5th Circ. Judge Asks Starbucks Why Co. Doesn't Want Unions

By Braden Campbell

A Fifth Circuit judge probed Starbucks' labor philosophy Monday in its appeal of a National Labor Relations Board ruling that it stifled workers' rights in a smothering response to an organizing explosion in upstate New York five years ago, asking the company's attorney why it doesn't want unions.

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High Court Turns Away Health Workers' Vaccine Mandate Case

By Patrick Hoff

The U.S. Supreme Court declined a bid for review Monday from workers who said a nonprofit healthcare system and Washington state violated their rights by issuing COVID-19 vaccination mandates, leaving in place a Ninth Circuit ruling that said their case didn't pass muster.

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11th Circ. Backs Miami Beach In Ex-Cop's Retaliation Suit

By Patrick Hoff

The Eleventh Circuit refused Monday to reopen a former Miami Beach police officer's lawsuit claiming she was forced out for complaining about colleagues' sexually explicit comments and behavior, finding she couldn't overcome the city's explanation that she repeatedly neglected her duties.

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DC Circ. Says Military Trans Ban Flouts Constitutional Rights

By Bonnie Eslinger

A divided D.C. Circuit panel Monday said the Trump administration illegally banned transgender individuals from military service, then narrowed a preliminary injunction to prevent the government's exclusion of transgender people presently serving in the military but not those desiring to enlist.

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Mich. Judges Seek Sanctions Over Ex-Defender's Discovery

By Melanie Dorsey

Two Michigan state district judges accused of discriminating and retaliating against a former public defender told a federal court Monday that she still has not produced any discovery despite a court order compelling her to do so, arguing her conduct presents an obvious need for sanctions, including the dismissal of the case.

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Atty-Client Privilege Shields Bias-Testing Data In Workday Suit

By Grace Elletson

Workday won't be required to hand over bias-testing data in a suit claiming the company's artificial intelligence-powered software unlawfully discriminated against job applicants, after a California federal judge ruled that the information is protected by attorney-client privilege.

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Wash. Mandates Menopause Protections For Cabinet Workers

By Patrick Hoff

Washington state Cabinet agencies will soon be required to accommodate employees experiencing menopause and perimenopause after Gov. Bob Ferguson on Monday instructed the state Women's Commission to help develop guidance, policies and resources applicable to menopause-related conditions.

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Brief

Delta Lands Tentative Deal To End EEOC Pregnancy Bias Suit

By Grace Elletson

Delta has struck a deal to end a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission suit claiming the airline illegally yanked a job offer from a pregnant worker who wasn't allowed to complete a physical screening because she was pregnant, the parties told a New York federal judge.

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5th Circ. Wary Of Airline's Bid To Void EEOC Harassment Win

By Anne Cullen

The Fifth Circuit weighed Monday whether to leave in place a $300,000 verdict for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in its sexual harassment case against SkyWest Airlines, as two judges pushed back on some of the airline's arguments for a new trial.

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Tipped Brewery Workers Get Green Light To Sue Collectively

By MJ Koo

A North Carolina federal judge has cleared the way for servers and bussers at a craft brewing company to pursue their wage claims as a group, finding that tipped workers across the company's taprooms shared a common grievance over how they were paid.

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Kia, Hyundai Workers' Attys Get $3.45M Fee Award In Visa Suit

By Benjamin Morse

A Georgia federal court on Monday awarded $3.45 million in attorney fees and costs to lawyers for workers who reached an $11.5 million settlement over claims that a Hyundai supplier, a Kia plant and staffing agencies recruited skilled Mexican engineers for production work and underpaid them.

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Ex-Forklift Operators Hit Freight Co. With OT, Retaliation Suit

By Benjamin Morse

A warehouse and freight unloading company was hit with a proposed collective action in Georgia federal court by two former forklift operators who alleged they worked as many as 80 hours per week without proper overtime pay and were retaliated against for complaining.

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Manufacturer Stiffed Workers On Safety Gear Time, Suit Says

By MJ Koo

An Ohio manufacturer required hourly production workers to don safety gear and attend preshift meetings without pay, a former employee told a federal court.

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H-2A Farmworker Seeks To Block NY Union Contract

By Katherine Smith

A farmworker has asked a New York federal judge to block the state from imposing a union contract on him and his co-workers, saying the contract adopted under a state agricultural labor law violates his constitutional rights and is preempted by federal immigration law.

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NFL Benefit Plans Vow To Reset 'Race Norming' Test Scores

By Alex Lawson

The NFL's disability and retirement plans have agreed to reassess former players' cognitive health to settle a sweeping class action accusing the plans of muting the results based on race.

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Feds Must Share Info On Source Code They Say Was Stolen

By Elliot Weld

A New York federal judge on Monday denied a quantitative trader's bid to escape a charge of trade secret theft but granted his request for prosecutors to turn over information on the source code he allegedly stole.

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Ex-Real Estate Sales Directors Barred From Using Secrets

By Abigail Harrison

Former sales directors, accused by a real estate broker serving the South of participating in a corporate raid and trade secret heist that siphoned millions in sales volume, agreed Monday in North Carolina Business Court not to use or disseminate any of its confidential information or trade secrets.

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TriZetto, Infosys Fight Each Side's CEO Deposition Bids

By Ivan Moreno

Cognizant TriZetto Software Group and Infosys Ltd. have filed dueling motions to block depositions of each other's top executives in a trade secret lawsuit over allegations that Infosys misused confidential access to TriZetto's healthcare software to build competing products.

