5th Circ. Judge Impugns NLRB Impartiality In Scathing Dissent

By Braden Campbell

A Fifth Circuit judge impugned the National Labor Relations Board's fairness and attacked its foundational motive test as "an undertheorized byproduct of Chevron deference" in a dissent to an opinion backing the board's finding that Trader Joe's illegally fired a worker over repeated COVID-19 safety complaints.

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Ill. Justices Face Judge's Suit Over Removal For MAGA Op-Ed

By Emily Sawicki

A retired Illinois state judge who had published a MAGA-leaning opinion column, then was temporarily reinstated to the bench amid a judge shortage, has sued the justices of the state Supreme Court, alleging they deprived him of due process in ordering his removal.

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Stone Hilton Seeks Sanctions Over 'White Trash' Hostility Claim

By Emily Sawicki

Texas firm Stone Hilton is seeking sanctions in an employment suit by a former office manager over her refusal to withdraw an "implausible" hostile work environment claim brought only to harass the defendants and increase the cost of litigation.

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$14M Noncompete Fight Moves Forward In Chancery

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court on Thursday largely refused to dismiss claims that Boingo Wireless Inc.'s former director John Basil Georges breached a five-year noncompete tied to the $14 million sale of his wireless infrastructure company, but she threw out a parallel nonsolicitation provision as unenforceably overbroad.

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Wells Fargo Urges 4th Circ. To Ax Ex-Director's $22M ADA Win

By Katryna Perera

Wells Fargo is doubling down on its efforts to unravel a $22 million Americans with Disabilities Act verdict in favor of a former employee, telling the Fourth Circuit the former bank director was never denied a chance to work from home and therefore cannot claim the bank failed to accommodate him, among other things.

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UBS Whistleblower To Get Full Retrial On Long-Running Case

By Sarah Jarvis

A New York federal judge on Thursday ordered a retrial over a fired UBS worker's whistleblower retaliation lawsuit, marking the latest development in a saga that saw the Second Circuit strike down his 2017 trial win twice, before and after the case was revived by the U.S. Supreme Court.

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Washington Justices' Input Sought On Prosecutorial Immunity

By Ben Adlin

A Seattle federal judge said he intends to send a certified question to the Washington Supreme Court as part of a lawyer's racial discrimination suit against Snohomish County judges and prosecutors, giving parties a week to weigh in on what exactly the question should be.

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Paralegal Can Pursue Her ADA Bias Suit Against Former Firm

By Abigail Harrison

A former paralegal at The Driscoll Firm PC can pursue her lawsuit alleging the firm discriminated against her after she informed higher-ups that her cancer had metastasized, because a North Carolina federal judge said she stated plausible claims for relief.

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Ex-Googler Says Co. Fired Her After Pregnancy Complications

By Ben Adlin

Google LLC wrongfully fired a Washington software engineer who took time away from work to care for herself after the unexpected loss of a pregnancy, according to the former employee's discrimination complaint that was removed to Seattle federal court Wednesday.

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Brief

Costco Inks Deal To End Worker's Sex Harassment Suit

By Grace Elletson

Costco Wholesale Corporation has agreed to settle a worker's suit claiming the company retaliated against her after she reported that a male colleague harassed her by repeatedly asking her out on dates and reacting angrily when she denied him.

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Trucking Co. Paid Drivers Per Mile Only, Suit Says

By Benjamin Morse

A trucking company's per-mile pay system violates state law by failing to compensate drivers for work that does not include driving, a driver said in a proposed class action filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

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FedEx Reaches $8.5M Deal To Settle Warehouse Wage Suit

By George Woolston

FedEx and workers at 17 of its New Jersey warehouses reached an $8.5 million deal to settle the workers' claims they weren't paid for the time spent going through security screenings and walking to time clocks before and after their shifts.

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NCAA Sets Payment Plan For $303M Wage-Fixing Settlement

By Jared Foretek

The NCAA on Thursday announced a funding plan for its $303 million settlement resolving class action claims from more than 7,700 volunteer Division I coaches who claimed the governing body's former rules illegally suppressed coaching wages.

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Empower Retirement Faces FLSA Violation Allegations

By Zach Dupont

A former employee of Empower Retirement LLC claimed in a proposed class and collective action Wednesday that the company violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by not paying employees for required pre- and post-shift work.

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11th Circ. Backs NLRB In Fla. Symphony's Impasse Appeal

By Katherine Smith

The Eleventh Circuit on Thursday upheld a National Labor Relations Board order finding that a now-defunct Florida symphony orchestra declared an impasse while negotiating with an American Federation of Musicians affiliate and unlawfully imposed a final contract offer.

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8th Circ. Keeps Arbitration Award Against Concrete Co.

By Irene Spezzamonte

An arbitrator reasonably interpreted and applied a collective bargaining agreement when it ruled that a ready-mix concrete supplier flouted the contract when it didn't release drivers from duty based on seniority, the Eighth Circuit found.

