Abbott Unit Beats Ex-Worker's Whistleblower Suit At 8th Circ.

By Grace Elletson

The Eighth Circuit declined Thursday to reinstate a former worker's suit claiming he was fired from an Abbott Laboratories subsidiary for reporting healthcare kickback violations, ruling he couldn't sue under the Minnesota whistleblower law as a Hawaii resident.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

2nd Circ. Reopens Mortgage-Backed Securities ERISA Suit

By Kellie Mejdrich

The Second Circuit on Thursday revived a federal benefits lawsuit against Wells Fargo and Ocwen accusing the companies of mishandling home loans tied to a union pension fund's investments, overturning a lower court ruling that handed the bank and loan servicing companies a pretrial win in the proposed class action.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

White & Case Staffer Sues Firm Over Nude Photo Ridicule

By Dorothy Atkins

A White & Case LLP staffer sued the law firm in New York state court Wednesday, alleging the firm's purported "hostile work environment" shielded his colleagues after they allegedly shared nude photos of him, which he claims were taken by his supervisor while he was unconscious at a firm-sponsored party.

4 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

11th Circ. Seems Skeptical Of White Former Exec's Bias Case

By Kelcey Caulder

The Eleventh Circuit pressed a white former medical waste disposal executive Thursday on whether the appellate court should revive his race bias case, asking him to square his discrimination argument with the fact that the woman who got the promotion he wanted was also white. 

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Worker Who Scored High Court Win Can't Get Atty Fees Yet

By Grace Elletson

An Ohio federal judge refused to award $466,000 in attorney fees to a straight woman who persuaded the U.S. Supreme Court to revive her bias suit, saying that while she won her appeal she still hasn't technically won the case.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Fla. AG Threatens Suit Over NFL Diversity Hiring Rule

By Grace Elletson

Florida's attorney general has called out the NFL's Rooney Rule, which requires teams to interview diverse candidates for open coaching and leadership roles, claiming it amounts to "blatant race and sex discrimination" that conflicts with state law.

Letter attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Troutman, Former Associate Fight Over Scope Of Bias Trial

By Emily Sawicki

Weeks ahead of an anticipated May trial over discrimination and retaliation claims brought by a former Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP associate, the firm and its onetime employee are sparring over the scope of evidence that may be presented at trial.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Regeneron Can't Sink Disability Bias Claims Over Scheduling

By Patrick Hoff

A former Regeneron Pharmaceuticals director can proceed with her lawsuit claiming she was fired for requesting a flexible schedule to care for her daughter, a New York federal judge ruled, saying she'd sufficiently backed up allegations that doing so had violated federal disability bias law.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Contractor Label Bars Bias Claims Against Cognizant

By Carla Baranauckas

A New Jersey appellate panel on Thursday backed the dismissal of a technology recruiter's sexual harassment and discrimination suit against Cognizant Technology Solutions and a staffing vendor, finding she worked as an independent contractor and therefore could not invoke the protections of the state's Law Against Discrimination.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Workers In Race Bias Suit Say JBS, Subsidiary Shared Control

By Ganesh Setty

Haitian nationals accusing meatpacking giant JBS USA Food Co. and a subsidiary of race-based discrimination and numerous labor violations have told a Colorado federal court their lawsuit should survive JBS' dismissal bid, arguing that they've sufficiently established an employer relationship with both.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ex-Mich. City Workers Say Judge Erred In Trimming Vax Suit

By Susan Smiley

Former city employees of Ann Arbor, Michigan, asked a federal judge Thursday to reconsider her decision to remove religious discrimination and state civil rights claims from their suit alleging religious discrimination after they were denied COVID-19 vaccine exemptions.

Motion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Steakhouse Chain Hit With $21.2M Judgment In Tip, Wage Suit

By Benjamin Morse

A Texas federal judge entered a roughly $21.2 million judgment against a steakhouse chain and its owner in a lawsuit brought by hundreds of workers alleging unpaid wages and misappropriated tips, according to a court filing.

