11th Circ. Voids Injunction Shielding Trans Teacher's Job

By Patrick Hoff

The Eleventh Circuit struck down an order allowing a transgender public school teacher to keep her job while she challenges a Florida law regulating workplace pronouns, ruling Wednesday that she wasn't likely to succeed on claims that the statute violates her free speech rights.

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Analysis

Amid DEI Uncertainty, Cos. Face Pressure From All Sides

By Sarah Jarvis

Attorneys have been analyzing the Trump administration's many pronouncements against diversity, equity and inclusion programs over the past several months, only to be left with questions as to what exactly "illegal DEI" is and what the government will do to police it.

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9th Circ. Limits Cracker Barrel Collective To In-State Workers

By Emmy Freedman

A nationwide collective of Cracker Barrel servers in a wage and hour case is too vast, the Ninth Circuit ruled, saying members who worked for the restaurant chain outside Arizona, where the suit was launched, should not have been permitted to join.

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Judge Tosses NJ Law Prof's Free Speech Suit For Good

By George Woolston

A New Jersey federal judge has thrown out for good a law professor's free speech suit against Kean University over alleged controversial statements made in class, finding her twice-amended complaint contained no claims that state workplace policy infringes on her First Amendment rights.

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Detroit Court Settles With Atty Denied Transfer, Remote Work

By Carolyn Muyskens

Detroit's Wayne County Circuit Court and a former staff attorney have settled the lawyer's claims that she was pushed into retirement because the court wouldn't accommodate her health-related request to work from home or transfer office locations.

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Feature

The Funniest Moments Of The Supreme Court's Term

By Jeff Overley

After justices and oral advocates spent much of an argument pummeling a lower court's writing talents, one attorney suggested it might be time to move on — only to be told the drubbing had barely begun. Here, Law360 showcases the standout jests and wisecracks from the 2024-25 U.S. Supreme Court term.

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11th Circ. Won't Revive Disney Workers' COVID Vax Bias Suit

By Gina Kim

The Eleventh Circuit refused to revive a discrimination suit by former Disney employees over the company's COVID-19 vaccine mandate and augmented protocols requiring unvaccinated workers to socially distance and wear masks, ruling Wednesday the appellants never made religious objections to those protocols and never sought religious-based accommodations. 

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EEOC Can Press ADA Claim In Disabled Nurse's Transfer Case

By Carolyn Muyskens

A Michigan hospital must face the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's claim that it violated federal disability law by not transferring a nurse who suffers from a metabolic disorder to a less-demanding role, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

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Segal McCambridge Hit With Age Bias, Retaliation Suit

By Jake Maher

A former secretary is suing Segal McCambridge Singer & Mahoney Ltd. in New York federal court alleging that the firm excluded her from work emails, falsely accused her of failing to perform her work duties and ultimately fired her based on her age.

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Inspire Brands Sued For Firing Director After Bias Complaint

By Kelcey Caulder

The company that owns and franchises restaurant chains like Arby's, Baskin-Robbins, Buffalo Wild Wings, Dunkin' and Jimmy John's has been sued in Georgia federal court by an ex-employee who alleges she was fired after threatening to report a manager for discrimination.

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Ex-Director Claims Seminary Made False Diversity Promises

By Matthew Santoni

A Pittsburgh Presbyterian seminary promised to fight discrimination and promote diversity, but the promise was hollow, according to a former interim director who claims her bosses ignored her complaints about discrimination and responded to litigation by insisting the seminary fell under a "ministerial exemption" to antidiscrimination laws.

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TikTok Can Arbitrate Most Sales Reps' Claims Of Unpaid OT

By Emmy Freedman

A lawsuit by a group of sales representatives accusing TikTok of incorrectly classifying them as exempt from earning overtime can largely be sent to arbitration, a California federal judge ruled, saying all but one worker signed an agreement that mandates employment disputes stay out of court.

