5th Circ. Judge Impugns NLRB Impartiality In Scathing Dissent

By Braden Campbell

A Fifth Circuit judge impugned the National Labor Relations Board's fairness and attacked its foundational motive test as "an undertheorized byproduct of Chevron deference" in a dissent to an opinion backing the board's finding that Trader Joe's illegally fired a worker over repeated COVID-19 safety complaints.

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

Ill. Justices Face Judge's Suit Over Removal For MAGA Op-Ed

By Emily Sawicki

A retired Illinois state judge who had published a MAGA-leaning opinion column, then was temporarily reinstated to the bench amid a judge shortage, has sued the justices of the state Supreme Court, alleging they deprived him of due process in ordering his removal.

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

Stone Hilton Seeks Sanctions Over 'White Trash' Hostility Claim

By Emily Sawicki

Texas firm Stone Hilton is seeking sanctions in an employment suit by a former office manager over her refusal to withdraw an "implausible" hostile work environment claim brought only to harass the defendants and increase the cost of litigation.

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

$14M Noncompete Fight Moves Forward In Chancery

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court on Thursday largely refused to dismiss claims that Boingo Wireless Inc.'s former director John Basil Georges breached a five-year noncompete tied to the $14 million sale of his wireless infrastructure company, but she threw out a parallel nonsolicitation provision as unenforceably overbroad.

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

Wells Fargo Urges 4th Circ. To Ax Ex-Director's $22M ADA Win

By Katryna Perera

Wells Fargo is doubling down on its efforts to unravel a $22 million Americans with Disabilities Act verdict in favor of a former employee, telling the Fourth Circuit the former bank director was never denied a chance to work from home and therefore cannot claim the bank failed to accommodate him, among other things.

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

UBS Whistleblower To Get Full Retrial On Long-Running Case

By Sarah Jarvis

A New York federal judge on Thursday ordered a retrial over a fired UBS worker's whistleblower retaliation lawsuit, marking the latest development in a saga that saw the Second Circuit strike down his 2017 trial win twice, before and after the case was revived by the U.S. Supreme Court.

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

Washington Justices' Input Sought On Prosecutorial Immunity

By Ben Adlin

A Seattle federal judge said he intends to send a certified question to the Washington Supreme Court as part of a lawyer's racial discrimination suit against Snohomish County judges and prosecutors, giving parties a week to weigh in on what exactly the question should be.

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

Paralegal Can Pursue Her ADA Bias Suit Against Former Firm

By Abigail Harrison

A former paralegal at The Driscoll Firm PC can pursue her lawsuit alleging the firm discriminated against her after she informed higher-ups that her cancer had metastasized, because a North Carolina federal judge said she stated plausible claims for relief.

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

Ex-Googler Says Co. Fired Her After Pregnancy Complications

By Ben Adlin

Google LLC wrongfully fired a Washington software engineer who took time away from work to care for herself after the unexpected loss of a pregnancy, according to the former employee's discrimination complaint that was removed to Seattle federal court Wednesday.

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

Brief

Costco Inks Deal To End Worker's Sex Harassment Suit

By Grace Elletson

Costco Wholesale Corporation has agreed to settle a worker's suit claiming the company retaliated against her after she reported that a male colleague harassed her by repeatedly asking her out on dates and reacting angrily when she denied him.

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

Trucking Co. Paid Drivers Per Mile Only, Suit Says

By Benjamin Morse

A trucking company's per-mile pay system violates state law by failing to compensate drivers for work that does not include driving, a driver said in a proposed class action filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

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

FedEx Reaches $8.5M Deal To Settle Warehouse Wage Suit

By George Woolston

FedEx and workers at 17 of its New Jersey warehouses reached an $8.5 million deal to settle the workers' claims they weren't paid for the time spent going through security screenings and walking to time clocks before and after their shifts.

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

NCAA Sets Payment Plan For $303M Wage-Fixing Settlement

By Jared Foretek

The NCAA on Thursday announced a funding plan for its $303 million settlement resolving class action claims from more than 7,700 volunteer Division I coaches who claimed the governing body's former rules illegally suppressed coaching wages.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Empower Retirement Faces FLSA Violation Allegations

By Zach Dupont

A former employee of Empower Retirement LLC claimed in a proposed class and collective action Wednesday that the company violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by not paying employees for required pre- and post-shift work.

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

11th Circ. Backs NLRB In Fla. Symphony's Impasse Appeal

By Katherine Smith

The Eleventh Circuit on Thursday upheld a National Labor Relations Board order finding that a now-defunct Florida symphony orchestra declared an impasse while negotiating with an American Federation of Musicians affiliate and unlawfully imposed a final contract offer.

