Jets' Arbitration Bid In Firing Case Meets Skeptical Panel

By Carla Baranauckas

A New Jersey appellate court on Wednesday questioned the New York Jets' bid to limit a federal arbitration exemption to sexual harassment victims and reporters, probing whether the law might also protect an employee who claims she was fired because of harassment allegations involving others.

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Ga. Appeals Court Grapples With Nurses' COVID-Era Pay Fight

By Kelcey Caulder

A Georgia appeals court wrestled Wednesday with whether nurses who traveled to Florida for jobs at state-run COVID-19 testing sites were owed pay just for showing up in the Sunshine State — or if being assigned a shift triggered a staffing company's pay obligations. 

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NC Corrections Dept. Escapes Ex-Officer's HIV Hiring Bias Suit

By P.J. D'Annunzio

North Carolina's corrections system has beaten a lawsuit in which a previously fired state prison officer alleged that an offer to work at another state prison was withdrawn because he is HIV positive, with a federal judge finding the man failed to show discrimination cost him the job.

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Brief

EEOC Set To Revoke Guidance On Workers' Criminal History

By Patrick Hoff

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is poised to roll back guidance on the use of workers' arrest and conviction records in employment decisions, now that the proposed rescission has been sent to the White House for review.

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Eldercare Co.'s Wage Class Fight Bound For Wash. High Court

By Ben Adlin

Washington's highest court agreed Tuesday to take up whether an appellate panel rightly revived two workers' proposed wage-and-hour class action against an eldercare provider despite the plaintiffs' membership in a separate class action against the company that was previously settled.

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Ga. Atty Wants Ex-Firm's Nearly $100K Arbitration Win Erased

By Adrian Cruz

A Georgia attorney has asked a Georgia federal judge to vacate a nearly $100,000 arbitration award in favor of her former firm in a retaliation and harassment suit, arguing the arbitrator exceeded his powers in handing down the decision.

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Okla. Pot Agency Accused Of Retaliating Over Gender Pay Gap

By Jonathan Capriel

The Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority was hit with a sex discrimination and retaliation lawsuit by a former employee who claims the agency reprimanded her for pointing out that she was paid less than her male colleagues, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court Tuesday.

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Televangelist, Network Owner Face Off In Race Bias Trial

By Susan Smiley

A Michigan federal jury was told on Wednesday that deciding a Black televangelist's race discrimination claim against the white owner of a religious network will require deciding if the owner's sharing of a meme was racist or simply a joke between old friends that was misunderstood.

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Fired Childcare Director Fights To Keep Bias Suit Alive

By MJ Koo

A former director at a Colorado childcare center pushed back on her ex-employer's bid to dismiss her pregnancy discrimination suit, saying the company's termination notice cited her medical appointments and approved remote work as reasons for firing her.

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US Bank Keeps Workers' Break Suit In Seattle Federal Court

By Ben Adlin

A proposed wage-and-hour class action targeting U.S. Bank NA will remain in federal court, a Seattle judge ruled Tuesday, finding that the bank sufficiently showed that the dispute is worth more than $5 million and thus eligible for removal under the Class Action Fairness Act.

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Colo. Legislative Aide Says He Was Fired For Pay Complaints

By Benjamin Morse

A Colorado state representative fired a senior legislative aide after he objected to doing campaign work on taxpayer-funded time and complained that she failed to fairly pay him for hundreds of hours of campaign work, according to a suit filed in Colorado state court.

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Ex-Fifth Third Worker Claims Unpaid Prep Work Violated FLSA

By Sydney Price

An ex-Fifth Third Bank customer service representative has hit her former employer with a proposed class action accusing it of violating the Fair Labor Standards Act by refusing to pay her and other employees for time spent preparing to work.

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Holtec CEO Says Atty Is Confusing Jury Over Confidential Doc

By George Woolston

Holtec International CEO Krishna Singh accused counsel for the company's former chief financial officer of attempting to confuse jurors in New Jersey state court when he asked whether Singh was aware the ex-CFO had said information in a draft document meant for a prospective investor was false.

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Josh Cellars Co. Says Ex-Prez Has 'Deep' Litigation Funding

By Aaron Keller

Companies behind the Josh Cellars wine brand say they should be allowed to introduce an ex-president's alleged litigation funding deals during an upcoming Connecticut jury trial, arguing they're necessary to defend against his assertions regarding a corporate operating agreement and to refute a possibly misleading portrayal of the parties' resources.

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NLRB Memo Signals Narrower View Of Protected Activism

A recent National Labor Relations Board memo concluding that Microsoft lawfully discharged two employees who conducted a pro-Palestinian protest on company property indicates that the current NLRB general counsel may take a more restrictive view of when political or social advocacy qualifies as protected activity, say attorneys at Franczek.

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Why And How To Build A Neurodiversity-Informed Practice

By better understanding neurodiversity and implementing simple accommodations for clients with autism, ADHD or learning differences, attorneys can build stronger relationships with those who may otherwise struggle to obtain and benefit from legal services, while developing good habits that will benefit everyone they represent, says Ting Cheung at Sanford Heisler.

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Omni Bridgeway Raises $1B For New Litigation Funding

By Ryan Boysen

Litigation funder Omni Bridgeway has raised a new $1 billion fund from mostly repeat investors, with plans to deploy the money broadly across countries and case types while avoiding debt leverage.

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Alito Explains Recusal But Says It Shouldn't Become Practice

By Katie Buehler

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito said this week he "reluctantly" recused himself from a dispute that could decide whether state and local government can sue Big Oil in state courts for damages related to greenhouse gas emissions, while suggesting the high court's members shouldn't make a practice of explaining their reasons for stepping away from cases.

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Justices' Docs Should Belong To Public, Gov't Watchdogs Say

By Jack Karp

Nearly two dozen government accountability groups are calling for Congress to enact a law that would make U.S. Supreme Court justices' papers government property that would someday be available to the public.

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Analysis

Uncertainty Surrounds Judge Newman's 11th Circ. Transfer

By Dani Kass

Chief Justice John Roberts' order to transfer the Federal Circuit Judicial Council's disability investigation of a suspended 99-year-old judge to another court offers the neutral evaluation the judge has long been asking for, but attorneys are concerned about the transparency of the proceeding.

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California Federal Judge Jeffrey White To Retire After 24 Years

By Bonnie Eslinger

Senior U.S. District Judge Jeffrey S. White will retire at the end of the year after nearly a quarter-century on the federal bench in Northern California.

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ABA Accreditor Leader Remembered For Passion And Intellect

By Emma Cueto

After her sudden death while leading the American Bar Association council that handles law school accreditation, Melissa Hart is being remembered as a passionate and fiercely intelligent jurist, mentor and leader who will be missed as the council navigates numerous challenges to its accreditor status.

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