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Brief

Moving Help Co. Accused Of Misclassifying Drivers

By Emmy Freedman

An on-demand moving and delivery service classifies workers as independent contractors — despite exercising substantial control over their work — and refuses to reimburse drivers for the costs they incur from buying gas and paying tolls, according to a proposed class action filed in California state court.

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Unions Say Halt Of Parole Is Spreading Chaos In Workplaces

By Britain Eakin

A coalition of labor unions has told the First Circuit that the abrupt termination of Biden-era humanitarian parole programs is generating "chaos in American workplaces," as workers lose their work authorization and employers are left in the lurch.

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Union Secures Award At Chicago Hotel In Migrant Shelter Row

By Beverly Banks

A Chicago hotel must comply with an arbitration award finding it failed to employ union-represented workers while it was used as a migrant shelter, an Illinois federal judge ruled, upholding conclusions that the employer tried to evade bargaining obligations.

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Teamsters Say Kroger Must Arbitrate Health Insurance Dispute

By Beverly Banks

A Teamsters local sought to nix Kroger's attempt to dismiss allegations that the grocery giant won't arbitrate a grievance about health insurance coverage for a worker's family members, telling a Kansas federal judge the company can't raise claims about arbitrability at this point in the proceeding.

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NC Furniture Manufacturer Sanctioned For 'Frivolous' Appeal

By Hayley Fowler

A North Carolina state appeals court on Wednesday sanctioned furniture manufacturer TCS Designs Inc. for repeatedly trying to force jurisdiction before a state tribunal where no jurisdiction exists in a wrongful death case involving one of its employees, calling its appeal of a tribunal denial "frivolous."

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Bermuda Firm Wants US Co. To Honor Arbitration Summons

By Joyce Hanson

A Texas federal court has ordered U.S. consumer credit company Americor to respond to allegations that it's refusing to comply with an arbitrator's summons in a Bermuda-based financial firm's dispute involving an ex-employee and a noncompete agreement.

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Marsh Says Brokerage Poached Employees, Client

By Ganesh Setty

Insurance brokerage Marsh told a New York federal court that a competing brokerage orchestrated a scheme with former Marsh employees to steal clients in its surety business, noting that the competitor has faced over 70 other similar lawsuits.

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Energy Firm Says Tribal Nonprofit Trade Secret Suit Too Vague

By Madeline Lyskawa

An energy infrastructure consulting firm called on an Oregon federal judge to throw out a Native American nonprofit's lawsuit alleging the firm's founder and tribal liaison misappropriated its trade secrets, saying the nonprofit has failed to identify the trade secrets with any particularity.

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Judge Sanctions Building Makers Over Withheld Evidence

By Elliot Weld

A Tennessee federal judge has sanctioned a group of building manufacturing employees and ordered them to pay their former employers' attorney fees, finding they'd intentionally withheld and spoiled evidence during discovery.

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Ad Tech Co. Fired Worker Who Questioned AI Tool, Suit Says

By Katryna Perera

A former employee of advertising technology company The Trade Desk Inc. is seeking $2 million in damages in a suit alleging he was fired after reporting that the company was misleading investors about its artificial intelligence capabilities and products.

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Seaman Can't Seek Punitive Damages In Hand Injury Suit

By Mike Curley

A Florida appeals court on Wednesday found that an injured seaman can't amend his complaint against his employer alleging that it mistreated him following his injury to add a punitive damages claim, saying he has failed to allege that the company engaged in callous, egregious or lax conduct.

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Ex-Worker Says Sto Corp. Fired Him After Hospitalization

By Chart Riggall

A former Georgia worker for construction materials manufacturer Sto Corp. accused the company in a Tuesday disability discrimination lawsuit of showing him the door after he was hospitalized with a heart condition.

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New Law May Reshape Fla. Employer Noncompete Strategy

With Florida's CHOICE Act taking effect this week, employers should consider the pros and cons of drafting new restrictive covenant agreements with longer noncompete or garden leave periods and enhanced enforcement mechanisms, say attorneys at Vedder Price.

