11th Circ. Upholds Airline's Win In COVID Discrimination Case

By Irene Spezzamonte

A group of workers for a commercial airline and a related entity failed to support their claims that the companies' COVID-19 pandemic-era policies discriminated against their religious beliefs, the Eleventh Circuit ruled Friday, while sharply criticizing their attorney for his misuse of artificial intelligence.

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Union Can't Force Ex-Aides Into Arbitration, 2nd Circ. Says

By Benjamin Morse

A union cannot automatically bind former New York City home health aides to mandatory arbitration through an agreement signed after they left their jobs, the Second Circuit ruled Friday, allowing 17 former workers to press their cases outside a roughly $30 million fund.

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Apple Alleges OpenAI, Ex-Employees Took Trade Secrets

By Ivan Moreno

Apple filed a trade secret lawsuit Friday against OpenAI, its acquired hardware startup io Products and two former Apple employees, alleging in California federal court that the defendants engaged in a coordinated scheme to misappropriate Apple's confidential information to accelerate OpenAI's push into consumer hardware.

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11th Circ. Refers Atty For Discipline Over Suspected AI Entries

By Katherine Smith

The Eleventh Circuit on Friday referred an attorney for potential discipline over a brief he filed in a client's retaliation lawsuit against the Florida Department of Corrections, ruling that the attorney failed to explain how several defective quotes and citations ended up in the brief.

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Ex-Reed Smith Atty Fights Pausing Bias Suit Amid Appeal

By Matt Perez

A former Reed Smith LLP attorney pushed back on the firm's bid to stay her gender discrimination suit against it while the attorney's appeal of the scope of the damages in the suit plays out.

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CFPB, Union Seek Pause On Review Of Layoff Plan

By Sarah Jarvis

The Trump administration and a federal labor union that represents staffers at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau have jointly asked a D.C. federal court to pause weighing a response to the administration's plan to lay off about half of the agency's remaining workforce, arguing the president's nominee to head the agency should be given the chance to review the plan if he is confirmed.

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Roundup

Employment Authority: Cases To Watch In 2026's 2nd Half

Law360 Employment Authority covers the biggest employment cases and trends. Catch up this week with coverage of the cases that employment attorneys are watching in the second half of 2026 in the discrimination and wage spaces, as well as a recap of the biggest rulings and policy moves in the wage and hour space this year so far. 

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NYT Says 'Baseless' EEOC Suit Is Payback For Reporting

By Lauren Berg

The New York Times on Friday scoffed at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's allegations that it unlawfully denied a white editor a promotion, arguing in counterclaims that the "baseless" lawsuit is retaliation for the newspaper's reporting on the Trump administration.

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Judge Shields Anti-Abortion Groups From New Mich. Bias Law

By Grace Elletson

A federal judge ruled Friday that two anti-abortion organizations do not have to comply with a Michigan law that prevents employers from discriminating against workers who have had an abortion, stating they're likely to succeed on their claims that the statute illegally infringes on their missions and free speech.

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Mich. Judge Axes Atty's Suit Over Discovery Violations

By Melanie Dorsey

An attorney who sued her former mentor and two former law firms alleging sexual harassment, retaliation and employment discrimination had her lawsuit dismissed Friday after a Michigan federal judge found that she repeatedly violated discovery rules, ignored court orders and failed to correct the deficiencies despite multiple opportunities.

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Haitian Meatpackers Urge Court To Keep JBS Bias Suit Alive

By Zach Dupont

A group of Haitians who worked at Colorado meatpacking companies urged a federal court Friday to disregard JBS USA Food and Swift Beef's objection to a magistrate judge's recommendation to deny the companies' bid to toss a discrimination and wage suit against the employers.

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Paralegal Drops ADA Bias Suit Against Former Firm

By MJ Koo

A former paralegal who alleged a law firm fired her the day after she disclosed her cancer had recurred has voluntarily dismissed her disability discrimination lawsuit against the firm, a North Carolina federal court filing shows.

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Brief

EEOC, Pizza Chain Get OK For $28K Deal In Harassment Suit

By Emily Brill

A Florida pizza chain will pay $27,500 to settle a discrimination lawsuit that accused its proprietor of making vulgar comments about female employees, according to an order issued by a Florida federal judge.

