OpenAI Tells Court Ex-Worker Took Confidential Files To Apple

By Lauren Berg

OpenAI Foundation on Wednesday alleged one of its former employees absconded with confidential files about an unreleased artificial intelligence product and gave the information to Apple Inc., asking the California federal judge overseeing Apple's nearly identical trade secret allegations for time to investigate and potentially file counterclaims.

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

Unions, Nonprofits Get USDA Reorganization Plan Blocked

By Rae Ann Varona

A California federal judge has temporarily blocked the U.S. Department of Agriculture from closing offices and reshuffling staff, saying the department's planned reorganization likely amounted to "reprogramming" prohibited by statutory spending restrictions.

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

Mich. Jury Awards Televangelist $62M For Network's Racism

By Melanie Dorsey

A Black televangelist was awarded $62.2 million Wednesday by a Michigan federal jury that found that the white owner of a religious television network subjected him to racial discrimination, harassment and retaliation, concluding a trial centered on a meme depicting the network owner as a pimp surrounded by Black ministers.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Groups Can't Freeze Order Mandating Contractor DEI Rule

By Grace Elletson

A Maryland federal judge refused Wednesday to block an executive order from President Donald Trump requiring government contractors to disavow "racially discriminatory DEI activities," finding the directive's critics haven't shown that it likely shirks free speech protections.

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

Atty Sanctioned For Vulgar Emails To Opposing Counsel

By Elliot Weld

A Texas federal magistrate judge has sanctioned an attorney who serves as principal for an oil and gas exploration company locked in a trade secret misappropriation case with a rival after opposing counsel complained of his expletive-ridden emails containing ad hominem attacks.

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

Hegseth Trans Slur May Lead To Deposition, Judge Says

By Jared Foretek

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will have to answer questions in a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's transgender troops ban, after a D.C. federal judge said Wednesday that his recent use of a slur for trans people could show that the policy was motivated by animus.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Feds Fight Top Court Review Of Ex-Defender's Sex Bias Suit

By Hayley Fowler

The federal judiciary has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reject a former assistant public defender's petition challenging its internal complaint process for workplace sex harassment, arguing the questions she presented weren't properly preserved in the lower courts.

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

Smithfield Settles EEOC Suit Over Pregnant Worker's Firing

By Grace Elletson

A Smithfield Foods subsidiary reached a deal to resolve a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission suit claiming it placed a pregnant employee on unpaid leave and then fired her when she asked for lighter work and occasional breaks, according to a North Carolina federal court filing.

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

Amazon Workers Allege Unpaid Time At Exit Security Checks

By Ben Adlin

Amazon.com Services LLC fails to pay its Washington warehouse workers for time spent in mandatory anti-theft security screenings when leaving its facilities, two former employees claimed in a proposed wage class action filed in state court Monday.

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

Carpenters Broker $9.25M Deal In $250M Pension Loss Suit

By Grace Elletson

The trustees of a carpenters pension plan and an investment advisor promised to pay $9.25 million to resolve a suit from workers who claimed they saw a $250 million loss in savings when the plan invested in speculative Allianz index funds, according to a Washington federal court filing.

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

Hotel Urges NLRB To Review Union Decert Election Ruling

By Katherine Smith

A California hotel urged the National Labor Relations Board to review a regional director's decision rejecting its objections to an election where a UNITE HERE local narrowly avoided decertification, claiming the decision improperly resolved questions regarding a supervisor's authority and the "coercive effect" of her conduct before the election.

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

Challenges To VOA Cuts Moot After Policy Shift, Agency Says

By Benjamin Morse

The U.S. Agency for Global Media told a D.C. federal judge that consolidated suits by a coalition of journalists, federal employees and labor unions seeking to overturn cuts that slashed staffing at Voice of America are moot because the agency has changed the policy at issue.

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

IBEW Union Hall Wants Out Of COVID-19 Loan Fraud Suit

By Emily Brill

An International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union hall in Boston asked a Massachusetts federal judge Wednesday to toss claims that it committed fraud by collecting a COVID-19 relief loan it wasn't eligible for, saying it didn't know it wasn't eligible.