3 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Chicago Mayor Stops Bid To Halt Tip Credit Phaseout

By Irene Spezzamonte

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson vetoed a City Council measure that sought to freeze the scheduled increases tipped workers are set to receive to be phased out of the subminimum wage, saying it was his "duty to veto" an ordinance that would have financially harmed tipped workers.

3 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

NC Court Denies Collective Bid In Wage Row, For Now

By Benjamin Morse

Employees alleging a property management company stiffed them on overtime wages cannot proceed as a collective for now, a North Carolina federal judge has ruled, finding that the current record is insufficient to determine whether they are similarly situated.

3 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Conn. Sushi Chef Seeks Sanctions Over Deposition Spectator

By Brian Steele

A sushi chef suing a Connecticut restaurant on claims of wage-and-hour violations wants the defendant sanctioned for allowing a nonparty, who is the defendant in a separate but similar lawsuit, to attend a Jan. 19 deposition, allegedly in an attempt to gain a litigation advantage.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Choice Hotels, Franchisee Seek Dismissal Of Wage Suit

By Benjamin Morse

Choice Hotels and a hotel operator have urged a federal judge in Washington state to toss a collective and class action alleging workers were denied breaks and sick leave, arguing the complaint failed to show the hospitality giant was actually the workers' employer and improperly included claims beyond the court's jurisdiction.

Motion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Colo. County Says State Union Law Silences Elected Officials

By Rachel Konieczny

A Colorado law that expands county employees' right to unionize unconstitutionally silences elected officials and is preempted by federal law, a Colorado county told a federal judge, saying a union's bid to toss the county's challenge to the law should be rejected.

Response attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Joe Gibbs Racing Wants Rival Blocked From Using Stolen Info

By Hayley Fowler

Joe Gibbs Racing LLC on Thursday pushed to enjoin rival NASCAR team Spire Motorsports from using confidential race data allegedly stolen by its former competition director, even as Spire denied having the information and decried the accusations as unfounded.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Brief

Ex-Deloitte Workers Can't Undo Charge Revival, 4th Circ. Says

By Abigail Harrison

The full Fourth Circuit has declined to reconsider its late February decision to revive most of the charges against two ex-Deloitte workers accused of stealing the company's trade secrets, after the workers insisted the unfavorable ruling bucked circuit and U.S. Supreme Court precedent.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ex-Flooring CEO Loses Fee Fight In Chancery

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court on Thursday ruled against former flooring executive Brian Carson in his bid to force his former company to cover his legal fees, finding he was not entitled to advancement under the governing LLC agreement.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

L'Oreal Wants Color Wow Co.'s Purchase Price Kept Secret

By Brian Steele

An executive for L'Oréal USA Inc. has asked a Connecticut state court judge not to force the public disclosure of the price the company paid to acquire Federici Brands LLC, the company behind Color Wow hair care products, as part of a former Federici president's lawsuit alleging she is owed $40 million from the transaction.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Reel Justice: 'Mercy' And Private Surveillance As Evidence

The near-future depicted in the film “Mercy” reminds attorneys that private surveillance networks are becoming central to the evidentiary ecosystem, shaping what prosecutors can obtain, what defendants must explain and what jurors may interpret as objective truth, says Veronica Finkelstein at Wilmington University.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

BigLaw Races To Capture Expanding Fund Finance Market

By Kevin Penton

Debt financing work at the fund level has long been dominated on the lender side by attorneys from Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP, Haynes Boone and Mayer Brown LLP, but other firms are increasingly crafting formal practices and poaching fund finance stars from the more established players.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

The Lanier Law Firm, Kiesel Law LLP, Panish Shea Ravipudi LLP, Wagstaff & Cartmell LLP and Beasley Allen Law Firm lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after a California state jury in a bellwether trial found Meta and Google liable for harming the mental health of a woman who says she became addicted to their social media platforms as a child.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

NJ Federal Judge DQs Beasley Allen In J&J Talc MDL

By Emily Sawicki

A New Jersey federal judge has disqualified the Beasley Allen Law Firm from representing hundreds of plaintiffs in sprawling multidistrict litigation over Johnson & Johnson's talc-based baby powder, holding that the firm violated ethics rules by collaborating with former outside counsel for J&J, a ruling the law firm has vowed to appeal.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Atty Sanctioned For AI Hallucinations In Workers' Comp Row

By Gianna Ferrarin

A New Jersey appellate court on Friday ordered an attorney to pay $1,000 in sanctions for failing to rectify AI-hallucinated case citations pointed out to him in an appeal concerning reimbursement sought by a workers' compensation carrier.

