OpenAI To Pay $3.2M In DOJ Visa Worker Bias Settlement

By Sarah Jarvis

OpenAI and its subsidiary will pay $3.2 million to settle allegations from the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division that the technology giant discriminated against U.S. workers in favor of workers with temporary employment visas in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the DOJ announced Tuesday.

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Amazon Delivery System Suppresses Wages, NJ AG Says

By Carla Baranauckas

New Jersey's attorney general hit Amazon with a federal antitrust suit Tuesday, alleging the company engineered its Delivery Service Partner program to create a "captive seller," then used its dominance to impose substandard pay, harsh working conditions and anti‑union tactics on thousands of last‑mile delivery drivers across the state.

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8th Circ. Backs Chemical Co. In EEOC Race Bias Lawsuit

By Katherine Smith

The Eighth Circuit on Tuesday upheld the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's trial loss in its lawsuit alleging that a chemical company violated civil rights law by failing to prevent racial harassment against a Black employee, ruling that the agency failed to show the jury had relied on flawed jury instructions.

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Rising Star: Foley Hoag's Allison Anderson

By Patrick Hoff

Allison Anderson of Foley Hoag LLP helped negotiate a project labor agreement for the first offshore wind energy project in the U.S. and litigated a high-stakes trade secrets dispute that went to the First Circuit, earning her a spot among the employment law practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

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Ga. DA's Office Urges Justices To Pass On Ex-Aide's Bias Suit

By Jake Maher

The district attorney's office in Fulton County, Georgia, told the U.S. Supreme Court this week that a former aide suing it over alleged racial and sexual bias is relying on a "gotcha-style argument" and urged the court to affirm a decision dismissing the case.

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Mich. Trooper's Bias Claim Barred By 6-Month Notice Rule

By Melanie Dorsey

A state trooper's disability discrimination claim against the Michigan State Police qualifies as a personal injury claim subject to a six-month notice deadline, a Michigan appellate court has determined. 

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Union Sues Texas A&M Over Ban On Gender, Race Topics

By Emily Brill

Texas A&M University is violating the U.S. Constitution by banning professors from teaching politically disfavored views on gender, race and sexuality, a professors' union argues in a new lawsuit, asking a Texas federal court to repeal the ban.

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Brief

Teams In Flores' Bias Suit Take Arbitration Denial To 2nd Circ.

By David Steele

Three NFL teams bidding to send their portion of a racial discrimination suit by former head coach Brian Flores back to league-run arbitration have appealed a New York federal judge's ruling against them to the Second Circuit.

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Brief

6th Circ. Says No Injunction For Ex-Plant Worker Suing Aptiv

By Susan Smiley

A former plant manager for automotive technology company Aptiv will not have his employment benefits reinstated after he suffered a severe medical crisis and was terminated from his job, a Sixth Circuit panel said Tuesday, affirming a decision by the Ohio federal court.

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4th Circ. Revives Va. Atty's Immunity Bid In FMLA Firing Suit

By Benjamin Morse

The Fourth Circuit on Tuesday revived a Virginia commonwealth's attorney's qualified immunity bid in a Family and Medical Leave Act firing suit, finding the law did not clearly require him to let an employee fix a disputed medical certification before contacting the provider.

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Workers Should Get Back Pay In RLA Dispute, 9th Circ. Says

By Emily Brill

A California federal judge erred by refusing to order an airline caterer to provide its workers with back pay after a healthcare dispute with a union, a split Ninth Circuit ruled Tuesday, saying the Railway Labor Act violation committed by the caterer occasioned a back pay award.

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Rehab Program Participants Seek Collective In Wage Suit

By MJ Koo

Former participants in a Texas faith-based addiction recovery program have asked a federal court to certify a collective of workers who allege they were required to perform substantial labor on farms, in retail stores and in other commercial operations without receiving lawful wages, instead earning a points-based system worth roughly $1 per hour.

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Campbell's And Staffing Co. Hit With Unpaid OT Suit

By Carla Baranauckas

The Campbell's Co. and the staffing firm CorTech LLC violated federal and state wage laws by requiring hourly contingent workers to work nights and weekends without overtime pay, a proposed class and collective action filed in New Jersey federal court claims.

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Casino Accused Of Shorting Tipped Workers

By Benjamin Morse

A Colorado casino forced dealers to hand over part of their tips to supervisors, buy their own uniforms and work off the clock before their shifts, according to a proposed class and collective action filed in federal court.

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Brief

IHOP Operators Settle DOL Tip, Overtime Suit

By Benjamin Morse

Illinois IHOP franchise operators and their owner reached a settlement in principle Tuesday with the U.S. Department of Labor in a federal lawsuit accusing them of keeping workers' tips, deleting hours and underpaying overtime.

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Neighborhood Defender Service Of Harlem Union Ends Strike

By Andrea Keckley

The Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem union announced it was returning to work with a tentative deal after more than a week on the picket line.

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Tech Co. 401(k) Faces Bias Suit Over Worker's Eco Beliefs

By Patrick Hoff

Thermo Fisher unlawfully refused a Christian employee's request to add a fossil fuel-free investment option to its 401(k) plan because of his religious and moral beliefs in stewardship of the Earth, according to a suit filed Tuesday in a New York federal court.

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Del. Chancery Partly Revives HKA's Employment Contract Suit

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court on Monday let HKA Global LLC revive parts of its suit against three former partners and Accuracy US LLC, allowing several new claims while refusing to reinstate contract theories the court had already rejected after voiding key restrictive covenants.

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Apple Says Even More OpenAI Workers Stole Trade Secrets

By Hailey Konnath

Apple said Monday it now has reason to believe at least 11 additional former employees retained or used its proprietary information when they left the company for OpenAI, calling the situation at the artificial intelligence company "misappropriation at the organizational level."

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3rd Circ. Won't Give Ex-Olympus Exec Another Go At FCA Suit

By Gina Kim

The Third Circuit has declined to revive a whistleblower suit by Olympus Corp.'s former employee who claimed he was fired after reporting FDA regulatory violations, ruling Tuesday that he failed to state a retaliation claim under the False Claims Act since he didn't link his concerns to a reasonable belief that Olympus defrauded the government.

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Colo. Judge Stays Carvana Manager's Safety Concerns Suit

By Rachel Konieczny

A Colorado federal judge agreed to stay a former Carvana manager's lawsuit against the automobile dealer that claimed the company fired him for reporting violations of motor vehicle safety regulations and raising safety concerns.

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Carnival Gets Housekeeper's Injury Suit Sent To Arbitration

By Y. Peter Kang

A Florida federal judge has ruled that a suit brought by a Carnival Corp. cruise ship employee over an on-the-job spinal injury belongs in arbitration, saying the worker's indigence claim over arbitration fees is moot because the company has already paid it.

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Workers Say Trump's Gold Card Lets Rich Jump Visa Line

By Elaine Briseño

Professional, skilled workers seeking employment-based visas urged a D.C. federal judge not to toss their lawsuit challenging the gold card visa program, arguing they will suffer injury because the expedited application allows wealthy individuals to skip ahead in line.

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How Does In-House Pay Compare? Take The Law360 Survey

How do in-house salaries vary across industries, roles, and organizational revenue? What compensation tools are companies using to lure top talent? Help Law360 Pulse answer these questions and more in this year's In-House Compensation Survey.

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Exclusive

Tyson & Mendes In Talks For Possible PE-Backed MSO Deal

By Emma Cueto

Insurance litigation defense firm Tyson & Mendes LLP confirmed to Law360 Pulse Tuesday that it is in "preliminary discussions" about taking private equity investment via a managed service organization.

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Fla. AG Requests Impeachment Probe Into 11th Circ. Judge

By Carolina Bolado

Florida's Attorney General said Monday he is asking Congress to open an impeachment inquiry into U.S. Circuit Judge Nancy Abudu because of work she did before ascending to the Eleventh Circuit bench for the Southern Poverty Law Center.