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Charter Communications Faces 5 Suits Over Alleged Hack

By Aaron Keller

Charter Communications, which provides telecommunications services in 41 states, has been hit with five Connecticut federal court lawsuits alleging that hackers stole more than 40 million private records through a cyberattack that infiltrated an employee's computer access account.

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Penske, Family Spar In 5th Circ. Crash Suit After Montgomery

By Linda Chiem

Trucking services giant Penske Logistics LLC and its freight broker affiliate Penske Transportation Management LLC have told the Fifth Circuit that the U.S. Supreme Court's recent Montgomery ruling doesn't support reviving negligence claims from the family of a man killed in a 2018 Texas collision.

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Employer Tips To Prepare For Va. Family And Medical Leave

With Virginia's paid family and medical leave insurance program taking effect in two years, employers should develop processes for monitoring head count, coordinating with existing federal and state leave programs, and tracking intermittent leave, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

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Milbank Raises Associate Pay Scale, Topping Out At $455K

By Kevin Penton

Milbank LLP is increasing associate pay by $10,000 to $20,000 annually, with new salary floors of $235,000 and pay reaching as high as $455,000 for more experienced attorneys, according to the firm.

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BigLaw Could Tap PE Money For Advantage In Talent Wars

By Ryan Boysen

BigLaw firms may soon partner with private equity to gain an edge in the talent wars, potentially reshaping the U.S. legal industry despite fears that the shift could corrode firms' cultures.

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Fox Rothschild Atty Censured Over $2.7M In Unapproved Fees

By Adrian Cruz

A New Jersey-based bankruptcy partner at Fox Rothschild LLP has been censured by the Supreme Court of New Jersey after she was found to have wrongfully disbursed over $2.7 million in fees to her former firms without approval.

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Chicago US Atty Report Denies Grand Jury Misconduct Claim

By Lauraann Wood

The Northern District of Illinois' top prosecutor sought to offer clarity Tuesday surrounding accusations of his possible interference with grand jury proceedings that preceded a criminal conspiracy indictment against six protesters, releasing a special report one defendant's attorney says raises more questions than it answers.

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7th Circ. Fines Deported Migrant's Atty For ChatGPT Misuse

By Emily Sawicki

The Seventh Circuit has rejected a Mexican citizen's petition challenging an immigration court's removal order on the merits, while sanctioning his attorney $5,000 for filing two legal briefs "riddled with" fabricated quotes and case citations hallucinated by ChatGPT.

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Exclusive

Cooley Launches Global Hearings Practice As Scrutiny Rises

By Daniel Moritz-Rabson

Cooley LLP has established a global hearings and inquiries practice to help companies prepare comprehensive strategies as they face increased regulatory scrutiny across multiple jurisdictions, the firm exclusively told Law360 on Tuesday.

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Ex-McDermott, Venable Attys Sued Over Estate's $40M Tax Bill

By Dorothy Atkins

The estate of a successful dentist who died in 2017 sued McDermott Will & Schulte LLP, Venable LLP and two attorneys in California state court Monday, alleging they gave negligent legal advice in planning the dentist's estate causing it to owe the IRS $40 million in taxes and penalties.

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Dem AGs Slam Climate Science Removal From Judicial Guide

By Jack Karp

The federal judiciary's decision to strike a chapter on climate change from its guide to scientific evidence is misguided, partisan and "will impede the judiciary's ability to pursue truth," according to a Tuesday letter from nearly two dozen Democratic state attorneys general.

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Bipartisan Bill Would Modernize Court Records Systems

By Matt Perez

U.S. Sens. John Kennedy, R-La., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., on Tuesday jointly introduced the Open Courts Act, which they said would modernize the court records systems PACER and CM/ECF.

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Feature

AI Software Contracts Need Careful Review, Attys Are Warned

By Aaron Keller

Attorneys considering adopting artificial intelligence tools must ensure software contracts comply with data privacy laws, and firms should not be afraid to quiz software sales representatives, including by asking how long the software retains data, representatives from two law firms told Connecticut lawyers Tuesday.

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Analysis

Attys Worried Where ICE Will Draw Line In Asylum Crackdown

By Britain Eakin

Immigration attorneys are bracing for heightened scrutiny after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said it would crack down on attorneys filing fraudulent asylum claims, expressing fears that the agency could blur the line between fraud and legitimate advocacy.

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DOJ Won't Move Forward With $1.8B Fund, Blanche Confirms

By Courtney Bublé

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told lawmakers Tuesday, "we're not moving forward" with the controversial $1.8 billion settlement fund.

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Senate Confirms Montana, Kansas Judges

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate confirmed judges Tuesday for Montana and Kansas, one of whom was the first judicial nominee of the second Trump administration to receive a "not qualified" rating from the American Bar Association.

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Titan Of The Plaintiffs Bar: Arias Sanguinetti's Mike Arias

By Joyce Hanson

When she was team captain with a track and field scholarship at the University of Southern California in the 1990s, Nicole Haynes was in good health and rarely had to see a doctor. So when she got a bad stomachache and her friends encouraged her to visit the USC health center, Haynes said she didn't have the right words to explain why her experience with Dr. George Tyndall had felt so invasive and wrong.

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