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

Union Seeks Early Exit In Lockheed Guard's Firing Suit

By Katherine Smith

A union urged a Connecticut federal court to toss a former security officer's claims that it improperly declined to arbitrate his grievance over his termination from Sikorsky Aircraft and parent company Lockheed Martin Corp., claiming he failed to show the union breached its duty to fairly represent him.

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

Jail Policy Referendum Needed Union Input, Pa. Justices Told

By Matthew Santoni

A referendum to limit certain methods of restraining inmates at the Allegheny County Jail in Pittsburgh was void from the start because it had interfered with jail guards' safety and should have been bargained with the union, the guards' attorney told the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Wednesday.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Cannabis Co.'s Ex-Legal Chief Says Sale Stripped Assets

By Zach Dupont

A Colorado cannabis company owes nearly $180,000 in severance to its former chief legal officer due to the company's inability to pay its liabilities following a zero-cash sale to a buyer attached to one of the company's co-founders, the former executive told a Colorado state court Wednesday.

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

Mass. Top Court Rejects Trade Secret Harm 'Presumption'

By Carolyn Muyskens

Massachusetts' highest court on Wednesday declined to rule that a strong trade secrets case can establish a presumption of irreparable harm and entitle the owner of the secrets to a preliminary injunction.

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

Brief

4th Circ. Pauses Comcast DOL Appeal For High Court Case

By Benjamin Morse

The Fourth Circuit put Comcast Corp.'s challenge to the U.S. Department of Labor's authority to hear a whistleblower retaliation case on hold pending a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the agency's power to adjudicate employment disputes.

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

Ogletree Adds 8 Labor, Employment Attys From Fisher Phillips

By Andrea Keckley

Management-side labor and employment firm Ogletree Deakins LLP said Wednesday it has hired eight attorneys from Fisher Phillips.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

What Lawyers Should Know Before Accepting Crypto Payment

As clients increasingly request to pay legal fees, retainers and escrow funds using cryptocurrency, lawyers should consider how only a handful of state bar authorities have addressed the issue with varying ethics opinions, as well as the related questions that no authority has yet answered, says attorney Felix Shipkevich.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

How To Use AI In Employment Contract Drafting

Before using artificial intelligence to draft employment contracts, law firms and employers must assess practical ethical guardrails, appropriate use cases, core risk areas and validation workflows, says Samuel Mitchell at Smith Gambrell.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Watchdog Wants Probe Of Trump Press Secretary's Atty Claim

By Jack Karp

A nonprofit government watchdog on Wednesday asked the State Bar of California to investigate whether the new White House press secretary has claimed to be an attorney without being licensed to practice law.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ex-BigLaw Atty Wants Firm Docs For Insider Trading Defense

By Carolyn Muyskens

A former BigLaw associate accused of insider trading is seeking records from ex-employers Sidley Austin LLP, Latham & Watkins LLP and Goodwin Procter LLP to help fight charges that he tipped others about nonpublic deals the firms were working on.

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

Quinn Emanuel Seeks Arbitration Of $1.7M Fee Dispute

By Caroline Simson

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP is urging a California federal court to order an entrepreneur to arbitrate malpractice claims stemming from the firm's representation of her in a sexual harassment claim against a technology investor as it seeks to collect more than $1.7 million in unpaid fees.

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

Baker Botts Atty Seeks $3.4M In Fees After Defamation Suit

By Madison Arnold

A Baker Botts LLP patent attorney has moved for almost $3.4 million in attorney fees and expenses in a defamation suit an inventor brought against her that was dismissed.

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

Fox Rothschild Beats Daycare's Malicious Prosecution Suit

By George Woolston

A New Jersey state court dismissed an adult daycare company's suit against Fox Rothschild LLP and one of its attorneys related to their prosecution of a fraudulent loan lawsuit that led to a $65,000 sanction against the firm, according to a court order.

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

DLA Piper Accused Of Malpractice In Investor's Soccer Deals

By Bonnie Eslinger

American businessman John Textor has filed a legal malpractice suit in Florida against DLA Piper over the firm's representation in connection with an investment vehicle he created to acquire soccer clubs in the United Kingdom and other countries, claiming his damages could exceed hundreds of millions of dollars.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »