3rd Circ. Seems Open To Reviving Doctor's Age, Sex Bias Suit

By Anne Cullen

A Third Circuit panel appeared receptive Wednesday to a physician's push for a second chance at her age, sex and disability discrimination suit involving a denied transfer, because the judges fired pointed questions at an attorney for the hospital where she had been a resident.

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2nd Circ. Says Ford Firing Dispute Needs Fresh Arbitration

By Emily Brill

Ford Motor Co. does not have to rehire a worker the company fired twice in the early 2020s, the Second Circuit ruled, ordering a new arbitration to decide whether the worker deserves reinstatement after he was fired in 2020 for harassment and again in 2023 for lying.

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Waldorf Astoria Strikes $15M Deal In Spa Workers' Pay Suit

By Benjamin Morse

A Waldorf Astoria resort will pay $15 million to settle spa workers' proposed class and collective action claims that the resort misclassified them as independent contractors and shorted them on wages and benefits, according to a filing in Hawaii federal court.

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Hemorrhoid Pain Can Be A Disability, EEOC Tells 3rd Circ.

By Anne Cullen

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed an amicus brief with the Third Circuit on Wednesday arguing that a former FedEx supervisor's hemorrhoid condition could rise to the level of a disability under federal anti-discrimination law, despite a trial court's conclusion otherwise.

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Personal Staff Carveout Sinks Black Assistant DA's Bias Suit

By Grace Elletson

A North Carolina federal judge shut down a Black assistant district attorney's suit claiming her boss underpaid her out of race discrimination, ruling her case can't stay in court because she isn't considered an employee under federal civil rights law.

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Unions, Feds Reach Deal In Gov't Shutdown Layoffs Suit

By Tim Ryan

A coalition of unions has reached a settlement in principle with the Trump administration resolving litigation in California federal court challenging layoffs at federal agencies during the 2025 government shutdown, pending approval from the U.S. Department of Justice.

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White Officer Wants Justices' Take On DEI Training Lawsuit

By Vin Gurrieri

A white former Colorado corrections officer urged the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on whether mandated attendance at a single workplace diversity training that allegedly included discriminatory content is enough to warrant reinstating his race harassment lawsuit. 

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Airline Group Asks Justices To Review United Vax Bias Class

By Patrick Hoff

An airline industry urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to hear United Airlines' challenge to a Fifth Circuit ruling that preserved class status in a religious bias suit over United's COVID-19 vaccine mandate, arguing the appeals court ignored the myriad individualized issues at play.

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DOJ Says Berkeley Law Is Racially Biased In Admissions

By Craig Clough

The U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Education said Wednesday that the University of California, Berkeley School of Law discriminated against white and Asian applicants in its 2024 and 2025 admissions cycles by preferring Black applicants because of their race, violating federal civil rights law and recent U.S. Supreme Court precedent.

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Fox Rothschild Axed Atty Over Hearing Impairment, Suit Says

By Patrick Hoff

Fox Rothschild LLP unlawfully refused to provide hearing aids to an attorney with an auditory impairment and fired him for repeatedly requesting an alternative accommodation, according to a lawsuit filed in Florida federal court.

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NJ Law Firm, Former Paralegal End Atty Groping Suit

By Lynn LaRowe

A former paralegal for the New Jersey personal injury firm formerly known as Corradino & Papa LLC has agreed to end her federal lawsuit claiming named partner Jack Corradino groped her at a holiday party.

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NJ Injury Firm Must Face Pregnancy Bias And Wage Claims

By George Woolston

A New Jersey state judge Friday revived pregnancy bias and wage suits against a personal injury law firm, but declined to sanction the firm for allegedly missing payments that led to arbitration proceedings being terminated.

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Bikini Barista Owner Owes Class $1.8M Over Wage Violations

By Ben Adlin

The owner of Seattle-area "bikini barista" company Beehive Espresso is on the hook for more than $1.8 million after a Washington state judge found him liable for numerous pay violations, including tip theft, limits on moonlighting, improper sick leave accounting and failure to pay minimum wage.

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Aramark Worker Fights To Keep Parent Company In Wage Suit

By MJ Koo

A Seattle concessions supervisor has pushed back against a food services company's bid to exit from a wage and hour lawsuit, arguing in Washington federal court that the company's centralized control over employee handbooks, payroll, human resources and scheduling policies is enough to hold it liable as a joint employer under state wage law.

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Boston TV Station Seeks Ax Of Storm Crew Wage Suit

By Benjamin Morse

A Boston television station urged a Massachusetts federal judge to toss a suit over alleged unpaid storm-coverage travel and preparation time, saying the claims fall short and must first go through union grievance and arbitration procedures.

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Port Workers Win Class Status In Union Nepotism Suit

By Emily Brill

A Georgia federal judge certified a nepotism-in-hiring lawsuit against an International Longshoremen's Association local as a class action Wednesday, letting 64 workers band together to accuse the union of breaching its duty of fair representation by funneling jobs to union leaders' family and friends.

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Sens. Urge Delta To Sit Out Flight Attendants' Union Fight

By David Aaro

A pair of Democratic senators asked Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian on Wednesday to remain neutral amid efforts from its flight attendants to unionize with the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA.

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Trump Exec Order Aims To Speed Up Vets' Access To Benefits

By Hailey Konnath

President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order that looks to expedite veterans' access to benefits — including healthcare, job opportunities and education — by modernizing how the federal government handles veterans' data.

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Mass. Justices Wary Of Easing Restrictions On Noncompetes

By Julie Manganis

Massachusetts top court justices hearing a case over a state law restricting noncompete provisions appeared reluctant Wednesday to carve out high-level employees who might sign such agreements as part of a separate deal for equity or other incentives.

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Wine Label Makers Spar Over Injunction In Trade Secret Fight

By Elliot Weld

A California federal judge on Wednesday weighed whether to grant a wine label company's motion for a preliminary injunction against rivals in a case accusing them of using trade secrets allegedly brought over by a former employee.

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Texas Justices Deny Bid To Undo $37M Arbitration Award

By Spencer Brewer

The Texas Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to take up a bid by a Dallas-based alternative investment company seeking to toss a $37 million arbitration award in favor of the company's former director.

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2 House Democrats Say Trump Can't Fire Copyright Chief

By Adam Lidgett

Two senior House Democrats have urged the D.C. Circuit to reject the Trump administration's claimed authority to remove Shira Perlmutter as the head of the U.S. Copyright Office, arguing that only the librarian of Congress can fire the agency's leader.

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Labaton Reboots Whistleblower Practice With Ex-SEC Chair

By Jessica Corso

Investor-side firm Labaton Keller Sucharow LLP has tapped two former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission veterans to lead a new practice representing whistleblowers before the SEC and other federal regulators, reviving a service that the firm provided five years ago.

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2nd Circ. Ruling Lays Out Administrative Right-Of-Access Blueprint

In Civil Rights Corps v. LaSalle, the Second Circuit recently held that the First Amendment dictates a presumptive right of access to sealed attorney grievance proceedings, providing a framework for challenging other administrative regimes that operate behind closed doors, says Jonathan Ginsberg at Carlton Fields.

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The Future Of DOL Judge Removal Challenges After Slaughter

The U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in Trump v. Slaughter calls into question whether U.S. Department of Labor administrative law judges exercising significant governmental authority remain insulated from presidential removal, but the answer depends on the governing statute, its severability provisions and other factors, says Mark Ishu at Conn Maciel.

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Expert Witness's ChatGPT Use Highlights New AI Risks

An expert witness's recent use of ChatGPT in multidistrict litigation involving 3M to formulate most of his opinion illustrates the lack of clear rules for how an expert may use generative AI in an opinion, expanding both offensive and defensive discovery considerations, says David Shargel at Bracewell.

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ABA Study Shows 20% Of Attys Under Severe Mental Distress

By Tracey Read

About one-fifth of attorneys across the country meet moderate-to-extremely severe symptom thresholds for depression, anxiety and stress, according to the largest-ever study of mental health and well-being in the legal profession.

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Mass. Judge Sanctioned Over Handling Of ICE At Courthouse

By Julie Manganis

Massachusetts' highest court on Thursday sanctioned a judge over her handling of a case involving a defendant wanted by immigration agents in 2018, an incident that led to federal charges that were dismissed after the judge agreed to a disciplinary process.

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Akerman Brings On Troutman Debt Finance Pro In LA

By Christine DeRosa

Akerman LLP announced Thursday it has added an experienced debt finance attorney from Troutman Pepper Locke LLP to its corporate practice group in Los Angeles.

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Legal Network TerraLex Names Norton Rose Exec As CEO

By James Boyle

Florida-based legal network TerraLex has tapped a former executive at Norton Rose Fulbright to serve as the company's CEO.

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AI-Native Approach Offers Chance To Rethink In-House Depts.

By Jake Maher

Artificial intelligence is giving corporate legal departments the opportunity to rethink how work is divided between outside counsel and in-house attorneys, but the pace of change in technology and demands to adapt from corporate heads remain challenges, in-house leaders said this week at an industry event.

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Analysis

Executive Privilege Questions Cloud Congressional Probe Prep

By Phillip Bantz

As corporate leaders brace for the possibility of Democrats retaking control of Congress and launching aggressive investigations into the Trump administration's dealings with a vast array of companies, attorneys say a U.S. Justice Department opinion on executive privilege could complicate the probes.

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2 At DOJ Sued Over Conn. Immigration Court Record Access

By Christine DeRosa

The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Connecticut has filed suit in Connecticut federal court challenging the Hartford Immigration Court's refusal to provide access to immigration court records.

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DOJ Urges High Court To Revisit 9th Circ. Bar Of Nevada US Atty

By Madison Arnold

The Justice Department has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit a recent Ninth Circuit ruling disqualifying the Trump administration's top federal prosecutor in Nevada, calling it a decision that imposes "ongoing confusion" in the executive branch.

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Ed Martin Reprimanded Over Unauthorized FBI Contacts

By Courtney Bublé

Last summer, when Ed Martin was still head of the weaponization working group at the U.S. Department of Justice, he was reprimanded after his team communicated with the FBI without authorization, according to recently released emails.

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