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Brief

Workday, Software Engineer Settle Harassment, Bias Suit

By MJ Koo

A former software engineer and a human resources software company have settled a lawsuit alleging she was driven out of the firm after years of harassment and mistreatment by her manager, according to a Georgia federal court filing.

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Trucking Co. Drivers Can Notify Others Of Wage Collective

By MJ Koo

An Illinois federal judge ruled Friday that delivery drivers can notify a nationwide group of current and former drivers of their right to join a wage suit against a freight company, finding the drivers raised sufficient evidence that other workers were subjected to what the suit alleged was the same misclassification scheme.

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DOJ Defends Nurse Wage-Fixing Conviction At 9th Circ.

By Bryan Koenig

The U.S. Department of Justice urged a Ninth Circuit panel to reject a Las Vegas home nursing executive's appeal of its first-ever criminal wage-fixing conviction, defending its trial characterization of a leniency deal with a cooperating company and the inclusion of the executive's statement likening nurses to prostitutes.

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Pa. Cement Plant Seeks Order Dispersing Striking Teamsters

By Matthew Santoni

The owners of a Pittsburgh cement plant asked a Pennsylvania state court to break up picketing Teamsters outside the plant's entrance, arguing in a brief that striking workers had the effect of "seizing" the facility, justifying an exemption from state law discouraging court interference in labor actions.

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Brooklyn Legal Aid Provider's Union Sets Strike Deadline

By Andrea Keckley

The union for the Brooklyn Defender Services has voted to authorize a strike if it doesn't reach an agreement with managers by the morning of July 16.

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Analysis

4 Benefits Policy Issues To Watch In 2026's 2nd Half

By Kellie Mejdrich

The U.S. Department of Labor's work to finalize a 401(k) investment selection safe harbor and plans for a new mental health parity rule are among the top employee benefits policy issues that attorneys are watching for in the latter half of 2026. Here, Law360 looks at four that practitioners say they're keeping an eye on.

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NFL Plan Wants Ex-Players' Latest Class Cert. Bid Denied

By Kellie Mejdrich

The National Football League's disability plan urged a Maryland federal judge not to certify a class of former NFL players who say they were wrongly denied benefits in violation of federal law, arguing there were too many disparities between their claims to warrant the court's signoff.

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Fla. High Court Backs Broad Reading Of Workers' Comp Law

By Grace Elletson

Florida's Supreme Court rejected an appeals court's narrow take on the state's workers' compensation law that shut down a manager's bid for benefits after he was shot while walking out of work, ruling he can get paid if he shows his work environment increased his risk of assault.

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Thermo Fisher Looks To Block Former Exec's Move To Fortrea

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

Thermo Fisher is asking a Delaware court to prevent a former executive's move to a direct competitor following its $8.875 billion acquisition of Clario in March 2026, saying the new leadership role is in violation of contractual obligations negotiated as part of the acquisition.

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'Disloyal' CEO Must Pay Co.'s $816K Fox Rothschild Fees

By Aaron Keller

Oamic Ingredients LLC has won an order forcing its "disloyal" former CEO to pay the Wyoming-based flavoring and aroma firm's Fox Rothschild LLP lawyers nearly $816,000 in fees and costs, with a Connecticut judge chiding the ex-CEO and attorney's poor knowledge of state laws and court rules.

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Athletes Look To Rein In Review Of 3rd-Party NIL Deals

By Alex Lawson

College athletes looking to monetize their name, image and likeness under a historic antitrust settlement have asked a California federal judge to relax oversight of third-party brand deals, arguing that increased scrutiny is undermining the agreement.

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Ex-Biomedical Worker Axed For Not Altering Data, Suit Says

By George Woolston

A former regulatory affairs specialist for biomedical company Vitara has alleged in New Jersey state court that she was fired in retaliation for refusing to manipulate data in the company's bid to perform the first human trial of its technology aimed at helping premature newborns.

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Laptop Farms Highlight Identity Fraud Risks Of Remote Work

Two U.S. nationals' recent sentencing in Massachusetts federal court for a scheme that enabled foreign operatives to obtain remote jobs at U.S. companies using stolen identities is a reminder that employers must recalibrate their remote hiring, onboarding and monitoring practices to mitigate evolving cybersecurity and geopolitical risks, say attorneys at Foley & Lardner.

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Roundup

The Most Talked-About Supreme Court Decisions Of 2026

This term, 11 U.S. Supreme Court decisions quickly became hot topics among Law360's guest writers.

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Over 2,600 Attys, Professionals Urge Blocking Blanche As AG

By Emma Cueto

More than 2,600 lawyers and legal professionals on Friday urged lawmakers to oppose the nomination of Todd Blanche for attorney general, saying Blanche's dismissal of the idea that the U.S. Department of Justice should be independent from the White House and his record as interim attorney general make him unfit for the role.

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HHS' Ex-GC Committed Ethics Violations, Watchdog Says

By Craig Clough

A watchdog organization filed a complaint Thursday with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General seeking an investigation into former HHS general counsel Michael Stuart over alleged federal ethics violations, saying it appears he failed to divest from prohibited financial holdings and made prohibited investment purchases after taking office.

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Atty's 'Fabricated Quotes,' 'Reliance on AI' Panned By Judge

By Craig Clough

A New York magistrate judge struck a brief Friday filed by an attorney representing a client suing Roc Nation after finding that it included numerous fabrications that may have resulted from artificial intelligence hallucinations, noting that the attorney has been "repeatedly" sanctioned or warned by multiple courts for the same behavior. 

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Baker Donelson Wins $45K From Tenn. Firm Over AI Misuse

By Lynn LaRowe

Tennessee personal injury firm Reaves Law Firm PLLC must pay more than $45,000 in attorney fees to Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC over Reaves Law's misuse of artificial intelligence in a federal malpractice suit against Baker Donelson.

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Davis Wright Atty Hit With Sanctions After Winning Sanctions

By Jeff Overley

After defending six-figure sanctions of plaintiffs lawyers for "a reckless course of prolonging litigation," a Davis Wright Tremaine LLP attorney is facing his own six-figure sanctions, with a California magistrate judge finding he "unnecessarily burdened" opposing counsel despite warnings dating back years about "improper litigation tactics."

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Oura Health Swaps In Sidley For Quinn After Ex-CEO's DQ Bid

By Dorothy Atkins

A California federal judge granted Oura Health's request to swap in Sidley Austin LLP for Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP in breach-of-contract litigation by the fitness tracker company's former CEO after the ex-executive sought to disqualify Quinn Emanuel for purportedly having access to his confidential data.

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NY Nonprofits Want ICE Docs On Courthouse Arrest Policies

By Stewart Bishop

Nonprofit groups suing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement over courthouse arrest policies pressed a Manhattan federal judge to force the agency to produce documents and testimony concerning arrests it conducts outside immigration courts after the agency's revised policy concerning such arrests in Manhattan was put on hold.

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UChicago Law Takes On AI With Phone And Laptop Ban

By Matt Perez

The University of Chicago Law School will prohibit the use of electronic devices such as laptops, tablets and phones in all first-year law school sections and courses as part of new policies dictating the use of artificial intelligence at the school.

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4 Takeaways From Probe Of Feb. 2025 Calif. Bar Exam Fiasco

By Emily Sawicki

Poor implementation of the February 2025 California Bar Exam resulted in millions of dollars in extra costs and negatively affected "a significant portion" of test-takers, according to a new report by the California State Auditor.

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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 lawyer Ian Rosenblatt launch legal action against music mogul Simon Cowell, Boohoo face a fresh investor claim after previously facing allegations that it feigned ignorance of labor abuses in its supply chain, and an ex-Tory MP and his chief of staff sued by their former employer. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

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Roundup

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

Among the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week: The SEC chair said this year's corporate proxy season saw none of the "dire predictions" some had forecast, and in a recent survey, hundreds of law firm leaders said they're increasingly losing clients, citing problems in delivering their legal services.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Greene Broillet & Wheeler LLP and Ludd & Ludd lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after a San Diego jury ordered Hyatt to pay $15.5 million over the death of a guest who was left uncontacted for a day after failing to check out.

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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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