The California Civil Rights Department asked a California judge for a protective order Monday on the first day of a bench trial over claims Tesla Inc. fostered racism at its Fremont factory, after a witness testified that an in-house Tesla attorney recently called him and misled him into believing he represented the agency.
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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2026 Law360 iOS App Law360 Android App Follow Law360 on Facebook Follow Law360 on LinkedIn Follow Law360 on Twitter

TOP NEWS

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Tesla Atty Misled Witness Days Before Bias Trial, Judge Hears

By Dorothy Atkins

The California Civil Rights Department asked a California judge for a protective order Monday on the first day of a bench trial over claims Tesla Inc. fostered racism at its Fremont factory, after a witness testified that an in-house Tesla attorney recently called him and misled him into believing he represented the agency.

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2nd Circ. Seems Hesitant To Kick PwC Bias Suit To Arbitration

By Vin Gurrieri

The Second Circuit appeared skeptical Monday of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP's push to compel arbitration of a former worker's suit alleging discriminatory harassment, with one judge saying the company is advocating for an "extraordinary understanding" of a 2022 law barring mandatory arbitration of sexual harassment claims.

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Meta Trims But Can't End Cybersecurity Pro's Retaliation Suit

By Lauren Berg

The former head of cybersecurity at messaging platform WhatsApp can pursue some, but not all, of his whistleblower retaliation suit against Meta Platforms, a California federal judge has ruled, saying the complaint plausibly alleges protected activity regarding his reports that claim Meta violated U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rules.

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2nd Circ. Gives Ex-LVMH Atty A New Shot At Retaliation Case

By Anne Cullen

The Second Circuit on Monday reinstated retaliation claims brought by a former LVMH attorney who alleged that the French luxury brand fired her for reporting sexual misconduct, concluding that her refusal to engage in settlement discussions could constitute legally protected activity.

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Chartwell Settles Bias Suit From Atty Fired After Gaza Posts

By Adrian Cruz

Chartwell Law Offices LLP has agreed to settle claims brought by an attorney who alleged she was fired over social media posts about Gaza, according to a filing in Florida federal court.

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Brief

Swedish Health's $86M Wage Deal Nets Attys $25.8M In Fees

By Ben Adlin

Swedish Health Services' $86 million settlement to end workers' class action suit over alleged wage and meal break violations will include a $25.8 million payout for the plaintiffs' attorneys, according to a Washington state judge's order giving final approval to the deal.

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DISCRIMINATION

Emory University Beats Fired White Worker's Race Bias Suit

By Kelcey Caulder

Emory University was freed from a white former worker's claim that a Black vice provost fired him due to race, age and gender bias, with a federal judge finding that no reasonable jury could conclude from the evidence that the employee was terminated for those reasons.

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Mentor's Remarks Not Enough To Propel Sex Harassment Suit

By Grace Elletson

A Michigan federal judge dismissed a sex harassment suit Monday from a former elevator company worker who alleged that a male mentor made inappropriate comments to her, saying the seven remarks she cited over a nearly two-year period weren't enough to support a hostile work environment suit.

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Mich. Orthodontics Worker's Race Harassment Claims Survive

By Melanie Dorsey

A former employee of a Michigan orthodontics practice can take to trial her allegations that a co-worker created a hostile work environment by repeatedly using language mocking slavery, although a federal judge tossed her race discrimination and retaliation claim.

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Brief

4th Circ. Won't Rethink Cutting $22M Wells Fargo Judgment

By Carla Baranauckas

The Fourth Circuit declined Monday to reconsider its decision cutting nearly $2.9 million from a former Wells Fargo employee's $22 million jury award and overturning portions of the verdict in his disability discrimination suit against the financial giant.

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Drexel Prof's Class Format Change Was Retaliation, Jury Told

By P.J. D'Annunzio

Counsel for a Drexel University philosophy professor on Monday told a Philadelphia jury that the teacher faced retaliation for winning a previous equal pay lawsuit against the college in the form of having an upper level course she teaches switched from in-person to online instruction.

