A Texas federal judge stopped Southwest Airlines Co. from snooping through an employee's social media posts about religion or abortion after the employee won a religious bias suit, issuing a court order blocking the airline from using future posts for disciplinary action.
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TOP NEWS

Texas Court Says Southwest Can't Probe Abortion Posts

By Spencer Brewer

A Texas federal judge stopped Southwest Airlines Co. from snooping through an employee's social media posts about religion or abortion after the employee won a religious bias suit, issuing a court order blocking the airline from using future posts for disciplinary action.

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Consumer Groups Urge DOT To Keep Airline Full-Fare Ad Rule

By Linda Chiem

Consumer advocates have asked the U.S. Department of Transportation to reconsider its plans to upend decades-old requirements that airlines display the total airfare more prominently than other components like taxes and fees, saying the Trump administration is effectively endorsing "drip pricing."

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Trump Threatens 50% Tariffs On Canadian Vehicles, Steel

By Jack McLoone

President Donald Trump on Monday escalated his trade war against Canada, saying he would implement 50% tariffs on vehicles and steel from the country in January, after a 50% levy took effect over the weekend on other goods imported from Canada.

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Fiat Chrysler Brings Defective Headrest Suit To Justices

By Caroline Simson

Fiat Chrysler is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to resolve a circuit split over whether an arbitrator or a court should decide the proper venue for a dispute involving a nonsignatory to an arbitration agreement, in a proposed class action over allegedly defective Jeep and Dodge headrests.

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AVIATION

Spirit Data Sale To Google Draws Objection From Springshot

By Emily Lever

Software company Springshot Inc. has filed a limited objection to the $10 million sale of Spirit Aviation Holdings' business data to Google LLC for artificial intelligence training, saying some of the data being sold could potentially constitute Springshot's intellectual property.

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AUTOMOTIVE

First Brands Judge Rejects Ch. 11 Plan, Swaps Case To Ch. 7

By Alex Wittenberg

A Texas bankruptcy judge on Monday rejected First Brands Group's Chapter 11 plan and converted its case to a Chapter 7 liquidation, ruling that the company's bid to pay administrative creditors from the proceeds of future litigation was not feasible.

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FCA, Parts Co. Say Seat Defect Claims Fall Short Of RICO

By Mike Curley

FCA US LLC and Lear Corp. are urging a Texas federal judge to throw out the latest complaint in a proposed class action alleging a defective seat height adjuster presents a danger in rear-end collisions, saying the fact that no plaintiff alleges this defect actually manifested dooms the suit and its racketeering claims.

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Brief

Auto Co. Workers Net Deal In Wage Fight After Expert Axed

By Hayley Fowler

An automotive parts seller has staved off joint trials in North Carolina federal court after reaching deals with 11 workers in parallel wage cases, according to notices filed over the weekend indicating the employees accepted separate offers of judgment.

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LOGISTICS

Interference Cross-Claims Tossed In Pot Sale Contract Suit

By Mike Curley

A Los Angeles judge has thrown out several interference cross-claims in a contract dispute over cannabis product distribution rights, finding that distributor Broadway Alliance hadn't sufficiently alleged that Stella Farms deliberately sabotaged its relationships with third parties.

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INFRASTRUCTURE

Transit Stabbing Victim's Estate Sues North Carolina City

By Hayley Fowler

The estate of a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee who was fatally stabbed last year on a light rail train car in Charlotte, North Carolina, has filed a wrongful death suit in state court, alleging the city and its private security contractor failed to put reasonable safety measures in place.

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INSURANCE

Avis Didn't Waive Arbitration In Insurance Fight, 3rd Circ. Says

By Hope Patti

Avis Budget Group didn't waive its right to arbitrate a dispute over its supplemental liability insurance by deposing a pair of customers in discovery, the Third Circuit ruled Monday, saying the car rental company needed to develop a factual record before moving to compel arbitration.

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AIG Owes Primary Coverage For $4.7M Ambulance Crash Deal

By Hope Patti

An AIG unit owes primary coverage for a $4.75 million settlement of an underlying suit over an ambulance crash, a New Jersey federal court ruled, finding that a borough's coverage through a county joint insurance fund does not trigger an "other insurance" provision.

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ENERGY

Calif. Takes Trump Admin Pipeline Fight To 9th Circ.