4 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

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

By Laura Stewart Liberty

The past week in London has seen Apple hit back at a tech company's wireless charging patent claim, a flurry of businesses bring COVID-19 pandemic insurance claims as a key deadline draws closer and Ipulse Partners LLP file a claim against a luxury yacht company it represented in a trademark dispute. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Polsinelli Hires Practice Head From McDermott In NY

By Andrea Keckley

Polsinelli PC said Thursday that it has hired a longtime McDermott Will & Schulte LLP attorney to co-lead its special situations and alternative investment practice, saying the move "further advanc[es] the firm's strategic focus on private credit, distressed investing, and complex restructuring matters."

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Apollo, BlackRock Deny Asking Kirkland To Abandon Optimum

By Tracey Read

Apollo, Ares, BlackRock and other major financial companies have denied Optimum Communications' claims accusing them of "bullying" Kirkland & Ellis LLP into withdrawing as the telecommunications company's transaction counsel to get revenge for a collusion lawsuit filed in New York federal court.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

A federal judge has stopped the Pentagon from dropping AI giant Anthropic from the government's supply chain, and Latham & Watkins ranked first in a survey of in-house legal leaders on which law firms are most helpful in developing business, followed by King & Spalding, Jones Day and Ropes & Gray.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Firms Targeted By Trump Urge DC Circ. To Uphold EO Rulings

By Alison Knezevich

Four law firms targeted last year by President Donald Trump urged the D.C. Circuit on Friday to affirm lower court rulings that struck down executive orders restricting their ability to practice law, saying the directives blatantly violate the Constitution.

4 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Brief

Amazon Swaps MoFo In, Perkins Coie Out In Cooker Suit

By Ben Adlin

Amazon.com LLP switched counsel Friday in a customer's product defect suit accusing the retail giant of selling a faulty pressure cooker that allegedly malfunctioned and caused her severe burns, substituting two Morrison Foerster LLP attorneys in place of an outgoing Perkins Coie LLP lawyer.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Mich. Judge Signals No Stay If Attys Exit Retaliation Suit

By Melanie Dorsey

A Michigan federal judge said Friday she is not inclined to pause a long-running sexual harassment suit again if counsel for an attorney who is suing her ex-mentor and former firm are allowed to withdraw, telling the parties, "We've been here. We've done this," as she heard arguments over a motion to exit the case.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Judiciary Nixes Amicus Disclosure Reform Over Potential Chill

By Emily Sawicki

The federal judiciary has been asked not to move forward with a plan to add to amicus brief disclosure requirements designed to curb "dark money" groups from bankrolling amicus briefs, after rules committee chairs pulled the recommendation over concerns of a possible chilling effect.

Memorandum attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ex-Williams & Connolly Clerk Accused Of Posting Client Info

By Hailey Konnath

A former Williams & Connolly LLP clerk has been posting confidential firm information — including client information and work email exchanges — and he's threatening to "keep leaking" the materials, which he called "a fun read," according to a suit filed in District of Columbia Superior Court.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Mayer Brown's $21M Fee Bid In RI Truck Tolls Suit Rebuffed

By Linda Chiem

A Rhode Island federal judge on Friday rebuffed Mayer Brown LLP's bid for $21 million in attorney fees for representing the commercial trucking industry's lead trade group in long-running litigation over the state's truck tolling program, saying the American Trucking Associations ultimately was not the "prevailing party."

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

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.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

FCC Told It Can't Make Foreign Call Centers Speak English

By Nadia Dreid

The National Creditors Bar Association is not pleased with the Federal Communications Commission's plans to pass new rules that would require companies to make sure their foreign call center operators speak "American Standard English," saying the agency has no power over foreign employees.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »