4th Circ. Cautious About Ripple Effects In Trans Bias Suit

By Anne Cullen

A Fourth Circuit panel expressed consternation Tuesday about the ramifications of giving a Christian university the legal green light to turn away transgender job applicants, with one judge wondering if a win for the school would let religious entities reject candidates in interracial marriages.

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Trump Admin Ordered To Reinstate Voice Of America Workers

By Hailey Konnath

A D.C. federal judge Tuesday gave the Trump administration until March 23 to reinstate more than a thousand journalists and staff at Voice of America illegally laid off roughly a year ago, ruling that the government's moves to dismantle the program were arbitrary and capricious and contrary to Congress' intentions.

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4th Circ. Seems Leery Of Plant Closure Suit Against PE Firm

By Kellie Mejdrich

The Fourth Circuit was skeptical Tuesday of ex-workers' bid to revive a proposed class action accusing a private equity firm of violating federal laws when it abruptly shut down a manufacturing plant, hinting that dropping the firm from a prior suit over the closure may preclude their case.

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NYC Asks To Stop Defending Eric Adams In Sex Assault Suit

By Gina Kim

New York City's law department Tuesday moved to terminate its representation of former Mayor Eric Adams in a sexual assault suit filed by a former police department colleague, arguing Adams wasn't acting within the scope of his city employment at the time of the alleged incidents. 

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JPMorgan Says Arbitration Pact Stands Despite Atty's Gaffe

By Craig Clough

JPMorgan Chase urged a Manhattan federal court Monday to send a former employee's race discrimination and pay bias claims to arbitration, arguing that an in-house lawyer's mistaken assurance prior to litigation that she wasn't bound by an arbitration agreement doesn't amount to a waiver of the right to enforce it.

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Feds Aim To End Suit Over Cannabis Use Questions

By Sam Reisman

The U.S. Department of Defense has asked a federal judge to toss a challenge brought by a former defense contractor who alleged his constitutional rights were violated when he lost his employment following his refusal to answer questions about his past cannabis use.

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Indiana Firm Drops Quintairos Prieto 'Mass Exodus' Suit

By Adrian Cruz

Less than a month after suing Quintairos Prieto Wood & Boyer PA for allegedly causing a "mass exodus" of attorneys, Indiana-based Kopka Pinkus Dolin PC has chosen to dismiss the matter, according to a recent court filing.

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Tulsa Shuts Down Engineer's Age, Race Bias Suit At 10th Circ.

By Patrick Hoff

The Tenth Circuit refused Tuesday to reopen a Tulsa, Oklahoma, employee's lawsuit claiming he was passed over for a promotion because he's a middle-aged Chinese man, ruling he couldn't overcome the city's assertion that it wanted someone with more leadership experience.

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Atty Seeks To Boot Ogletree From Microsoft Bias Suit

By Grace Elletson

An attorney who claimed Microsoft fired her out of pregnancy discrimination sought to disqualify Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC from representing the tech giant, telling a Washington federal judge the move is necessary because the firm also backs a client she's fighting in another case.

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Boeing's Appeal Bid Grounded In Bias Suit Over Bonuses

By Benjamin Morse

Boeing cannot immediately appeal to the Ninth Circuit a decision sending to state court a proposed class action accusing the aerospace company of denying a $12,000 bonus to workers on extended leave, a Washington federal judge ruled.

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Jury Must Decide If Nexstar Defamed Pride Memo Authors

By Carolyn Muyskens

A Michigan federal judge refused Tuesday to clear Nexstar of claims that it painted two former television news managers as anti-gay to save face amid negative publicity about an internal memo on the station's Pride Month coverage, teeing up a possible trial. 

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Brief

Pizza Hut Franchisee Cuts Deal In EEOC Sex Harassment Suit

By Grace Elletson

A Pizza Hut franchisee told a Texas federal judge Tuesday that it will pay $35,000 to end a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission suit alleging the business fired a manager for complaining that her boss sabotaged her store because she ended a romantic relationship with him.