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WAGE & HOUR

Pa. Airport Beats K-9 Officer's OT Suit Over Dog Care

By Benjamin Morse

A Pennsylvania airport authority snagged an early win Monday in a former K-9 police officer's lawsuit seeking overtime for caring for his bomb-detection dog, with a federal judge finding the care was not compensable work because the dog no longer provided services to the airport.

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LABOR

2nd Circ. Skeptical Of Fired United Worker's Grievance Claim

By Tim Ryan

The Second Circuit gave a cool reception Monday to a former United Airlines employee's attempt to force arbitration of a grievance over his firing after a Teamsters local declined to pursue it, with judges suggesting it was the union's right to advance the claim as it saw appropriate.

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NCAA Fights Lower-Division Athletes' 5th-Year Eligibility Bid

By Elaine Briseño

The NCAA urged a Colorado federal court not to become the first to certify a class of lower-division college athletes seeking a fifth season of eligibility, arguing they have significantly different circumstances from those of Division I athletes lodging a similar challenge.

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NJ Court Backs Arbitration Award Against Concrete Co.

By Katherine Smith

A New Jersey federal court on Monday upheld an arbitration award ordering a concrete supplier to rehire an employee who was fired after he tested positive for marijuana, rejecting the company's claim that an arbitrator exceeded her authority when issuing the award.

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BENEFITS

Texas Firms Sued Over Alleged VA Benefits Fee Scheme

By Madeline Lyskawa

Two Texas firms accused of charging disabled veterans illegal fees in exchange for helping them obtain higher disability ratings and larger monthly disability payments removed to D.C. federal court a proposed class action filed by a veterans service organization.

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FedEx Seeks High Court Review Of 6th Circ. Pension Ruling

By Katherine Smith

FedEx has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Sixth Circuit's decision to revive two proposed class actions alleging Kellogg's and FedEx's outdated actuarial assumptions shortchanged joint-and-survivor benefits for retirees, claiming the circuit court's "erroneous" interpretation of federal benefits law warrants high court review.

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BANKRUPTCY

Judge OKs Up To $3.2M In BioXcel Employee Ch. 11 Bonuses

By Clara Geoghegan

A Delaware bankruptcy judge approved employee retention and executive incentive payments that could total up to $3.2 million as AI-bolstered pharmaceutical group BioXcel works to sell its assets in Chapter 11.

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WORKER PRIVACY

ADM Faces Class Action Over Purported Dark Web Data Leak

By Joyce Hanson

A former Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. employee filed a proposed class action in Illinois federal court claiming the agricultural giant failed to protect workers' personal information during a ransomware attack this month that has been attributed to a cybercrime group.

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WRONGFUL TERMINATION

Brief

Copyright Chief Firing Fight Paused Over Pending Legislation

By Ivan Moreno

A D.C. federal judge has paused U.S. Copyright Office leader Shira Perlmutter's challenge to the Trump administration's attempt to fire her, saying pending legislation that would give the president authority to appoint the office's leader could have an "obvious effect" on the dispute.

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PEOPLE

Morgan Lewis Adds Amazon Senior Counsel In Chicago

By Christine DeRosa

Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP has grown its labor and employment offerings with the addition of a senior corporate counsel at Amazon, the firm said Monday.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

Risk Considerations As EEOC Moves To Ax Data Reports

While the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's recent proposal to rescind requirements for workforce demographic reporting wouldn't bar employers from collecting data, companies would have to be especially careful to gather and use such information in legally defensible ways, say attorneys at Foley & Lardner.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

Legal Deserts: Millions Across America Struggle To Access Lawyers

Tens of millions of Americans live in towns and counties across the nation with limited or no access to legal services. By one estimate, at least a third of the nation's counties qualify as a "legal desert," having only one or no attorney per 1,000 residents. Roughly 24 million Americans reside in these counties.

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Greenberg Traurig Hit With Action Over Client Data Breach

By Matt Perez

A proposed class of Greenberg Traurig LLP clients said the New York law firm failed to secure their personal data prior to a preventable data breach and delayed notifying clients of the breach for two weeks, in an action filed over the weekend in New York federal court seeking injunctive and other equitable relief to protect client data.

