and wooed by white religious network owner Kevin Adell, only to be blindsided by his boss' racially charged jokes and erratic behavior.

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Pa. Co. Pulled Job Offer After Failed Pot Test, Suit Says

By Jonathan Capriel

A former employee is suing a trucking and logistics company in Pennsylvania federal court, claiming it illegally rescinded a job offer after he tested positive for marijuana, despite him telling the company about his state-issued medical cannabis card.

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Flint Hospital Accused Of Race Bias In Nurse Promotion

By Melanie Dorsey

A Black registered nurse has sued a Flint, Michigan, hospital and one of its administrators alleging she was passed over for a promotion in favor of a less-qualified white candidate after an administrator manipulated the interview process and predetermined who would receive the position.

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WAGE & HOUR

Amazon Sued Over Late Final Paychecks In Mass.

By Carolyn Muyskens

A former worker at an Amazon distribution center in Massachusetts said the e-commerce company fails to give terminated employees their final paychecks on their last day, violating a state wage law.

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ESPN Graphics Producer Says He Was Denied Overtime Pay

By Benjamin Morse

ESPN misclassified a graphics producer as exempt from overtime for years despite his routine job duties, then failed to provide back pay after reclassifying his position in June, according to a Connecticut state court lawsuit.

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Brief

Airlines, Colo. Propose Trial Dates In Sick Leave Law Case

By MJ Koo

An airline industry trade group and a Colorado labor official told a federal judge they see virtually no chance of settling the group's lawsuit over whether a state paid sick leave law applies to airline workers, proposing trial dates for early 2027 and offering competing lengths for the proceeding.

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BENEFITS

2 More Sentenced In $11M Amtrak Health Fraud Scheme

By George Woolston

A former Amtrak employee and a New York podiatrist have been sentenced to prison for their roles in a scheme that prosecutors claim defrauded the rail carrier out of $11 million in health benefits, the U.S. attorney's office in New Jersey said.

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TRADE SECRETS

NASCAR Rivals Must Yield Race Setups In Trade Secrets Suit

By Hayley Fowler

Joe Gibbs Racing LLC and rival NASCAR team Spire Motorsports must produce their race-car setups for the 2025 and 2026 seasons in their contested trade secrets battle, a North Carolina magistrate judge has ruled, but not without first lamenting the onslaught of discovery disputes he's been saddled with resolving.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

Series

Mentalism Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Convincing strangers I can read their minds may seem like an unusual second career for a legal practitioner, but both disciplines share several important requirements, including trust and preparation, says Warren Biro at Manatt.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

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.

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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.

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Cornell Defendant Seeks To Nix James As Special Prosecutor

By Andrea Keckley

One of the seven men accused of drugging and raping a fellow Cornell University student at a fraternity home has asked a New York state court to void Gov. Kathy Hochul's appointment of New York Attorney General Letitia James as special prosecutor in the case.

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Gov't Attys Could Face Sanctions Over AI Use Omissions

By Madeline Lyskawa

A U.S. Court of Federal Claims judge has ordered four government attorneys to explain why they shouldn't be sanctioned for making factual misrepresentations about the U.S. Army's use of artificial intelligence to evaluate contract proposals.

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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.

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Fla. Judge Says Oct. 7 Attack Was 'Inflection Point' For U.S.

By David Minsky

U.S. District Judge Roy K. Altman addressed a small group of attorneys in a Florida law office to speak on his book about the October 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, saying public debate over facts surrounding the event and underlying feud has reached an "inflection point" in America.

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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.

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Dems Says GOP Broke Senate Rules In Jack Smith Hearing

By Courtney Bublé

The Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee have accused Republicans of violating committee rules during a hearing last week with former special counsel Jack Smith.

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Dark blue promo that reads 2026 Regional Powerhouses dark blue promo that reads 2026 Rising Stars

LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Arnold & Porter

Baker & Hostetler

Bodman PLC

Bracewell LLP

Bradley Arant

Buzbee Law Firm

Cicchiello & Cicchiello LLP

Cleary Gottlieb

Davis Graham

Ferraro Vega

Fox Rothschild

Gibson Dunn

HKM Employment Attorneys

Hayber McKenna

Jackson Lewis PC

King & Spalding

Koller Law LLC

LGR Law

Law Offices of Lucas Newbill

Littler Mendelson

MJ Legal PA

Manatt Phelps

Mastromarco Firm

McDermott Will & Schulte

Meyers Nave

Miller & Chevalier

Miller Johnson Snell

Morgan & Morgan PA

Morgan Lewis

Nesenoff & Miltenberg

O'Melveny & Myers

Parker Poe

Paul Hastings

Quinn Emanuel

Reed Smith

Robinson Bradshaw

Sheppard Mullin

Skadden Arps

Smith Haughey

Strauss Borrelli

Tripp Scott

Troutman

WilmerHale

Wilson Smith Cochran Dickerson

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Adobe Inc.

Air Transport Association of America

Amazon.com Inc.

Anthropic PBC

Association of Flight Attendants-CWA

Atlanta Hawks

California Institute of Technology

Candela Corp.

Cap Gemini SA

Carrier Global Corp.

Chevron Corp.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp.

Cornell University

Crete Carrier Corp.

Dionex Corporation

ESPN Inc.

Elevance Health Inc.

FedEx Corp.

Google LLC

HCL Technologies Ltd.

Harvard University

Hurley Medical Center

Infosys Ltd.

LinkedIn Corp.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Microsoft Corp.

NASCAR Digital Media LLC

ROC Nation LLC

Spirit Airlines Inc.

Stanford University

Starbucks Corp.

Stop & Shop Supermarket Co.

The Word Network

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.

Toyota Motor Corp.

United Nations Children's Fund

University of California Davis

Wipro Limited

Yale New Haven Health

Yale University

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

City and County of San Francisco, California

Colorado Attorney General's Office

Commodity Futures Trading Commission

Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Executive Office of the President

Federal Trade Commission

Food and Drug Administration

Michigan Supreme Court

National Labor Relations Board

National Railroad Passenger Corp.

New York Attorney General's Office

Texas Supreme Court

Texas Tenth Court of Appeals

U.S. Army

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Labor

U.S. District & Bankruptcy Courts of Southern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan

U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Supreme Court

United States District Court for the District of Colorado

Wage and Hour Division