9th Circ. Reinstates Vax Objector's Religious Bias Case

By Patrick Hoff

The Ninth Circuit on Thursday reopened a nurse's lawsuit alleging an Oregon hospital unlawfully put her on unpaid leave rather than accommodate her religious objection to its COVID-19 vaccine mandate, faulting the trial court for overlooking a letter in which she explained why she wanted an exemption.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

3rd Circ. Eyes 'Compromise' Instruction In Equal Pay Case

By P.J. D'Annunzio

A Third Circuit panel on Thursday appeared to take issue with a district judge's suggestion that a jury "compromise" in reaching a verdict in favor of female teachers who alleged Central Bucks School District paid them less than a male colleague.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Philly Jury Sides With Drexel In Professor's Retaliation Case

By P.J. D'Annunzio

A Pennsylvania jury has cleared Drexel University of liability in a professor's lawsuit alleging the school retaliated against her for winning a separate case claiming the university paid her less than her male colleagues, according to her attorney.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

NJ Lt. Gov. Asked To Resign After Sex Harassment Claims

By Hailey Konnath

An independent investigation conducted by Lowenstein Sandler LLP has determined that New Jersey Lt. Gov. Dale G. Caldwell sexually harassed a staffer's friend and sent inappropriate text messages, according to a statement from Gov. Mikie Sherrill, who called for his resignation Thursday.

Report attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

5 Circuit Splits To Watch At The High Court

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court has been deciding fewer and fewer cases over the past three decades, with its caseload reaching a historic low just last term. While attorneys believe several factors have contributed to that trend, they say one of the most consequential is the court's apparent declining interest in resolving circuit splits. 

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Litigation Spending To Keep Climbing While Biz Risks Mount

By Ryan Boysen

Big companies will increase their litigation budgets yet again next year, as navigating legal risk is now an essential element of achieving strategic business goals, according to a new report.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Google, Ex-Engineer End Suit Over Pregnancy-Loss Firing

By Ben Adlin

Google LLC and a former software engineer who sued the company over allegations that she was wrongfully fired for taking time off following the unexpected loss of a pregnancy agreed to dismiss the worker's lawsuit with prejudice, according to a Western District of Washington filing in the case Wednesday.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

EEOC Says Hotel's '100% Healed' Policy Violates ADA

By Grace Elletson

A North Carolina hotel operator fired an employee rather than accommodate him after he faced disabling injuries from a bus crash, stating he needed to be fully healed to return to work, according to a Thursday lawsuit from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Retailer Rejected Deaf Warehouse Applicant, EEOC Says

By Patrick Hoff

A bargain retailer refused to hire a deaf job applicant for four jobs at a Texas warehouse because of unlawful qualification standards requiring workers to have the ability to hear, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said in a new lawsuit.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

YMCA Accused Of Firing Director After Race Bias Complaint

By Kelcey Caulder

The YMCA of Metro Atlanta was sued in Georgia federal court by a Black former employee who claimed he was accused of improperly using funds and ultimately fired after he complained about race-related harassment he said he was experiencing at work.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Indiana Sues Athletics Assoc. Over Race-Based Board Quota

By Ganesh Setty

Indiana has accused the state's primary body governing high school sports of instituting an unconstitutional, discriminatory racial quota over the composition of its board, telling a state court the association has refused to comply with requests to change course.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ill. Justices Mull Closed Arb. For Chicago Police Misconduct

By Celeste Bott

Illinois Supreme Court justices wrestled Thursday with whether the city of Chicago's history of publicly adjudicating allegations of the most serious police misconduct can establish a statewide public policy requiring open proceedings, while questioning a city police union on why transparency and promoting trust in law enforcement don't justify public attendance.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Tata Ordered To Pay $15M In Fees In Trade Secret Case

By Elliot Weld

A Texas federal judge has ordered Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. to pay $15.3 million in attorney fees to Computer Sciences Corp., saying that amount accounts for a reasonable rate and that Tata should be "thankful" the court wasn't ordering it to pay for fees incurred from document review.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ga. Appeals Court Backs State Ports Authority In Injury Suit

By David Aaro

The Georgia Court of Appeals on Thursday upheld a trial court's order granting judgment to the Georgia Ports Authority in a personal injury lawsuit from a longshoreman struck by a falling object from a crane, saying he abandoned his claims by not including credible evidence or logical reasoning in his appeal brief.

Decision attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

What Greek Tragedy Teaches About Mediating AI Disputes

While ancient Greek writers could not have anticipated modern arbitration, their tragic plays illustrate new and familiar questions for mediators dealing with artificial intelligence disputes, including the functional differences between adjudication and resolution, says Giuseppe De Palo at JAMS.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Series

Playing Bid Whist Makes Me A Better Lawyer

As a child, I viewed bid whist as a family tradition and a source of friendly card game competition, but as a lawyer, I see it as a tool that has helped me cultivate skills like communication, teamwork, risk assessment and composure, says Keyonn Pope at Riley Safer.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Seyfarth Failed To Guard Client Data From Hack, Suit Alleges

By Lauren Berg

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on Thursday was hit with a proposed class action in Illinois federal court accusing it of failing to protect its current and former clients' personal information after the Chicago-based law firm this month disclosed a recent data breach.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

PACER Experiences Outages Of Some Court Dockets

By Matt Perez

PACER, the online public repository of federal court documents, experienced technical errors on Wednesday and Thursday preventing some users from accessing certain court dockets.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

New Eastern La. Judge's 5th Circ. Bid Goes To Full Senate

By Courtney Bublé

U.S. District Judge Anna St. John of the Eastern District of Louisiana, who was confirmed to her current post in March, is one step closer to being elevated to the federal appeals bench.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Fla. Judge To Get Reprimand For Remark On Shooting Attys

By Madison Arnold

The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday ordered a public reprimand of a state district court judge for "intemperate and caustic" comments about shooting attorneys during a hearing.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Congressional Probes Raise Legal, 'Reputational' Risks

By Phillip Bantz

An array of companies and executives may face investigations over their dealings with the Trump administration if Democrats take control of Congress, raising the possibility that some may refuse to comply. But experts say holding out hope for a mass pardon or expecting the Justice Department not to pursue contempt charges is a risky bet.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Trump's Antitrust Pick Advances Amid Independence Worries

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump's pick to lead the antitrust division at the U.S. Department of Justice advanced to the Senate floor on Thursday, despite Democratic concerns about agency independence.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Sen. Hyde-Smith's Opponent Seeks Blue-Slip Transparency

By Courtney Bublé

Four years ago, Scott Colom — the son of the first African American elected to the chancery bench in her region of Mississippi — was nominated for a federal judgeship. Now he's running for Senate against the senator who blocked his confirmation.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ed. Dept. Committee Sidesteps ABA Accreditation Issue

By Ryan Boysen

A key U.S. Department of Education committee on Thursday declined to weigh in on whether an American Bar Association council should remain a federally recognized accreditor of law schools, a day after the panel deadlocked on different proposals over the hot-button issue.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »