9th Circ. Backs Tesla In Challenge To Race Bias Arbitration

By Lauren Berg

The Ninth Circuit rejected an appeal by a Black former Tesla employee who challenged the company's arbitration win over his claims of racial discrimination, agreeing with a California federal judge Friday that the plaintiff failed to meet the "high bar" to overturn the award.

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Streamers Say They're Not Like App Dog Walkers In Pay Suit

By Benjamin Morse

Performers for an adult livestream platform urged a Connecticut federal judge Friday to reject the platform operators' reliance on a ruling that found a dog-walking app was not a service provider with employees, arguing the out-of-state decision has no bearing on whether the performers were misclassified as independent contractors.

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11th Circ. Backs NLRB In Row Over Plant Guards' Status

By Braden Campbell

The Eleventh Circuit on Friday affirmed the National Labor Relations Board's ruling that lieutenants who oversee guards at a Florida power plant are not union-ineligible supervisors, backing the board's finding that they don't use judgment when writing up lower-level workers.

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Ex-Staffer Says 50 Cent Pushed Her To Frame Bodyguard

By Kelcey Caulder

Rapper 50 Cent has been hit with a lawsuit in Georgia federal court by a former executive at his companies, claiming that he threatened and harassed her after she refused to file a police report accusing a bodyguard of theft. 

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Florida Gov. Signs Limits On Public Sector Unions

By Carolina Bolado

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday signed into law a bill that curbs the collective bargaining abilities of civilian public sector workers by increasing the threshold for union certification and limiting paid leave for union activities.

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Roundup

Employment Authority: Nonprofit Seeks EEOC Chair Probe

Law360 Employment Authority covers the biggest employment cases and trends. Catch up this week with coverage on a legacy advocacy group's recent bid to investigate the actions of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission chair, the rise in unfair labor practice case dismissals at the National Labor Relations Board and opposition from business groups over a union-backed proposal to speed up labor contract negotiations.

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NJ Court Says Gun Law Doesn't Justify Firing Cops Over Pot

By Rae Ann Varona

The federal Gun Control Act's prohibition on cannabis users possessing firearms does not preempt New Jersey's cannabis legalization law, a New Jersey state appeals court ruled Friday, rejecting Jersey City's bid to use the federal law to justify the firing of two police officers who tested positive for cannabinoids.

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Netflix Looks To Push Disability Bias Suit To Arbitration

By Patrick Hoff

A former Netflix engineer should have to arbitrate her lawsuit alleging she was fired for taking medical leave to address her mental health conditions, the streaming giant told a Georgia federal court, arguing her claims fall squarely in the purview of an arbitration agreement she signed.

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TD Bank Says 'Call Ready' Policy Didn't Force OT

By MJ Koo

TD Bank asked a New Jersey federal court to toss a proposed collective action over its "call ready" policy, arguing the former call center worker who brought the suit failed to identify any workweek in which unpaid boot-up and shutdown time pushed her over the 40-hour overtime threshold.

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Waitress Sues Md. Casino Over Confiscated $76K Tip

By MJ Koo

A Maryland casino waitress sued her employer after two managers allegedly forced her to surrender a $76,000 tip that a winning baccarat player had placed in her hands and repeatedly confirmed was hers to keep.

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Colo. Bistro Accused Of Illegal Tip Pool, Retaliation

By Benjamin Morse

A Colorado restaurant operated an unlawful tip pool that shortchanged employees and retaliated against a server who complained to the U.S. Department of Labor, the worker said in a suit filed in federal court.

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Calif. Sued Over Ballot Measure For Health Clinic Fund Use

By Gina Kim

Federally designated community health clinics that serve vulnerable populations sued the California secretary of state and a union to keep an initiative off the November 2026 ballot that would control their budgets and expenditures, warning it could lead to shutdowns, disrupt patients' access to services and have other devastating consequences.

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Analysis

5 Argument Sessions Benefits Attys Should Watch In May

By Kellie Mejdrich

HP, Siemens and Honeywell will defend victories in 401(k) forfeiture suits at the Ninth and Third circuits, while union pensioners will battle over life insurance and early retirement benefits at the Tenth and Seventh circuits. Here, Law360 looks at five coming oral argument sessions that benefits attorneys may want to keep an eye on.

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Steel Firm Workers Get OK For $1.8M ESOP Deal, $600K Fee

By Melanie Dorsey

A Michigan federal judge has approved a $1.8 million class settlement resolving claims that trustees of a steel company employee stock ownership plan overpaid for company stock, finding the deal "fair, reasonable and adequate" and in the best interest of plan participants. 