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Justices' Review Of Fluor May Alter Gov't Contractor Liability

The U.S. Supreme Court's decision to review Hencely v. Fluor, a case involving a soldier’s personal injury claims against a government contractor, suggests the justices could reconsider a long-standing test for determining whether contractors are shielded from state-tort liability, says Lisa Himes at Rogers Joseph.

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High Court ACA Ruling May Harm Preventative Care

The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Kennedy v. Braidwood last week, ruling that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services secretary has authority over an Affordable Care Act preventive care task force, risks harming the credibility of the task force and could open the door to politicians dictating clinical recommendations, says Michael Kolber at Manatt.

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8 Ways Lawyers Can Protect The Rule Of Law In Their Work

Whether they are concerned with judicial independence, regulatory predictability or client confidence, lawyers can take specific meaningful actions on their own when traditional structures are too slow or too compromised to respond, says Angeli Patel at the Berkeley Center of Law and Business.

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Legal Sector Jobs Continue To Climb, Nearing All-Time High

By Aebra Coe

The U.S. legal industry added 2,800 jobs in June, marking four months in a row of job growth in the sector, according to preliminary data released Thursday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Analysis

Breaking Down The Vote: The High Court Term In Review

By Jack Karp

The U.S. Supreme Court once again waited until the term's closing weeks — and even hours — to issue some of its most anticipated and divided decisions.

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

Target's board faces a shareholder derivative suit that accuses the retail giant of damaging the company by implementing an LGBTQ+ Pride-themed marketing campaign, despite knowing the risk of "public backlash." Meanwhile, SolarWinds and the SEC are close to resolving a novel case that alleges the software developer hid faulty cybersecurity practices before a major breach. These are some of the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

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Analysis

The Firms That Won Big At The Supreme Court

By Jack Karp

The number of law firms juggling three or more arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court this past term nearly doubled from the number of firms that could make that claim last term.

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Analysis

What Judges Might Ponder In Judicial Safety Law Challenge

By Carla Baranauckas

A Third Circuit panel set to examine the constitutionality of a judicial safety law born out of the murder of a New Jersey federal judge's son is tasked with what experts are viewing as a lesser-of-two-evils choice: chilling free speech or chilling public service.

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Ex-Treasury Official Joins Covington's Nat'l Security Practice

By Madeline Lyskawa

Covington & Burling LLP has boosted its national security practice with the hire of the former head of the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence under former President Barack Obama's administration as of counsel.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty leads this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a Maryland school district burdened parents' religious rights when it declined to provide opt-outs from a policy that introduced LGBTQ-themed storybooks into its K-12 English curriculum.

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Spectrum, Border, Injunction Changes Included In Mega Bill

By Courtney Bublé

The House voted 218-214, almost along party lines, on Thursday on the reconciliation budget package, which includes a range of policy provisions on nationwide injunctions, spectrum and immigration and now goes to President Donald Trump's desk ahead of the decided Fourth of July deadline.

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Orrick Adds Nixon Peabody Public Finance Atty In LA

By James Mills

Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP is boosting its finance team, bringing in a Nixon Peabody LLP public finance pro as a partner in its Los Angeles office.

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Analysis

The Moments That Shaped The Universal Injunction Case

By Cara Bayles and Steven Trader

The U.S. Supreme Court voted along ideological lines when it hindered the ability of federal district court judges to issue nationwide pauses on presidential policies, but that outcome didn't seem like a foregone conclusion during oral arguments earlier this year. What do the colloquies suggest about the justices' thinking? Here are some moments that may have swayed them.

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Justices Extend Due Process Pause To South Sudan Removals

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court clarified Thursday that its recent order allowing the Trump administration to send noncitizens to countries they have no connection to with little notice or chance to object extends to a group of men the government plans to send to South Sudan.

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Analysis

Circuit-By-Circuit Recap: Justices Send Message To Outliers

By Jeff Overley

It was a tough term at the U.S. Supreme Court for two very different circuits — one solidly liberal, one solidly conservative — that had their rulings overturned in eye-popping numbers. But it was another impressive year for a relatively moderate circuit that appears increasingly simpatico with the high court.

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