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Inspector Nabs Collective Cert. In Engineering Co. OT Spat

By Irene Spezzamonte

An environmental inspector supported his claims that an engineering company and two related entities similarly paid day-rate workers without compensating them for their overtime, a Pennsylvania federal judge said, conditionally certifying a collective.

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Bimbo Bakeries Can't Steer Driver Suit To Arbitration

By Carolyn Muyskens

A Massachusetts federal magistrate judge won't ship to arbitration a pair of New England drivers' claims that Bimbo Bakeries USA misclassifies them as independent contractors, finding that the drivers are covered by an exception to the federal arbitration statute.

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Nuclear Power Cos. Seek To Duck Wage-Fixing Class Action

By Benjamin Morse

Nuclear energy producers including Constellation Energy, DTE Energy, Duke Energy and NextEra Energy have urged the Maryland federal court to toss a proposed class action alleging they conspired to fix wages in a scheme that workers say spanned "100% of the nuclear power generation labor market."

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Tyson Must Face Bulk Of Meat Plant Worker's Wage Suit

By Benjamin Morse

Tyson Foods Inc. must face most of a proposed class action accusing it of wage and hour violations at a Washington processing plant, after a federal judge on Tuesday found a worker plausibly alleged that meal break interruptions and automatic deductions resulted in unpaid wages.

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Ex-Database Administrator Settles OT Claim

By Irene Spezzamonte

A former database administrator who accused Express Scripts and two other companies of misclassifying him as an independent contractor reached a $30,000 deal with the entities to settle his federal law claim, the parties told a New York federal court.

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Swift Says Its Truckers Are Exempt From Washington OT Law

By Ben Adlin

Trucking firm Swift Transportation urged a Washington federal court to reject a drivers' class action accusing the company of shorting them on overtime pay, arguing that drivers are exempt from Washington state's overtime laws and don't qualify for pay while off duty or in a truck's sleeper berth.

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DOL Can't Fine NJ Farm Over H-2A Program, Justices Told

By Irene Spezzamonte

The U.S. Department of Labor's request to the U.S. Supreme Court to mull whether the department can fine a New Jersey farm for what it alleged were H-2A program violations is based on a misconception, the farm told the justices, urging them to deny the petition.

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Union Health Fund Wins $3.5M Debt Litigation Against Suit Co.

By Emily Brill

A Rochester, New York, suit manufacturer owes a union healthcare fund about $3.5 million, a New York federal judge ruled Tuesday, saying the fund presented evidence that the manufacturer skipped out on over two years of payments.

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No Accidental Death Benefits For Plane Crash, Insurer Says

By Hope Patti

The beneficiaries of two pilots who died in a 2024 plane crash are not entitled to accidental death and dismemberment benefits under an aviation company's life insurance plan, a Prudential unit said Tuesday, asking a Washington federal court to toss the beneficiaries' suit.

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BlackRock Must Face Ex-VP's Whistleblower Retaliation Suit

By Sarah Jarvis

BlackRock Inc. must face a suit in New York state court by a former vice president who alleges he faced retaliation and wrongful termination after raising concerns about self-dealing, corruption and conflicts of interest, with a state judge partially rejecting the asset manager's bid to dismiss the case.

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Jushi, Ex-COO Settle Whistleblower Retaliation Suit

By Carolina Bolado

A former Jushi Holdings Inc. executive who claimed a cannabis company fired him in retaliation for compliance with safety standards told a Florida federal court he has settled his suit.

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K&L Gates Adds Ex-Protection Law, Littler Labor Atty In LA

By Hailey Konnath

K&L Gates LLP has added a labor and employment partner with experience at Protection Law Group and Littler Mendelson to its Labor, Employment and Workplace Safety practice in Los Angeles, according to an announcement Tuesday.