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

8th Circ. Keeps Arbitration Award Against Concrete Co.

By Irene Spezzamonte

An arbitrator reasonably interpreted and applied a collective bargaining agreement when it ruled that a ready-mix concrete supplier flouted the contract when it didn't release drivers from duty based on seniority, the Eighth Circuit found.

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

DOL To Investigate Calif. Unemployment Insurance Program

By Hailey Konnath

The U.S. Department of Labor has announced it is deploying a "specialized strike team" to look into potential fraud and improper payments within California's unemployment insurance program, according to a statement from the agency.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Alcoa Fights Retirees' Win In Life Insurance Dispute At 7th Circ.

By Emily Brill

Alcoa USA Corp. is looking to erase its retirees' win in a class action that claimed the aluminum manufacturer illegally cut off their life insurance benefits, telling the Seventh Circuit that the retirees owe their victory to an Indiana federal judge misreading their union contract.

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

FNB Affiliate Denied Injunction Over Noncompete Clauses

By P.J. D'Annunzio

The Pennsylvania Superior Court has ruled that a First National Bank wealth management subsidiary was not entitled to an injunction seeking to block three of its former financial advisers from working for a competitor, holding that they did not violate their restrictive covenants.

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

AstraZeneca Prevails In Whistleblower Suit 9th Circ. Revived

By Grace Elletson

An Oregon federal judge tossed a former AstraZeneca sales manager's whistleblower claims that she was fired for accusing a colleague of promoting off-label drugs, in a case that took a trip to the Ninth Circuit and back.

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

Amazon Loses Bid To Ditch Suit Over Lie Detector Testing

By Julie Manganis

Amazon has failed to win an early exit from a proposed class action alleging that the retail giant is flouting a Massachusetts statute banning the use of lie detectors in employment decisions, as a federal judge denied its motion to toss the case Wednesday.

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

Detroit Cop Sues Over Immigration Cooperation Suspension

By Brandon Lowrey

A Detroit police sergeant on Thursday sued the city in Michigan federal court, alleging the police chief wrongfully suspended her for summoning U.S. Border Patrol agents to a traffic stop to identify a Spanish-speaking suspect in violation of department policy and a city ordinance forbidding biased policing.

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

NLRB May Not See Employer-Friendly Changes Anytime Soon

Despite the long-awaited confirmation of a new National Labor Relations Board general counsel and two new board members, slower case processing, the NLRB's changing priorities and an unofficial rule about a three-member majority may prevent NLRB precedent from swinging in businesses' favor this year, says Jesse Dill at Ogletree.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Series

Trivia Competition Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Playing trivia taught me to quickly absorb information and recognize when I've learned what I'm expected to know, training me in the crucial skills needed to be a good attorney, and reminding me to be gracious in defeat, says Jonah Knobler at Patterson Belknap.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

McGlinchey Stafford Files Ch. 7 With Over $10M In Liabilities

By Lauren Berg

New Orleans-based firm McGlinchey Stafford PLLC, which announced last month that it's winding down operations after more than half a century, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy with more than $10 million in liabilities owed to former staff and attorneys, workplace vendors, financial institutions and other creditors.

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

Judge Nixes DOJ Fine In ICE Case, But Blasts 'Radio Silence'

By Hailey Konnath

A Minnesota federal judge said Friday that a U.S. Department of Justice attorney won't be fined after an immigrant's identification documents were finally returned to him, yet she tore into the DOJ's excuses and said she will "not tolerate what happened here: disobedience and radio silence from the government."

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

Analysis

Deportation Policy Pushes Texas Federal Bench To The Brink

By Courtney Bublé

Texas has suffered through a shortage of judges for its federal courts for a while now, but the recent influx of immigration cases is pushing the system to the brink.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Michigan Federal Judge Faces State's 'Super Drunk' Charge

By Bonnie Eslinger

A Michigan federal judge facing trial on drunken driving charges crashed his car on the night he was arrested, registered a 0.27% blood alcohol level and told a state trooper who asked him to recite the alphabet, "A, B, C, D, F, U," according to a police report recently made public.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Boies Schiller Partner Faces Possible Sanctions For AI Errors

By Emily Sawicki

A Boies Schiller Flexner LLP partner must explain why he should not face monetary sanctions for filing a brief containing artificial intelligence-generated citation errors amid his representation of women who allege the Church of Scientology harassed them for reporting convicted actor Danny Masterson's sexual assaults.

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

Epstein's Advisers Ink $35M Deal With Sex Trafficking Victims

By Katryna Perera

A class of victims of Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking scheme has asked a New York federal judge to grant the first OK in a settlement reached with Epstein's lawyer and accountant, who allegedly aided him in the scheme.

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

Va. Judges Name New US Atty, But Blanche Says 'You're Fired'

By Lauren Berg

The federal judges in the Eastern District of Virginia on Friday unanimously appointed veteran litigator James W. Hundley to serve as interim U.S. attorney, a decision immediately met with derision from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who purported to fire Hundley in a social media post.

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

Class Attys Allege Lead Counsel Is Hoarding $75M Sutter Fees

By Dorothy Atkins

Schneider Wallace Cottrell Kim LLP has urged a California federal magistrate judge to enforce the $75.4 million fee award in Sutter Health's $228.5 million deal resolving a decade-long antitrust fight, arguing lead counsel Constantine Cannon LLP "unilaterally" and "arbitrarily" cut SWCK's fees by nearly $800,000 while boosting its own.

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

Beasley Allen Can't Pause NJ Talc DQ Order, Judge Rules

By George Woolston

The Beasley Allen Law Firm can't delay an order disqualifying it from representing hundreds of women who claim their ovarian cancer was caused by Johnson & Johnson's talcum powder while it seeks review from the New Jersey Supreme Court, a state judge ruled on Friday.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Fake Attys, Judges, Hearings: DOJ Alleges Immigration Scam

By Hailey Konnath

A group of Colombian immigrants scammed clients out of $100,000 by pretending to be immigration lawyers at a fake firm and orchestrating phony hearings in which they pretended to be judges and federal agents, complete with fake judicial robes and uniforms, federal prosecutors in New York said Friday.

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

6th Circ. Chief Judge To Take Senior Status

By Courtney Bublé

Chief Sixth Circuit Judge Jeffrey Sutton announced on Friday that he will take senior status on Oct. 1 after more than 20 years on the bench.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Judiciary Preps Training On National Injunction Limits

By Courtney Bublé

Seven months after the budget reconciliation bill was enacted, the federal judiciary is making progress on the provisions to rein in what Republicans deem abuse of nationwide injunctions targeting the Trump administration's initiatives.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

Valve's Anti-Troll Law Win Could Open New Doors

By Dani Kass

The first jury verdict in the U.S. finding a patent owner violated state law meant to curb bad faith patent suits had unique circumstances that will be hard to repeat, but attorneys say Tuesday's decision still has them considering the little-used laws more closely.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Florida AG Defends $100K Teaching Side Gig Amid Scrutiny

By Jake Maher

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has been on defense amid scrutiny over a reported $100,000-per-year teaching gig at the University of Florida law school, just as he sought to roll out a new anti-corruption unit.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Attys Regret Unnoticed ChatGPT Errors In Conn. Court Filings

By Tracey Read

Attorneys ordered to explain errors in two January Connecticut Supreme Court briefs said ChatGPT altered legal arguments that counsel did not notice when they asked the artificial intelligence software to help limit duplicate passages, meet word count rules and format the filings.

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

Brief

2nd NJ Defendant Joins Bid To Disqualify US Atty Leadership

By Carla Baranauckas

A second defendant in a New Jersey federal criminal case on Friday joined a pending bid to disqualify the three assistant U.S. attorneys overseeing the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey, escalating a constitutional challenge to the office's leadership structure.

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

Beltway Moves: Baker McKenzie, Armstrong & Bradylyons

By Alison Knezevich

The deputy assistant attorney general of the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division returned to Baker McKenzie, while two former DOJ fraud prosecutors launched a new white collar boutique, in some of the latest legal industry happenings in Washington, D.C.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Roundup

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

By Max Austin

The last week in London saw the founders of Getir sue investment fund Mubadala for more than $700 million tied to alleged breaches during the company's restructuring, the Welsh Rugby Union face a claim by Swansea Council over a proposed takeover of Cardiff Rugby, and Euro Car Parks target the Competition and Markets Authority after it was fined by the watchdog. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Roundup

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

Several pension funds in New York City sued AT&T, alleging the illegal exclusion of their shareholder proposal requesting a corporate diversity report from the telecom giant's corporate ballot. In the meantime, the DOJ said the Trump administration is investigating federal contractors and grant recipients for potentially engaging in discrimination, rather than for their DEI programs. These are among the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Wigdor LLP and Elefterakis Elefterakis & Panek lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after a New York federal judge denied the NFL's bid to force a class of National Football League coaches into arbitration.

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 »