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Analysis

These Firms Are Landing The Most Patent Litigation Work

By Dani Kass

Rabicoff Law and Ramey LLP have maintained their roles as top patent suit filers, while Fish & Richardson PC and Gillam & Smith LP have remained leaders on defense teams, according to Lex Machina's annual patent litigation report.

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Approach The Bench: Judge Rakoff Doesn't Hide His Views

By Cara Bayles and Steven Trader

During his decades on the bench, U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff has witnessed a slew of changes, particularly as technology has brought a rise in cybercrimes, as well as novel questions like whether AI-generated legal advice is privileged. But perhaps the biggest shift was in Rakoff's own views.

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ABA Gives Symbolic Support For Law School DEI Standards

By Emily Sawicki

In a split vote, American Bar Association House of Delegates members on Tuesday elected to uphold a rule requiring law schools to demonstrate DEI standards, but then followed up with a vote allowing another path to removing the standards, in an effort to avoid the Trump administration's threat to strip the ABA of accreditation authority.

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Simpson Thacher Highlights PIPE Client's Financial Troubles

By Madison Arnold

The founder of Patriot National Inc. was likely short millions of dollars when it finalized a private investment in public equity transaction at the center of his malpractice case against Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, according to defense testimony on Tuesday at a Florida state trial.

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ABA Seeks Bar Exam Reform Following Tech Failures

By Emily Sawicki

Over the course of its two-day annual meeting, the American Bar Association's policymaking body, the House of Delegates, approved measures to urge further bar exam oversight and backed measures to support law schools at accredited historically Black colleges and universities.

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Blanche Advances After GOP Sens. Win Written Assurances

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted to advance acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's nomination for the permanent position Tuesday, after Sens. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and John Cornyn, R-Texas, said they would support him.

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Ford Asks 9th Circ. To Revive Lemon Law Fake-Billing Suit

By Linda Chiem

Ford Motor Co. has asked the Ninth Circuit to revive its racketeering lawsuit accusing three attorneys affiliated with Knight Law Group LLP of orchestrating a massive fraudulent billing scheme, saying First Amendment protections don't immunize the attorneys' underlying conduct in California lemon law litigation against the automaker.

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Day Pitney Dropped From Suit Over Ex-Justice's Involvement

By Brian Steele

A Connecticut state court judge allowed Day Pitney LLP to withdraw from a $1.3 million corporate windup feud after the involvement of one of its partners, a former chief justice on the state Supreme Court, came to light, negating the defendants' call for an evidentiary hearing on a motion to disqualify the firm.

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Fried Frank Data Breach Class Action Voluntarily Dismissed

By Matt Perez

A proposed class action data security suit against Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP was voluntarily dismissed on Thursday following a joint motion to stay the case in April to undergo mediation.

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Ashurst Perkins, Nail Co. Lose Doc Bids In Malpractice Suit

By Rachel Riley

Ashurst Perkins Coie won't have to turn over documents related to its predecessor firm's work for an Omani screw and nail manufacturer in international trade proceedings that are now the subject of a legal malpractice case, a Washington court has ruled, while also denying a discovery request from the firm. 

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Analysis

New Patent Suits Surge As PTAB Challenges Get Tougher

By Ryan Davis

More patent suits were filed in 2025 than in any year in the past decade, according to a new report, an increase attorneys said is likely tied to new U.S. Patent and Trademark Office policies that have made it harder to challenge patents.

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NC Judge Who Upheld Voter ID Law To Take Senior Status

By Courtney Bublé

Judge Thomas Schroeder of the Middle District of North Carolina has informed the president he will take semi-retired status at a date later in the future.

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Bronx Union Says Striking Atty Faced 'Impossible' Choice

By Andrea Keckley

An attorney with the Bronx Defenders felt she had no other choice but to cross the picket line on Tuesday after an immigration judge ordered her to appear in court and the organization's managers did not commit to covering the proceedings without her, a union representative has told Law360.

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