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DOL To Investigate Calif. Unemployment Insurance Program

By Hailey Konnath

The U.S. Department of Labor has announced it is deploying a "specialized strike team" to look into potential fraud and improper payments within California's unemployment insurance program, according to a statement from the agency.

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Alcoa Fights Retirees' Win In Life Insurance Dispute At 7th Circ.

By Emily Brill

Alcoa USA Corp. is looking to erase its retirees' win in a class action that claimed the aluminum manufacturer illegally cut off their life insurance benefits, telling the Seventh Circuit that the retirees owe their victory to an Indiana federal judge misreading their union contract.

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FNB Affiliate Denied Injunction Over Noncompete Clauses

By P.J. D'Annunzio

The Pennsylvania Superior Court has ruled that a First National Bank wealth management subsidiary was not entitled to an injunction seeking to block three of its former financial advisers from working for a competitor, holding that they did not violate their restrictive covenants.

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AstraZeneca Prevails In Whistleblower Suit 9th Circ. Revived

By Grace Elletson

An Oregon federal judge tossed a former AstraZeneca sales manager's whistleblower claims that she was fired for accusing a colleague of promoting off-label drugs, in a case that took a trip to the Ninth Circuit and back.

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Amazon Loses Bid To Ditch Suit Over Lie Detector Testing

By Julie Manganis

Amazon has failed to win an early exit from a proposed class action alleging that the retail giant is flouting a Massachusetts statute banning the use of lie detectors in employment decisions, as a federal judge denied its motion to toss the case Wednesday.

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Detroit Cop Sues Over Immigration Cooperation Suspension

By Brandon Lowrey

A Detroit police sergeant on Thursday sued the city in Michigan federal court, alleging the police chief wrongfully suspended her for summoning U.S. Border Patrol agents to a traffic stop to identify a Spanish-speaking suspect in violation of department policy and a city ordinance forbidding biased policing.

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NLRB May Not See Employer-Friendly Changes Anytime Soon

Despite the long-awaited confirmation of a new National Labor Relations Board general counsel and two new board members, slower case processing, the NLRB's changing priorities and an unofficial rule about a three-member majority may prevent NLRB precedent from swinging in businesses' favor this year, says Jesse Dill at Ogletree.

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Series

Trivia Competition Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Playing trivia taught me to quickly absorb information and recognize when I've learned what I'm expected to know, training me in the crucial skills needed to be a good attorney, and reminding me to be gracious in defeat, says Jonah Knobler at Patterson Belknap.

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Barnes & Thornburg Adds 35 Ballard Spahr Attys, 3 Offices

By Tracey Read

Barnes & Thornburg LLP announced Thursday that it has added all 35 public finance lawyers from Ballard Spahr LLP to its government services and finance department in multiple locations around the country, including three new markets in Baltimore, Denver and Phoenix.

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DOJ Atty Fined $500 A Day Over Withheld ICE Detainee ID

By Hailey Konnath

A Minnesota federal judge on Wednesday ordered a U.S. Department of Justice lawyer to pay $500 a day until an immigrant recently released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention gets his identification documents returned, according to the case docket.

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8th Circ. Pick Joins List Of Personal Attys Elevated By Trump

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump's latest appellate pick has served as the president's personal attorney and bills himself as "an attorney and strategist who fights for conservative values" on his LinkedIn profile.

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Analysis

Attys React To Test Of Free Speech At Winter Olympics

By David Steele

The Winter Olympics in Milan have delivered the expected drama of national and individual success and defeat, but for sports law experts, one Ukrainian athlete's expulsion stood as a test of the rules governing political protest and personal expression.

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No Verdict Thursday In Goldstein Case

By Jared Foretek

The jury in SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein's tax evasion trial broke for the weekend on Thursday without reaching a verdict.

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Disqualification Bids Mount For Trio Leading NJ US Atty Office

By Carla Baranauckas

A New Jersey criminal defendant who previously challenged the legality of former interim U.S. Attorney Alina Habba's appointment has now moved to disqualify the three assistant U.S. attorneys overseeing the office, aligning himself with a growing bloc of defendants saying the leadership structure violates federal appointment laws.

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Del. Chancery Court Saw Record Number Of Filings In 2025

By Rose Krebs

Delaware's nationally important Chancery Court saw a record number of case filings in 2025 and has relied on the state's Superior Court to help ease its judges' caseload, the First State's chief justice told legislators on Thursday.

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Doc Fight Delays Trial In $22M McCarter & English Loan Suit

By Brian Steele

The delayed disclosure of thousands of documents has created "a lot of prejudice" against McCarter & English as it fights a $22.5 million professional malpractice lawsuit, and the impending trial must be pushed back again, a Connecticut state judge said Thursday.

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