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New Calif. Law Bars Legal Funders From Influencing Litigation

By Jack Karp

Corporate investors and litigation funders will be barred from influencing litigation strategy in California under a new bill signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

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Q&A

She Has A Point: Fenwick's Jessica Kaempf

By Theresa Schliep

Jessica Kaempf of Fenwick & West LLP is a pragmatic yet tenacious attorney whose representation of her clients has earned her plaudits from Kathi Vidal of Winston Taylor, who praised Kaempf as part of a Law360 series celebrating women litigators.

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$1.35M Class Deal Reached Over Botched Calif. Bar Exam

By Emily Johnson

Takers of the February 2025 California bar exam that was marred by technical failures have agreed to settle their proposed class action against the proctor for $1.35 million, while the company also agreed to complete quality checks before proctoring future bar examinations, according to a motion seeking preliminary approval in federal court.

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Ex-Prosecutor Escapes Jan. 6 Atty's Defamation Suit

By Jared Foretek

Former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann on Monday won judgment on the pleadings in a defamation case brought by attorney Stefan Passantino, who had represented Cassidy Hutchinson, after Passantino alleged Weissmann had defamed him when saying he'd "coached" Hutchinson "to lie" to the January 6th Select Committee.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court this past week dismissed a challenge to Alteryx Inc.'s $4.4 billion take-private sale, resolved a fight over the removal of a security technology company's director and declined to let Empery Digital Inc. immediately appeal a proxy contest ruling.

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LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Arenson Dittmar

Baker Donelson

Binnall Law Group

Breskin Johnson

Brian J. Foley Law

Buchanan Ingersoll

Carla D. Aikens PC

Casey Law Firm

Chartwell Law

Conlin McKenney

Cooley LLP

Davis Wright Tremaine

Desmarais LLP

Dorsey & Whitney

Dunn Isaacson Rhee

Esbrook PC

Fenwick & West

Fisher & Phillips

Foley & Lardner

GessnerLaw

Greenberg Traurig

HKM Employment Attorneys

Handley Farah

Herzfeld Suetholz

Izard Kindall

Jackson Lewis PC

Jenner & Block

Jones Day

Knox McLaughlin

Law Office of Max Rodriguez

Littler Mendelson

Loretta A. Preska

Michael Best & Friedrich

Morgan Lewis

Moritt Hock

Motley Rice

Munger Tolles

Norton Rose

O'Melveny & Myers

Orrick Herrington

Parks Chesin

Paul Hastings

Polsinelli PC

Potomac Law Group

Quinn Emanuel

SWB PC

Sauder Schelkopf

Schonbrun Seplow

Seham Seham

Selendy Gay

Siegel Brill

Siri & Glimstad

Strauss Borrelli

Stris & Maher

Stutheit Kalin

Tycko & Zavareei

Varnell & Warwick

Vladeck Raskin

Wilkinson Stekloff

Winston Taylor

Young Conaway

Zazzali PC

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Alteryx Inc.

Amazon.com Inc.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Co.

Aviva SA

BioXcel Therapeutics Inc.

Burger King Holdings Inc.

Carrols Restaurant Group Inc.

Clearlake Capital Group LLC

Consumer Attorneys of California

Daimler Truck Holding AG

Databricks Inc.

Democracy Forward Foundation

Drexel University

Evercore Inc.

FedEx Corp.

Gleason Corp.

Inovalon Holdings Inc.

Insight Venture Management LLC

Instagram Inc.

International Brotherhood of Teamsters

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Kellogg Co.

LVMH Moet Hennessy

LinkedIn Corp.

Meta Platforms Inc.

Mobileum Inc.

National Collegiate Athletic Association

New York University

Nordic Capital Ltd.

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

Restaurant Brands International Inc.

State Bar of California

Tesla Inc.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.

United Airlines Holdings Inc.

VA Claims Insider

Wells Fargo & Co.

With Honor

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

California Civil Rights Department

Delaware Court of Chancery

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Federal Trade Commission

Food and Drug Administration

Library of Congress

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware

U.S. Copyright Office

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania

U.S. Marine Corps

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Senate

U.S. Supreme Court

United States District Court for the District of Colorado