2nd Circ. Faults NLRB's Dress Code Test In Starbucks Appeal

By Braden Campbell

The Second Circuit faulted the test the National Labor Relations Board applies to neutral dress codes that restrict workers' displays of union insignia, tossing Wednesday a ruling that Starbucks illegally barred workers at a Manhattan shop from wearing pro-union shirts. 

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Casino Urges High Court To Stay Bargaining Order Mandate

By Katherine Smith

A Las Vegas casino asked the U.S. Supreme Court to halt a D.C. Circuit mandate enforcing a bargaining order issued by the National Labor Relations Board, claiming the mandate should be stayed pending the casino's petition for high court review of the circuit court's recent decision in the case.

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Miami College Officials Claim Immunity In ICE Protest Suit

By David Minsky

Miami college administrators urged a Florida federal court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by students who said they were unjustly disciplined for protesting against a U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement contract, saying immunity bars the complaint against them. 

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Clippers Fined $30M As Probe Uncovers Salary Cap Violations

By Alex Lawson

The NBA unveiled sweeping sanctions against the Los Angeles Clippers Wednesday, including a $30 million fine and a one-year ban for the team's owner, after an investigation uncovered evidence that the team violated the league's salary cap rules by arranging off-court business deals for its star forward, Kawhi Leonard.

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DOJ, Kansas Settle Guard Deployment Bias Suit For $35K

By Elaine Briseño

The U.S. Department of Justice and the Kansas health department reached a settlement in a suit that accused the state of discriminating against a service member when it stopped funding her civilian job shortly before her upcoming military deployment.

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10th Circ. Overturns School's Win In Title IX Abuse Liability Suit

By Mike Curley

The Tenth Circuit has revived three women's claims that their former university mishandled their allegations of sexual assault and harassment by their basketball coach's husband, finding a New Mexico federal court too narrowly construed Title IX precedent when it found the school had no control over the man.

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UMich Says Student Banned From Campus Can't Show Bias

By Susan Smiley

The University of Michigan and several of its officials on Wednesday asked a federal judge to dismiss a civil rights suit brought by a student and former university employee, saying his claims that he was barred from a campus area for expressing pro-Palestinian views fail and arguing the university was simply enforcing its standard trespass policy.

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Towing Co. Prez Can't Pierce Corporate Veil In Driver OT Suit

By Benjamin Morse

The president of a Texas towing company cannot escape a proposed collective action accusing the business of misclassifying tow truck drivers and denying them overtime, a federal judge ruled, finding the worker sufficiently alleged that the president exercised operational control over employees.

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NJ AG Seeks Expedited Discovery In Amazon Antitrust Suit

By Katherine Smith

New Jersey's attorney general has asked a federal court for leave to file a motion for expedited discovery in a federal antitrust suit claiming that Amazon has unlawfully maintained its dominant buying power in the delivery driver services market, claiming there is an "immediate need" for discovery in the case.

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Meijer Escapes Suit Over Health Plan Fee For Tobacco Users

By Grace Elletson

A Michigan federal judge tossed a worker's proposed class action alleging supercenter chain Meijer improperly charged workers a $20 per week tobacco surcharge through its health plan, ruling that concerns about improper notifications and allocations of the fee ultimately lacked teeth.

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Robert Half Says Beacon Hill 'Raided' Conn. Staffing Team

By Aaron Keller

Robert Half Inc. has sued staffing services competitor Beacon Hill Solutions Group LLC in Connecticut federal court, alleging that Beacon Hill continued a nationwide employee poaching pattern by "raiding" its New Haven and Hartford operations and inducing the exits of a recruiting manager, practice director, talent director and talent manager.

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Logistics Co. Says Ex-Workers Gave Trade Secrets To Rival

By David Aaro

A supply chain and logistics management company is accusing two former employees and a rival trucking company of carrying out a scheme to steal its trade secrets and confidential information, according to a lawsuit filed in Georgia federal court.

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Ex-Genesis Team Denies Using Trade Secrets To Compete

By Rick Archer

Former executives for a subsidiary of bankrupt nursing home chain Genesis Healthcare have told a Texas bankruptcy judge they didn't steal trade secrets to start a new business, accusing their former employer of trying to quash a competitor in the courts.

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Ex-Dispensary Worker's Punitive $100K Award Cut To $75K

By P.J. D'Annunzio

A Pennsylvania federal judge cut 25% of a $100,000 punitive damages award in the case of a former dispensary worker who claimed his employer fired him for going on leave to recover from injuries he suffered in a car accident.

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AI Healthcare Co. Pushed Into Ch. 7 Amid Ex-Exec Dispute

By Yun Park

A former executive and two contractors have forced artificial intelligence-powered health technology provider Survey Health into a Chapter 7 proceeding in Delaware bankruptcy court, as the company contends with litigation the ex-employee brought against it.

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Rejection Of NLRB Successor Bar Renews An Employer Tool

Although the D.C. Circuit's recent ruling in Hospital Menonita v. National Labor Relations Board does not allow purchasers to disregard incumbent unions, employers acquiring a unionized business have regained a tool to challenge a union's majority support, say attorneys at Bass Berry.

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NY Ethics Opinion Warns Attys On Qui Tam Deception

A recent New York State Bar Association ethics opinion cautions that counsel representing whistleblowers may not induce, supervise or facilitate a client's deceptive prefiling investigations, creating a potential vulnerability for qui tam complaints built on questionable evidence-gathering methods, say attorneys at Sidley.

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AI Prompt-Injection Hacking Creates Emerging Legal Risks

Last month, the first decision sanctioning a prompt-injection attack aimed at a U.S. court highlights the risks that this tactic — attempting to manipulate artificial intelligence systems by hiding invisible instructions in a document — poses for trade secrets, patent prosecution and other areas, say attorneys at Kilpatrick.

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Thomson Reuters Cyberattack Hits North American Courts

By Bonnie Eslinger

A recent cyberattack on Thomson Reuters' court management software affected files associated with court systems in 11 states, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Canada, and may have exposed sealed documents and individuals' personal information, according to a Wednesday announcement from the technology and information services company.

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Calif. Bill Regulating Atty AI Use Heads To Newsom's Desk

By Emily Sawicki

A bill regulating attorneys' and arbitrators' use of generative artificial intelligence has unanimously passed the California State Legislature and is headed to Gov. Gavin Newsom's desk.

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'Astonished' Homebuyer Says Atty Email Lapse Caused Hack

By Pete Brush

A New York City law firm has been ordered to provide internet security and login information to a homebuyer who claims she was left in "shock" when an impostor with access to her lawyer's email tricked her into wiring away over $730,000.

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House Rejects Amendment To Fix Court At 9 Justices

By Courtney Bublé

The House failed to pass a proposed constitutional amendment on Wednesday that would keep the number of U.S. Supreme Court justices at nine.

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Dems Call Subpoenas' Secrecy Request 'Abuse Of Authority'

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

Democratic lawmakers Sen. Ron Wyden, Ore., and Rep. Pramila Jayapal, Wash., have called for an investigation into subpoenas issued from federal law enforcement to private companies that contain nondisclosure provisions and carry threats of legal consequences for noncompliance.

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Tyson's Price-Fixing Deal Merits $27.5M Atty Fees, Buyers Say

By Dorothy Atkins

Beef direct purchasers asked a Minnesota federal judge Tuesday to award class counsel $27.5 million in fees, or one-third of Tyson's $82.5 million price-fixing settlement, arguing that the deal was reached after six years of hard-fought antitrust litigation and adds to another settlement, bringing the total recovery to $135 million.

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JPMorgan Seeks Stay Of $20M Javice, Amar Fee Order

By Jarek Rutz

JPMorgan Chase & Co. urged the Delaware Chancery Court on Wednesday to pause enforcement of an order requiring it to advance more than $20 million in disputed legal fees to convicted Frank founder Charlie Javice and former executive Olivier Amar, arguing the bank could permanently lose the money before it gets a chance to challenge the ruling.

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ABA Outlines Attys' Duties To Clients With Intellectual Limits

By Jack Karp

Attorneys have the same obligations to clients with decision-making limitations, should abide by those clients' decisions regarding their representation and must work to maintain an ordinary client-lawyer relationship as much as possible, the American Bar Association said in an opinion released Wednesday.

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