By Keith Goldberg

California has asked the Ninth Circuit to review a district court's rejection of its bid to block the Trump administration's reopening of a controversial coastal oil pipeline, which a judge said was a valid use of federal emergency authority under the Defense Production Act.

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PEOPLE

Sidley Expands Energy Practice With 4 Winston Taylor Partners

By Christine DeRosa

Sidley Austin LLP has expanded its energy, transportation and infrastructure practice in four offices with the addition of four Winston Taylor attorneys, including the former co-chair of that firm's project finance practice and the former chair of its projects-Latin America practice.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

AGs Want Meta's Privilege Claims Reviewed In Bellwether Trial

By Dorothy Atkins

During a break in a jury trial Monday over states' claims Meta hid social media's harm, states' counsel urged a California federal judge to require Meta to re-review all of its attorney-client privilege designations, arguing that "it seems actually logically impossible" that Meta described the wrong standard in only a single document.  

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Legal Center Says DOJ Is Stonewalling Fund Records Request

By Jared Foretek

A voting rights nonprofit is accusing the U.S. Department of Justice of stonewalling a request for records on the Trump administration's attempted "anti-weaponization fund," claiming that the agency has spent the summer unlawfully ducking a Freedom of Information Act submission.

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Galindo Law Files For Ch. 11 After Camp Lejeune Fee Fight

By Ben Zigterman

A Houston-based personal injury law firm sought bankruptcy relief on Monday with more than $50 million in liabilities after a mass tort litigation marketing company sued for over $9 million in fees related to finding potential victims of water contamination at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune.

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Attys Ask Court To Toss Suit Alleging They Stole 1,000 Cases

By Spencer Brewer

Multiple attorneys asked a Texas federal court to toss claims that they conspired to hijack 1,000 cases filed by hurricane survivors who had hired and built cases with a different firm, claiming the firm that brought the suit failed to plead a viable RICO claim.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court last week saw a wave of lawsuits involving corporate oversight, take-private deals, financing transactions, bankruptcy fallout, stockholder voting rights and disputes over control.

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COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Air Transport Association of America

American Economic Liberties Project

American Federation of Labor & Congress of Industrial Organizations

American International Group Inc.

Apple Inc.

Association of Flight Attendants-CWA

Avis Budget Group Inc.

Avis Rent A Car System LLC

B. Riley Financial Inc.

BTG Pactual

Campaign Legal Center

Capital One Financial Corp.

Center for Biological Diversity Inc.

Deer Finance LLC

Discover Financial Services Inc.

Elite

Enviva LP

FCA US LLC

First Brands Group

Fordham University

Fort Point Capital

GKN PLC

Gemspring Capital

Google LLC

Henry Schein Inc.

Instagram Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

JetBlue Airways Corp.

Lear Corp.

LinkedIn Corp.

Meta Platforms Inc.

Mitsui & Co. Ltd.

National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation

New York University

Northeastern University

Plains All American Pipeline L.P.

Plains GP Holdings LP

RWE AG

Ryanair Holdings PLC

Sable Offshore Corp.

Sales Inc.

Southwest Airlines Co.

Steward Health Care System LLC

Transport Workers Union of America

Trump Organization Inc.

LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Advisors LLC

Andrus Boudreaux

Babst Calland

Baker & Hostetler

Bowditch & Dewey

Carella Byrne

Covington & Burling

Davis Polk

Dentons

Dykema Gossett

Epstein Becker

Frederick M. Lehrer Attorney at Law

Garrity Graham

Hogan Lovells

Holland & Knight

Jason J. Joy & Associates

Jones Day

Jordan Lynch & Cancienne

Kershaw Talley

Klein Thomas

Latham & Watkins

Law Offices of Gilda A. Hernandez

Lieff Cabraser

McGuireWoods

Nelson Mullins

Norton Rose

Ogletree Deakins

Paul Weiss

Sidley Austin

Steckler Wayne

Stream Kim

Thompson Coe

Tin Fulton

Weil Gotshal

Wilkinson Stekloff

Willkie Farr

Winston Taylor

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

California Department of Justice

California Natural Resources Agency

Commodity Futures Trading Commission

Delaware Court of Chancery

European Union

Executive Office of the President

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

Internal Revenue Service

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

New Jersey Supreme Court

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration

U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

U.S. Department of Energy

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Transportation

U.S. District & Bankruptcy Courts of Southern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas

U.S. Supreme Court