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Pharma Aims Torpedo At FCA After Bombshell 9th Circ. Ruling

By Jeff Overley

A burgeoning campaign against the False Claims Act's whistleblower mechanism is suddenly center stage at the Ninth Circuit, where pharmaceutical companies say a momentous new ruling "illustrates perfectly" the constitutional concerns of U.S. Supreme Court justices regarding FCA enforcement.

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Carvana Fired Manager For Reporting Safety Risks, Suit Says

By Rachel Konieczny

Car dealer company Carvana fired a manager after he repeatedly reported violations of motor vehicle safety regulations and raised safety concerns internally and to a regulatory agency, the former employee alleged in Colorado federal court.

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Firefighter Says Nepotism, Training Complaints Led To Firing

By Zach Dupont

A former Weld County, Colorado, firefighter was subject to retaliation from his former employer for raising concerns about lax training standards, nepotism within the department and cost-of-living adjustments, according to a complaint filed in state court.

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Texas AG Demands Records From 30 Firms In H-1B Probe

By José Luis Martínez

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's office is expanding its probe into potential H-1B visa fraud by demanding personnel, operational and financial records from nearly 30 businesses in north Texas.

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Q&A

How Paul Clement Does It All

By Katie Buehler

For most lawyers, getting to argue before the U.S. Supreme Court is a once-in-a-lifetime event, but for a select few, it's a common occurrence. Clement & Murphy PLLC name partner Paul Clement is one of those lawyers. 

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Rulings Offer Lessons On Credible Workplace Investigations

Three recent rulings illustrate that while internal investigations are a critical tool for managing workplace risk, the process itself must be able to withstand scrutiny, so employers should take steps to ensure that they're conducted with independence, credibility and trust to better defend their case, say attorneys at Krevolin Horst.

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Don't 'Throw' Young Attys Under Bus, Judge Warns Musk Atty

By Dorothy Atkins

The California federal judge presiding over Elon Musk's challenge to OpenAI's for-profit conversion criticized Musk's attorney Marc Toberoff on Friday for eliciting "waste of time" trial testimony into Musk's $97.4 billion acquisition bid, warning Toberoff he "shouldn't throw young lawyers under the bus" by not quickly acknowledging his role.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP leads this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after a California federal jury cleared Armistice Capital and two of its executives of class action claims that it pumped and dumped $250 million in Vaxart stock during the COVID-19 pandemic and violated federal securities law with insider trading.

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Whistleblower Says DOJ Rushed SPLC Indictment

By Courtney Bublé

A whistleblower has come forward to say a top U.S. Department of Justice official ordered prosecutors in Alabama to "rush" the indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center despite concerns about the viability of the case, according to Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee.

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California High Court Rejects Dunn's Bid To Nix Suspension

By Adrian Cruz

The California Supreme Court has declined to review a California State Bar decision to impose a one-year stayed suspension on former State Bar executive Joseph Dunn.

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FTC, DOJ Say ABA Reliance Limits Law School Competition

By Matthew Perlman

The Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division told the Tennessee Supreme Court the American Bar Association's monopoly over law school accreditations is driving up the cost of legal education.

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Analysis

SEC's Corp. Governance Shift Puts Onus On States, Cos.

By Sarah Jarvis

Lawyers who work with clients on corporate governance matters had a warm response to a recent pledge from U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins to let states handle such issues, saying the shift marks a return to the agency's historical approach and may spur increased activity among state regulators.

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Ex-Bondi Adviser Tapped As Fraud Task Force's Chief Lawyer

By Phillip Bantz

Ousted U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi's former adviser is taking on a new role as general counsel for the White House's fraud task force.

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Roundup

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

A pair of proxy advisory firms have sued two state attorneys general over laws they say impose burdensome requirements for issuing recommendations that go against corporate managers' wishes. Meanwhile, KPMG reports that legal is evolving into a key driver of business performance, and AI is a core component of the department. These are some of the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

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Roundup

The Top In-House Hires Of April

By Michele Gorman

Legal department hires during the past month included high-profile appointments at Intel, Colgate and Tripadvisor. Here, Law360 Pulse looks at some of the top in-house announcements from April.

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Roundup

UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Laura Stewart Liberty

The past week in London has seen a Swiss energy trader bring a Financial List claim against shipping benchmarking company Baltic Exchange, law firm Slater and Gordon sued by a former client, Slack and Salesforce hit Microsoft with an antitrust claim, and Stephen Fry bring a personal injury claim after he broke bones falling off a stage. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

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In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

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