​​​​​​​High Court Won't Revisit Groff Religious Accommodation Test

By Vin Gurrieri

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined an invitation by a group of Washington firefighters to clarify whether the court's landmark 2023 decision in Groff v. DeJoy requires employers accused of illegally denying religious accommodations to show that the workplace adjustments present an actual hardship.

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Justices Turn Away Case Over NLRB Remedies And Review

By Braden Campbell

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday turned away an appeal of a Third Circuit ruling involving a number of labor issues, including the National Labor Relations Board's heightened remedies and the level of deference courts owe the agency.

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'Shocking' COVID Vaccine Appeal Meets Skeptical 2nd Circ.

By Brian Steele

A Second Circuit panel expressed doubt Monday that Yale healthcare workers who resisted the COVID-19 vaccine could blame a private entity for alleged constitutional violations, with one judge saying the appeal is the stuff of pro se filings, and it was "shocking" to see that an attorney had brought it.

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Justices Reject Teacher's Bid To Review Rehab Act's Scope 

By Vin Gurrieri

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected an Arkansas substitute schoolteacher's call to review whether a federal law barring disability discrimination in federally funded programs permits workplace bias lawsuits by independent contractors.

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Michigan Judicial Watchdog Urged To Remove Judge

By Melanie Dorsey

The Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission was urged Monday to recommend removing an Oakland County judge from the bench over allegations of persistent mistreatment of court staff, defiance of the judicial watchdog and cognitive problems that disciplinary counsel said leave her unable to competently perform her duties.

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9th Circ. Says PREP Act Bars Pasadena COVID Policy Suit

By Hailey Konnath

The Ninth Circuit on Monday refused to revive a Pasadena employee's suit challenging the city's COVID-19 safety policy for unvaccinated city employees, ruling that the city is immune from his claims under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act.

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Justices Pass On Former Air Marshal's Disability Bias Suit

By Grace Elletson

The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to probe a Fourth Circuit ruling that upheld the dismissal of a former air marshal's disability bias suit, which claimed the government improperly required her to transfer positions rather than accommodate her vision issues.

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High Court Won't Review United Challenge To Vax Bias Class

By Patrick Hoff

The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to review class certification in a religious bias lawsuit over United Airlines' COVID-19 vaccine mandate, leaving in place a Fifth Circuit ruling that found no issue with the trial court's decision.

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Supreme Court Won't Take Up DOD Workers' Vax Bias Suit

By Patrick Hoff

The U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to review a suit alleging the U.S. Department of Defense unlawfully refused religious requests for exemptions from COVID-19 prevention protocols, leaving in place a Fifth Circuit ruling that workers hadn't tied their beliefs to masking and testing policies.

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Worker Fired After Flu Vax Rift Can't Get High Court Traction

By David Aaro

The U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to hear a Black former health system employee's challenge to the dismissal of her suit alleging that racism, as opposed to noncompliance with the company's flu vaccine requirement, got her fired.

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High Court Won't Hear Chicago Workers' Vaccine Appeal

By Celeste Bott

The U.S. Supreme Court again refused Monday to weigh in on a challenge to COVID-19 vaccine and testing requirements for Chicago city workers, declining to take up the case after the Seventh Circuit refused to revive their lawsuit in December.

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Cop Fired After Posting Rap Videos Can't Get High Court's Ear

By Grace Elletson

The U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to review a Black police officer's lawsuit claiming he was unlawfully fired after posting homemade rap videos online, declining his invitation to revisit a landmark 1973 ruling on evidentiary standards in bias cases.

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Calif. Soccer Coach Sues League For Racial Discrimination

By Tom Lotshaw

A Black soccer coach sued the Morongo Basin Youth Soccer Association in California federal court Friday with claims of racial harassment and discrimination, accusing it of fabricating reasons to suspend him and its parent organization of failing to intervene.

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Exec Says Fintech Co. Fired Her After Pregnancy Disclosure

By MJ Koo

A former executive at a financial technology company has sued her ex-employer in Colorado state court, alleging that she was fired two weeks after disclosing her pregnancy and asking about her pay and that the company's standard severance agreement violates a state law protecting workers' right to discuss workplace discrimination.

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Justices Won't Review Christian Worker's COVID Testing Case

By Patrick Hoff

The U.S. Supreme Court opted Monday not to take up a Christian worker's challenge to a split Eighth Circuit panel decision that nixed her lawsuit alleging a Minnesota county violated her religious rights by requiring her to undergo weekly COVID-19 testing.

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High Court Turns Away Delta Pilots' Military Leave Bias Suit

By Kellie Mejdrich

The U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to hear former Delta Air Lines pilots' challenge to an Eleventh Circuit ruling that grounded their suit alleging the airline pushed them out of their jobs for taking military leave.

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DOL Given Until Year End To Fix H-2A Farmworker Wage Rule

By MJ Koo

A California federal court has ordered the U.S. Department of Labor to issue a replacement wage rule for temporary agricultural workers by year-end, rejecting the agency's request for up to six months and setting the existing unlawful rule to expire by the same deadline.

