Calif. Appeals Court Nixes Arbitration Of Ex-Tech's PAGA Suit

By Benjamin Morse

California workers can pursue representative claims under the state's Private Attorneys General Act without bringing individual claims, even after the law's 2024 amendments, a California appeals court ruled, rejecting an agricultural equipment company's bid to force a former employee into arbitration.

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Ashley Furniture Must Face Fired Worker's Age Bias Claims

By David Minsky

A Florida federal judge on Tuesday allowed age discrimination claims to proceed against Ashley Furniture, but tossed a wrongful discharge count alleged by a former worker, finding their employment was dictated by terms of an independent contract. 

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5th Circ. Revives Ex-Union Pacific Conductor's ADA Case

By Grace Elletson

The Fifth Circuit reinstated a suit from an ex-conductor who said Union Pacific wouldn't let him return to his job after passing a color vision test, rejecting the company's claim that he had waited too long to lodge his claims after being excluded from a similar class action.

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JPMorgan Seeks Sanctions In Ex-Banker's Bias Suit

By Katryna Perera

A former JPMorgan Chase employee's claims of racial discrimination and sexual harassment were completely false and manufactured, JPMorgan and the employee's former supervisor said in motions urging a New York federal judge to levy sanctions against Chirayu Rana for his "fraudulent litigation."

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UCLA Says It Helps, Not Hurts, Jewish Staff In DOJ Case

By Madeline Lyskawa

The federal government's lawsuit accusing the University of California, Los Angeles, of systematically discriminating against its Jewish and Israeli employees ignores significant steps the university has taken to make sure those same employees thrive, UCLA said in a motion to dismiss.

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IHOP Franchisee Settles Ex-Employee's Disability Bias Suit

By Patrick Hoff

The former training and development director for an IHOP franchisee has wrapped up his lawsuit alleging he was fired for missing work after his manager promised to tell human resources he'd entered an alcohol treatment program, according to a filing Tuesday in Georgia federal court.

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NJ Courts Office Says City Was Former Judge's Employer

By George Woolston

The New Jersey Administrative Office of the Courts urged a state court to toss a former municipal judge's retaliation claims, arguing that the office is not the judge's employer and that his suit lacks facts to support the claims.

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Michigan Civil Rights Panel OKs Changes To Exemption Bids

By Melanie Dorsey

The Michigan Civil Rights Commission unanimously approved a resolution Monday directing the state's Civil Rghts Department to clarify procedures for seeking exemptions from Michigan's anti-discrimination law, including situations in which religious freedoms and other constitutional protections may conflict with state civil rights requirements.

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World Cup Workers' Attys Deserve Sanctions, Colo. Cos. Say

By Rachel Konieczny

Companies that managed the construction of stadiums for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar urged a Colorado federal judge Tuesday to sanction opposing counsel in Filipino workers' forced labor lawsuit against the companies, alleging the workers' attorneys took "shortcuts" that resulted in wasted legal costs for the companies.

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Ga. Children's Hospital System Hit With Time-Shaving Suit

By Benjamin Morse

A major Georgia pediatric healthcare system rounded clock-in and clock-out times to exclude work performed before and after scheduled shifts, according to a proposed class and collective action filed in Georgia federal court.

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Union Fights To Preserve Challenge To Texas A&M 'Woke' Ban

By Emily Brill

A Texas federal judge should preserve claims that Texas A&M is violating the First Amendment by banning "woke" teachings on race, gender and sexual orientation, a professors' union argued, saying the university system's argument in favor of the censorship policy violates U.S. Supreme Court precedent.

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Deal In NFL 'Race-Norming' Benefits Suit Gets Final OK

By Grace Elletson

A Maryland federal judge gave the final green light Tuesday on a settlement that says an NFL disability benefits plan will reassess former players' cognitive health to resolve claims that it discriminated against nonwhite players by adjusting them to a lower cognitive baseline.

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NC Health Plan, Atrium Settle Spat Over Cost-Sharing Program

By Hayley Fowler

The North Carolina state health plan said on Tuesday that it will add Atrium Health to its list of in-network providers next year after a public showdown over the nonprofit health system's exclusion from the plan's new preferred provider program.

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Ga. Panel Lets Lyft Escape Liability In Driver Assault Suit

By Y. Peter Kang

A Georgia appellate court ruled Tuesday that Lyft was properly dismissed from a suit by a passenger who was badly beaten by his driver, ruling that reports of unsafe driving and suspected drug or alcohol use did not make the driver's violent assault reasonably foreseeable.

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Weyerhaeuser Targeted In New Suit Over Wash. Mill Implosion

By Ben Adlin

The families of two workers killed in a May chemical tank rupture at a Washington paper mill filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Washington state court against plant operator Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co. LLC and former owner Weyerhaeuser Co., alleging negligence in the tank's installation and use.

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Mallet Wins Injunction On Release Of Baking Product Secrets

By Elliot Weld

Baking product company Mallet & Co. was granted a permanent injunction Tuesday to stop a rival from accessing or disclosing its trade secrets after a federal judge ordered the rival to pay $11.4 million in legal bills for sharing copied goods in publicly accessible court documents.

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Accenture's FCA Deal Shows DEI Risks For Gov't Contractors

The U.S. Department of Justice recently settled allegations that Accenture falsely certified compliance with antidiscrimination requirements in its federal contracts, underscoring how diversity goals can become a False Claims Act issue when the company requests payment from the government, say attorneys at Bass Berry.

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At 4th Circ., DOJ Admits But Downplays Goldstein Trial Errors

By Jeff Overley

The U.S. Department of Justice late Tuesday acknowledged that it confused key statutory terms related to jury instructions at famed appellate advocate Tom Goldstein's criminal trial, while also insisting "the government's mistake here was understandable" and shouldn't upend a jury's guilty verdict.

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Brief

Fenwick & West To Match $235K Salary Scale For Associates

By Tracey Read

Fenwick & West LLP is reportedly the latest firm that will raise associate pay in the new year.

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Ex-Fla. Bar Prez Accused Of Botching $350M Estate Claim

By Carolina Bolado

The widow of a Miami real estate investor is suing a former president of the Florida Bar for malpractice, claiming his botched representation left her without a claim to her late husband's $350 million estate.

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Analysis

3 Federal Circuit Clashes To Watch In November

By Ryan Davis

A high-stakes case that will determine whether the U.S. government should face patent infringement claims over Moderna's COVID-19 vaccines and Labcorp's appeal of a nine-figure patent verdict against it are among the arguments the Federal Circuit will hear in November.

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4th Circ. Says W.Va. Daniel's Law Is Unconstitutional

By Rose Krebs

The Fourth Circuit on Tuesday affirmed a district court determination striking down as unconstitutional West Virginia's law restricting the publication of the home addresses and phone numbers of law enforcement and judicial officials, saying the district court applied "well-established" First Amendment principles.

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