White Worker Gets 2nd Chance In Race Training Bias Suit

By Grace Elletson

The Ninth Circuit reinstated Monday a white worker's claims that the City of Seattle subjected him to harassment by pushing race bias trainings that caused his colleagues to villainize white people, ruling that negative comments he received about his race were enough to keep the case in court.

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Split 7th Circ. Backs Ill. County's Win In COVID Vax Bias Suit

By Celeste Bott

The Seventh Circuit in a split decision Monday affirmed a summary judgment win for Cook County, Illinois, in a former hospital pharmacist's suit alleging she was unlawfully fired after she refused a COVID-19 vaccine, with the majority holding the county proved a religious exemption would've posed undue hardship and one dissenting judge saying the case should go to a jury.

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Black Tesla Workers In Calif. Fired At Higher Rates, Judge Told

By Dorothy Atkins

An economics professor testified in a California state bench trial Monday over the California Civil Rights Department's claims Tesla fostered racism at its Fremont factory that he found Tesla's Black workers in California are paid 4.37% less, and involuntarily terminated at a 75% higher rate, than their white counterparts.

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Parler Wasn't Worth Much When CEO Was Fired, Jury Told

By Cara Salvatore

A company valuation expert testified Monday in the trial over Parler's 2021 ouster of its CEO that the company had little value at the time and that insider estimates in the hundreds of millions of dollars were "speculation."

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Car Dealer Settles EEOC Suit Over Medical Restrictions Rule

By Anne Cullen

A Florida auto dealership chain agreed to pay $112,500 to settle U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claims that it unlawfully required employees returning from medical leave to have no physical restrictions, according to documents filed in court Monday.

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EEOC Telework Claim Survives In ADA Suit Against Utility

By Vin Gurrieri

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission can ask a jury to decide whether a former utility services employee was illegally denied a telework accommodation following a stroke, a Georgia federal judge ruled while also paring certain other claims from the agency's disability discrimination suit.

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Trump Admin Reinstates Former Title IX Regs

By Tom Lotshaw

The U.S. Department of Education on Monday said it's formally repealing a vacated Biden-era rule that attempted to expand Title IX discrimination protections to include sexual orientation and gender identity and reinstating a rule the Trump administration enacted in 2020.

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11th Circ. Backs Sheriff In Ex-Deputy's Sex Bias Suit

By David Aaro

The Eleventh Circuit has affirmed a win for a Florida county sheriff in a lawsuit brought by a former deputy who claimed she was forced to resign because of her race, ruling she hadn't offered evidence from which a reasonable jury could conclude she'd endured sex discrimination.

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Faith-Based Rehab Program Can't Exit Wage Suit, Court Rules

By MJ Koo

A Texas federal court allowed a man who was ordered into a faith-based addiction recovery program to pursue wage claims against the program's operators, finding he plausibly alleged participants were treated as employees who performed substantial commercial labor without lawful pay.

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Mich. Recovery Center Worker's OT Claim Headed To Trial

By MJ Koo

A Michigan federal court sent a revenue cycle manager's overtime lawsuit to trial Monday, finding factual disputes about whether her employer improperly docked her pay and whether she had enough independence on the job to qualify as an exempt administrative employee under federal wage law.

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Cushman Workers Win Class Cert. On Second Meal Breaks

By Benjamin Morse

A California federal judge certified a class of Cushman & Wakefield workers who alleged that the real estate services company failed to provide required second meal breaks, finding that time records showed missing second meals on nearly 80% of eligible shifts.

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Golden Nugget Wants Dealer's Wage Suit Tossed Again

By MJ Koo

Atlantic City's Golden Nugget casino again moved to dismiss a table game dealer's wage lawsuit, adding new arguments against two tip credit notice claims while renewing its bid to send state law claims to New Jersey's casino regulators and toss a federal overtime claim.

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Creamery Blocked From Cutting Off Workers' Healthcare

By Emily Brill

A billion-dollar dairy cooperative that is trying to shutter a century-old creamery in Vermont cannot revoke the staff's health insurance until it resolves a dispute with a Teamsters local over whether the shutdown is lawful, a state federal judge ruled Monday, partially granting the union's request for an injunction.

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Calif. Expands Reproductive Care, Abortion Access

By Hailey Konnath

A series of new laws in California aim to expand access to medication abortion on community college campuses, bolster veterans' access to reproductive care including abortions, and make it easier for nursing parents to access lactation support, according to an announcement made Sunday.

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Goya Gets Former CEO's Pay Suit Shipped To NJ

By Patrick Hoff

Goya Foods got a green light to move a compensation dispute with a fired executive from Texas to New Jersey, with a federal judge in the Lone Star State saying it's best to litigate the case where the company is headquartered.

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First Steps For Companies Facing AI-Assisted Pro Se Suits

As the volume of filings by pro se litigants assisted by artificial intelligence tools continues to increase, companies should adopt a consistent early assessment process to control costs while responding fairly and effectively to such claims, say attorneys at Stradley Ronon.

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Senior Lawyers Survey: Tell Us About Your Career

How are senior lawyers adapting to evolving career paths and emerging technologies? Share your perspective in this five-minute survey.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

O'Melveny & Myers LLP and Reed Smith LLP lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the Ninth Circuit overturned a $140 million class verdict against CenturyLink, holding that the company had a reasonable interpretation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

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Arkansas Firm 5th To Seal PE Deal With Uplift Investors

By Tracey Read

Arkansas' largest personal injury law firm is the latest legal entity to ink a deal to take private equity investment using Uplift Investors' associated management services organization.

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AI Mishap Has Judge Questioning 'Our Collective Character'

By Julie Manganis

A California attorney was barred from representing the plaintiffs in a Massachusetts insurance coverage dispute and ordered to pay legal costs of up to $10,000 to opposing counsel, after a federal judge found he relied on "inaccurate and fictitious" case cites and holdings in three filings.

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Tarter Krinsky Faces Suit After Disclosing Data Breach

By Andrea Keckley

Tarter Krinsky & Drogin LLP maintained "intentional opacity" about a recently disclosed cybersecurity attack last year that may have compromised protected health information, a proposed class action alleged in New York federal court.

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A2J At The High Court: Gun Bans, Voting And Civil Remedies

By Marco Poggio

From the right to own semiautomatic rifles to the rules governing voter registration, the upcoming U.S. Supreme Court term will see the justices tackle a broad swath of constitutional and access to justice issues.

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Domino Foods Fights Paul Weiss DQ Bid In Price-Fixing MDL

By Madison Arnold

Domino Foods is pushing back on an attempt to disqualify its counsel from Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP in a sugar price-fixing multidistrict litigation, arguing Hershey, J.M. Smucker and other food makers filed the motion as a "strategic attempt to gain tactical advantage" at a critical point in the dispute.

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Duane Morris To Settle Employee's Tax Withholding Claim

By Asha Glover

Duane Morris LLP has agreed to private mediation to settle a proposed class action by an employee who alleged that the firm failed to withhold taxes for workers who were misclassified as partners, according to a notice.

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Roundup

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

By Megan Norcott

The past week in London has seen Glencore Energy sue a refinery for allegedly defrauding it out of more than $236 million worth of crude oil, the former CEO of ankle-tag maker Big Technologies file a defamation claim against the company, and property investment group Hunter Jones hit by a claim from the Financial Conduct Authority. 

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

Wilson Sonsini topped a list of law firms that have alumni attorneys working at six of the country's most prominent tech companies. And general counsel at most large companies expect to increase their litigation budgets next year.

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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.

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