Fired SpaceX Workers Can't Dodge Arbitration, 9th Circ. Told

By Craig Clough

A SpaceX attorney Thursday urged the Ninth Circuit to revive its bid to arbitrate claims by eight former employees who say they were wrongfully terminated for complaining about CEO Elon Musk's sexually charged social media posts, saying they did not "adequately allege" sexual harassment.

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3rd Circ. Vexed By Diabetic Worker's Atty, AI Issues

By Matthew Santoni

A Third Circuit panel questioned Thursday whether a hospital employee's disclosure of her diabetes was "too little, too late" to trigger an accommodation after she was written up for sleeping on the job — and whether her attorneys should be sanctioned for filing a minor motion that appeared to include AI-hallucinated citations.

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Facebook's Ex-Policy Director Sues Meta Over Gag Order

By Lauren Berg

Former Facebook executive Sarah Wynn-Williams says Meta Platforms has trampled her First Amendment rights by running to an arbitrator to prevent her from disclosing the social media company's "illegal and indefensible workplace conditions and corporate misconduct," in a lawsuit filed Thursday in California federal court.

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Detroit Club Hit With Nearly $6.3M In Race Retaliation Verdict

By Melanie Dorsey

Former Detroit Club server Miya Shani Hooks audibly sobbed Thursday as a federal jury found the club and its owner liable for retaliating against three former employees who said they had spoken out against racist treatment of Black guests and staff. 

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9th Circ. Says Farmworkers' Attys Deserve Higher Fee

By MJ Koo

The Ninth Circuit has ordered a Washington federal court to increase an attorney fee award for farmworkers who successfully challenged the federal government's agricultural wage survey methodology, finding the lower court's explanation for slashing the award by 75% was insufficient.

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7th Circ. Won't Reinstate Trans Bus Driver's Bias Suit

By Grace Elletson

The Seventh Circuit declined to revive a transgender bus driver's suit claiming the Chicago Transit Authority fired him due to his gender identity, ruling he failed to show the decision was driven by prejudice rather than claims that he took medical leave that wasn't approved.

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VA Moves To Ax Disparate Impact From Discrimination Regs

By Madeline Lyskawa

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs on Thursday moved to scrub portions of its regulations barring federal funding recipients from engaging in conduct with an unintentional disparate impact, saying they are in "considerable tension" with the U.S. Constitution. 

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Walmart Worker's $23M Retaliation Verdict Slashed To $300K

By Grace Elletson and Rachel Riley

A Washington federal judge on Thursday reduced a $23 million verdict handed to a former Walmart employee who claimed she was fired for reporting sexual harassment, saying a statutory damages cap requires the court to cut the victory to $300,000.

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NYC Seeks To Shut Down Delivery App Over Wage Violations

By MJ Koo

New York City has moved to bar a food delivery app from operating in the city unless it begins paying its workers the legally required minimum wage, after the company's own reports showed it paid workers as little as $1.82 per hour.

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Logistics Co. Inks $1.7M Deal To End Driver OT Suit

By Benjamin Morse

A logistics provider that helps manage trailers on company grounds agreed to pay up to $1.7 million to resolve a collective action alleging it misclassified drivers as overtime-exempt, according to an unopposed approval motion filed Thursday in Georgia federal court.

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Extended Stay Subsidiary Pay Suit Moves Back To State Court

By Benjamin Morse

A Washington federal magistrate judge on Thursday sent a proposed wage-and-hour class action against a subsidiary of Extended Stay America back to state court, finding the hotel operator did not show that the suit exceeded the $5 million threshold for federal jurisdiction.

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Monitor Says UAW Prez Retaliated Against VP For Favor Snub

By Emily Brill

The United Auto Workers president ended a union official's oversight of UAW's Stellantis department in retaliation for the official's refusal to do favors for him, the monitor appointed to oversee the union in the wake of a corruption scandal said Thursday in his latest status report, filed in Michigan federal court.

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Kraft Heinz Must Arbitrate Union Pension Dispute, Judge Says

By MJ Koo

An Iowa federal judge has ordered Kraft Heinz Co. to submit a pension eligibility grievance to arbitration, finding the company's collective bargaining agreement requires it to arbitrate the dispute and rejecting its bid to block the proceedings.

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Brokerage Workers Say $1.05B Sale Shortchanged Them

By Jarek Rutz

A proposed class action in Delaware Chancery Court alleges the founders and directors of insurance brokerage startup Newfront Insurance Holdings Inc. breached fiduciary duties by forcing employee shareholders to accept inferior merger consideration and restrictive employment conditions in the company's $1.05 billion sale to Willis Towers Watson PLC.

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Software Exec Can Move To New Firm, Mass. Judge Says

By Julie Manganis

A Massachusetts state judge on Thursday rejected a software developer's bid to block a former executive from jumping to a purported rival, finding that the two companies offer different products that do not directly compete.

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Universal Trucker Gets Class OK In Ill. Biometric Privacy Row

By Allison Grande

An Illinois federal judge granted class status to a former Universal Intermodal Services employee in his suit accusing the company and affiliates of illegally collecting workers' biometric data, finding the potential inclusion in the certified classes of temporary workers or those who might have signed consent forms didn't foreclose the move.

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Colo. Judge Tosses Fired Public Defender's Speech Claim

By Benjamin Morse

A Colorado state judge has dismissed a free speech claim by a former public defender, who alleged he was fired after making court filings and seeking a hearing to warn that crushing caseloads and a cyberattack threatened his ability to provide constitutionally adequate representation to criminal defendants.

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Examining 3 Notable DOL Moves In The First Half Of 2026

With the U.S. Department of Labor addressing independent contractor classification, joint employment and white collar exemptions so far this year, employers must understand this shifting landscape to ensure proper treatment of employees based on their classification and to mitigate enforcement risk, say attorneys at Conn Maciel.

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Series

Moshing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Entering a mosh pit is much like entering the practice of law — it is difficult, you have to know both the written and unwritten rules, and conduct yourself according to the expectations of each community, says Christopher Deubert at Constangy Brooks.

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Groombridge Wu Tops Milbank Pay Scale For Associates

By Kevin Penton

Groombridge Wu Baughman & Stone LLP is the latest firm to top the pay scale for associates announced earlier this month by Milbank LLP, with attorneys set to earn as much as $470,000.

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Senate Confirming Judges Faster Than In Trump's 1st Term

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate has confirmed 45 judges in the second Trump term, outpacing the rate of his first administration, Senate Republicans announced on Thursday.

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Attys Urged To Challenge Clients Who Demand AI Research

By Aaron Keller

A Connecticut federal judge urged attorneys during a Thursday sanctions hearing to push back against clients who demand lawyers use generative artificial intelligence tools to conduct legal research, saying the technology is no substitute for professional judgment and discretion because it "aims to please" and can misstate the law.

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Lack Of Evidence Sinks Insurance Fraud Case, Atty Says

By Emily Sawicki

A Louisiana law firm and lawyer found guilty of criminal conspiracy and wire fraud for staging vehicle crashes as part of a scheme to defraud insurance carriers and trucking companies are seeking acquittal or a new trial, arguing that federal prosecutors failed to support their claims with evidence.

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SCOTUSblog Founder Goldstein Blasts 'Inflated' DOJ Tax Math

By Jared Foretek

Convicted SCOTUSblog founder Tom Goldstein and federal prosecutors are clashing again over their dramatically divergent sentencing recommendations, with the defense accusing the government of presenting a "one-dimensional caricature" of the famed lawyer in seeking an eight-year sentence, and prosecutors accusing him of potentially deleting "secret chats" with his gambling backers.

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Feds Say Would-Be Kavanaugh Assassin Was Let Off Easy

By Nadia Dreid

Both federal prosecutors and a Stephen Miller-founded public interest group believe that a Maryland federal judge let a woman accused of trying to kill U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh off too easy because of her gender identity and want the Fourth Circuit to order resentencing.

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Quinn Emanuel Says 3M Fee Proposal Undervalues Its Work

By Carolina Bolado

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP has objected to a special master's recommendation on the allocation of common benefit fees in the $6 billion settlement that ended multidistrict litigation against 3M over allegedly faulty combat earplugs, saying the amount doesn't value the "length, extent and impact" of the firm's work.

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