NLRB Atty OKs Microsoft's Gaza Protest Firings

By Braden Campbell

Microsoft did not violate federal labor law by firing two workers who organized a protest of the war in Gaza at the company's Washington headquarters because the event didn't have a clear enough tie to their work, a National Labor Relations Board attorney said in a newly released advice memo.

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EEOC Says NYT Retaliation Claims Lack Basis In Bias Suit

By Craig Clough

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission urged a New York federal judge Friday to toss The New York Times' counterclaims in a race and sex bias suit, saying the newspaper is trying to reframe a straightforward employment discrimination case as a dispute over press freedoms.

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Ex-Clifford Chance Attys Fight Bid To Toss Clawback Suit

By Ryan Boysen

The two partners facing a $6 million clawback demand by Clifford Chance LLP have again asked a federal judge to decide whether English or New York law should govern the arbitration, claiming the firm's partnership agreement is unclear.

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6th Circ. Backs $450K Punitive Award For Mich. Farmworkers

By Melanie Dorsey

A Sixth Circuit panel has upheld a $450,000 punitive damages award for five Guatemalan farmworkers who accused a West Michigan agricultural labor contractor and its owners of trafficking-related and wage law abuses, ruling that the award was constitutionally permissible despite the jury awarding only economic compensatory damages.

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Erie Bus Dispatchers Aren't Union-Exempt Supervisors

By Matthew Santoni

Seven dispatchers at the Metropolitan Transit Authority for Erie, Pennsylvania, are not "supervisors" exempt from membership in the authority's labor union, since their roles in scheduling overtime or reporting rule infractions were constrained by their contract and only occasionally crossed the line into supervision, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court ruled Monday.

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Energy Utility Hit With Age Bias Suit In Ga.

By David Aaro

A gas and electric utility has been hit with an age discrimination lawsuit in Georgia federal court by a former senior vendor manager who alleges his boss's supervisor stated there were "too many people over 60" at the company, which fired him shortly after his 60th birthday.

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Brief

NASCAR, Racetrack Settle Security Guard's Harassment Suit

By Susan Smiley

A former Michigan International Speedway guard asked a federal court to dismiss her sexual harassment suit against her former supervisor, NASCAR and the racetrack, a request that follows docket entries indicating the remaining claims and counterclaims were successfully mediated. 

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Brief

Fiat Chrysler Workers Win Final OK Of $3.8M OT Deal

By MJ Koo

A Michigan federal court has granted final approval of a nearly $3.8 million settlement resolving overtime claims brought by current and former hourly production employees at Fiat Chrysler's U.S. facilities, with $1.26 million of that amount going to attorney fees.

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Fla. Union Denied Worker Due Process, NLRB Judge Says

By Katherine Smith

An International Longshoremen's Association local violated federal labor law by failing to notify a member of the internal charges filed against him and using "questionable evidence" to make its case, a National Labor Relations Board judge found.

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General Dynamics Beats Widow's Workers' Comp Bid

By Grace Elletson

A Connecticut appeals court upheld the denial of a widow's claim for workers' compensation after her husband had a cardiac event she said was caused by work stress at General Dynamics, ruling an administrative law judge was fair to attribute his death to his pre-existing heart disease.

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Domino's Seeks To Deliver Noncompete Suit To Arbitration

By MJ Koo

Domino's Pizza asked a Washington state court to compel individual arbitration of a former yard driver's proposed class claims alleging the company's conflict-of-interest policy illegally restricted workers from taking second jobs, arguing the worker signed a binding arbitration agreement when he was hired that includes a class action waiver.

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Apple Can't Shake Fintech Co.'s Trade Secret, RICO Suit

By Bonnie Eslinger

A Georgia federal judge on Monday denied Apple's motion to dismiss Fintiv's trade secrets and racketeering litigation, finding the fintech company plausibly alleges that Apple stole its trade secrets and encouraged credit card issuers and payment processors to promote the false message that Apple created the technology behind Apple Pay.