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Colo. Caesar's Bartender Says Retaliation Cost Him Tips, Job

By Zach Dupont

A former casino bartender has told a Colorado federal judge he was retaliated against and terminated by his managers for reporting a coworker's drug use and sexual harassment.

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Justices Won't Review If NJ Wage Laws Exclude Immigrants

By Max Kutner

The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to review a New Jersey high court ruling that allows unauthorized immigrant workers to pursue claims under the state's wage-and-hour laws.

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Fox Tells DC Circ. Worker Wasn't Fired Over Leave, Politics

By Benjamin Morse

Fox News urged the D.C. Circuit to reject a former Capitol Hill producer's bid to revive claims that he was fired over his political views and use of sick leave, arguing he was terminated instead for insubordination and unprofessional conduct.

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'Bikini Barista' Owner Owes Worker $1.4M For Legal Fees

By Ben Adlin

A Washington woman who successfully sued the owner of coffee kiosks known as bikini barista espresso stands won a $1.4 million state court award for attorney fees and costs, with the judge denying the defense's request for a 30% reduction in fees.

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Trump's Green Card Policy Shift Must Be Blocked, Groups Say

By Hailey Konnath

A slew of families, workers, unions and immigrant rights groups asked a Massachusetts federal judge to block the Trump administration's new policies requiring green card applicants to leave the country, claiming Monday it's an unlawful departure from longstanding practice that unnecessarily disrupts applicants' lives.

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Supreme Court Won't Rethink Trucking Co. Bargaining Order

By Tim Ryan

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected a trucking company's bid to reverse a National Labor Relations Board order requiring it to bargain with a union, leaving in place a Fourth Circuit decision that found the order was supported by substantial evidence.

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Supreme Court Won't Hear Tribal Card Check Order Challenge

By Tim Ryan

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied a Native American tribe's challenge to an arbitrator's decision requiring it to follow election rules in an agreement with a UNITE HERE local that the tribe said violated tribal law.

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Pot Co. Balks At NJ Union Rule Requiring Labor Peace Pact

By Jonathan Capriel

A Jersey City dispensary that once proudly recognized its workers' union is now suing it and the New Jersey cannabis commission, seeking a federal court order Monday saying the state cannot require a labor peace agreement between cannabis operators and their employers.

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Justices Skip 2 Patent Cases, 1 Trade Secret Dispute

By Theresa Schliep

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected a trio of petitions concerning patent and trade secret litigation, declining to review questions about damages apportionment and patent eligibility.

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Chancery Allows Discovery In Boehringer Trade Secrets Fight

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court Monday allowed Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc. to move ahead with discovery in its trade secrets fight against United Therapeutics Corp., but rejected the drugmaker's request for a rapid-fire forensic discovery schedule, finding Boehringer waited too long to justify that level of emergency relief.

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Boston Health Worker Says Firing Followed Fraud Concerns

By Carolyn Muyskens

A former program director in Boston's health department says he was fired after refusing to enroll new clients until his concerns about fraud in a home visiting program were addressed, according to a lawsuit filed in Massachusetts state court.

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Analysis

Judge Clevenger's Intellect Defined His Time On Fed. Circ.

By Dani Kass

Newly retired Federal Circuit Judge Raymond Clevenger has an "exceptionally keen intellect" that allowed him to spot holes or new paths in cases that the parties or fellow panel members hadn't explored, his former colleagues told Law360.

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Sotomayor Warns Judges: Don't Scare Your Jurors

By Brandon Lowrey

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor on Monday criticized an Alabama trial court judge who frightened a pool of prospective jurors by ordering the arrest of a latecomer to jury selection, saying in a statement accompanying a denial of certiorari in the case that fear can undermine a defendant's right to an impartial jury.

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Quinn Emanuel Seeks $750K After Defeating Buzbee Suits

By Lynn LaRowe

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP is seeking nearly $750,000 in attorney fees after defeating claims in Texas state court that it conspired with rapper Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter to retaliate against prominent Houston plaintiffs attorney Tony Buzbee and two of his former clients.

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9th Circ. Pauses Rogoff's Return As Seattle US Atty

By Jack Karp

The Ninth Circuit has put on hold a Washington federal judge's decision to reinstate Roger Rogoff as Seattle's top federal prosecutor, a post Rogoff held for less than an hour before he was fired by President Donald Trump.

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Jackson Walker Deal Stalled By Standing Issue, Trustee Says

By Lauren Berg

The U.S. Trustee's Office told a Texas federal judge that its settlement with Jackson Walker LLP to disgorge fees from cases touched by scandal is on ice while a bankruptcy judge examines the watchdog's standing to seek such relief.

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Eckert Seamans Says Data Breach Harm Is Only Speculative

By James Boyle

Pittsburgh-based law firm Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott LLC told a Pennsylvania federal judge on Friday a pair of proposed class actions claiming damages from a data breach at the firm have not made specific complaints of actual harm caused by the breach and should be dismissed.

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