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Opinion

3rd Circ. Must Reject EEOC's Flawed Equal Pay Theory

To avoid illogical outcomes, the Third Circuit, in Cartee-Haring and Marinello v. Central Bucks School District, should refute the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s recently filed amicus brief in support of the plaintiffs’ bias claims based on pay compared with one single co-worker, say Allan King at Littler and Stephen Bronars at Edgeworth Economics.

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Chief Justice Says Personal Attacks On Judges 'Got To Stop'

By Katie Buehler

Chief Justice John Roberts on Tuesday condemned the personal attacks on federal judges that have become increasingly common during President Donald Trump's second term in office — and that are often launched by the president himself — and defended the daily work of the judiciary. 

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Deals In Jackson Walker-Judge Affair A 'Dilemma,' Judge Says

By José Luis Martínez

A Texas federal judge ordered three of Jackson Walker LLP's former bankruptcy clients Tuesday to explain by next month what would happen to money from potential vacaturs or sanctions against the law firm if the estates close after their contested deals get approved.

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NJ Judge Boots Prosecutor, Orders US Atty Trio's Testimony

By Jack Karp

A New Jersey federal judge on Monday questioned whether Alina Habba is still running the New Jersey U.S. Attorney's Office during a heated hearing where the jurist tossed a supervisory prosecutor from his courtroom and ordered testimony from the trio of attorneys who assumed Habba's responsibilities.

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Reed Smith Launches In Boston With 12 Attys From 7 Firms

By Tracey Read

Reed Smith LLP has launched its first office in Boston with 12 lawyers from White & Case, Goodwin Procter, McDermott Will & Schulte, Morrison Foerster, Kirkland & Ellis, Weil Gotshal & Manges and K&L Gates, the firm announced Tuesday.

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'No Disrespect' But Law Prof Mom Not SBF's Atty, Judge Says

By Lauren Berg

A federal judge in Manhattan cautioned retired Stanford Law School professor Barbara Fried, the mother of convicted FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, that she cannot make filings on behalf of her son in his bid for a new trial, saying she has not filed an appearance with the court.

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Comer Subpoenas AG Bondi Over Epstein Investigation

By Courtney Bublé

Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chair of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, issued a subpoena on Tuesday for Attorney General Pam Bondi over the committee's investigation into the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

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Senate OKs Conservative Think Tank GC As Louisiana Judge

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate voted 51-45 on Tuesday to confirm Anna St. John, president and general counsel of the Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute, as a U.S. district judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

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IP Atty Appeals Order Requiring OK To File EDTX Patent Suits

By Lauren Berg

Intellectual property attorney William Ramey is asking the Federal Circuit to overturn a Texas district judge's sanctions order requiring him to seek the court's permission before filing patent suits in the future, saying the judge relied on the wrong evidence in finding the attorney failed to conduct presuit investigations.

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Lawmakers Want More Oversight For Antitrust Settlements

By Matthew Perlman

Democratic lawmakers proposed legislation Tuesday that would give courts more power to review settlements reached in government antitrust cases, after the U.S. Department of Justice recently cut a pair of controversial deals, including with Live Nation last week.

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NJ Justices Create Attorney Readmission Board

By Jake Maher

New Jersey's highest court announced Tuesday it formally established a new body charged with overseeing readmissions of disbarred lawyers through changes to the state's standards for attorney conduct.

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Pot Co. Escapes Potency Suit, Judge Warns Plaintiff Firm

By Jonathan Capriel

MariMed and other cannabis companies beat claims they intentionally mislabeled their products to sidestep Illinois THC potency limits, with a federal judge highlighting the string of consumer-led suit losses and warning counsel to "heed the strong and universal concerns about the plausibility of their legal theories."

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Analysis

Prediction Markets Have Opened Compliance 'Pandora's Box'

By Phillip Bantz

The burgeoning prediction market has exploded the definition of what qualifies as confidential corporate information that employees could misuse for personal gain, leaving companies scrambling to update internal policies and guidelines, compliance experts say.

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