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Korean Bank Whistleblower Suit May Be Bound For Arbitration

By Pete Brush

The Second Circuit on Monday asked if whistleblower retaliation claims by four former compliance executives at the New York arm of a Korean bank should have been sent to arbitration — and if a judge should have bothered with the bank's dismissal bid.

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Tackling DOL Tips On When Midday Commutes Are Paid Time

Two recent U.S. Department of Labor opinion letters explain when travel between home and work is compensable, providing wage compliance guidance to employers that want to offer flexible work schedules, and establishing clearer rules as litigation over travel time compensability heats up, say attorneys at Jackson Lewis.

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New F-1 Rule Will Cloud Day 1 Practical Training Backup Plans

A new F-1 visa rule scheduled to take effect Sept. 15 could significantly affect employers of international students by replacing duration of status with fixed admission periods and making curricular practical training a less predictable retention option, says Dillon Colucci at Greenberg Traurig.

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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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HSF Kramer Added To $1B King & Spalding Malpractice Suit

By Jack Karp

Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer LLP and several of its partners on Tuesday were added to a $1 billion legal malpractice suit against King & Spalding LLP alleging that the firms engaged in multiple schemes to enrich a lawyer's friend at the expense of investment firm White Oak Advisors.

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Fla. Bar Tosses Complaint Over DHS GC's 'Worst' Judge Posts

By Adrian Cruz

The Florida Bar has refused to investigate the general counsel of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for potential ethics violations over his recent series of social media posts attacking sitting judges, citing a potential conflict with the authority of the federal government.

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Approach The Bench: Judge Rodriguez On The Uses Of AI

By Cara Bayles and Steven Trader

Today, Judge Xavier Rodriguez is known as an expert in electronic discovery and a proponent of artificial intelligence, but his interest was piqued before he joined the bench of the Western District of Texas in 2003, when he was still a lawyer and the methods for sifting through electronically stored information were still primitive.

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Judges Say Social Media, Political Rhetoric Endanger Them

By Adrian Cruz

Increased access to social media and personal data via the internet, a larger number of high-profile cases, and inflammatory comments made by politicians have led to a rise in violent threats against judges and concerns about their safety, according to a recently published report.

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5th Circ. Judge Hints Court Order With AI Errors Can't Stand

By Spencer Brewer

A Fifth Circuit judge wanted to know why a panel should keep intact a court order blocking an anti-DEI Mississippi law that contained artificial intelligence hallucinations, asking whether the judges could confidently find that made-up citations did not ultimately sway the district court's decision.

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Ex-Warriors GC, DEI Exec Say Bias Complaints Led To Firings

By Lauren Berg

The Golden State Warriors' former associate general counsel and its former vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion allege they were unlawfully fired in retaliation for speaking up about enduring a workplace marked by gender and race-based discrimination.

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NY Firm, Clinics Reject FedEx's 'Staged' Crashes Claims

By Linda Chiem

A New York personal injury firm and various healthcare providers have told a Manhattan federal judge that FedEx has asserted implausible claims alleging they orchestrated an insurance fraud scheme to fabricate medical records and inflate accident claims, saying there is no such racketeering enterprise.

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Brief

Barnes & Thornburg Says Ex-NBA Star Owes $1M Legal Fees

By Jonathan Capriel

Former NBA player Luol Deng is being sued for more than $1 million by a Chicago-based law firm that claims he failed to pay legal fees connected to two real estate matters, according to a suit filed in Illinois state court.

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Monthly Merger Review Snapshot

By Bryan Koenig

Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery pressured state attorneys general challenging their merger to settle, the Federal Trade Commission successfully challenged a construction adhesives tie-up, state officials waded in against the NextEra-Dominion transaction, and Union Pacific Corp. and Norfolk Southern Corp. defended their combination under review by federal regulators.

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Roundup

The Top In-House Hires Of August

By Michele Gorman

Legal department hires during the past month included high-profile appointments at Anthropic, Zillow and ConocoPhillips. Here, Law360 Pulse looks at some of the top in-house announcements from August.

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