SAN FRANCISCO — Any differences between members of an employment discrimination case related to Workday Inc.’s use of artificial intelligence to sort and rank job applicants are meaningless at this stage because the members are “alike in the central way that matters,” a federal judge in California said May 16 in granting conditional certification after finding that the sorting and ranking of job applicants creates a unified policy and that its rankings could constitute a hiring recommendation.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A 2020 stipulated order in which the Federal Trade Commission penalized Facebook Inc. $5 billion for its continuing practices of sharing users’ personal information included an attachment that contained details about the order, a District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found May 16, concluding, therefore, that a trial court retained jurisdiction over enforcement of the settlement.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A divided U.S. Supreme Court in a May 16 opinion issued a temporary injunction halting the federal government’s removal from the United States under the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) of two named individuals and the putative class they seek to represent, all alleged by the government to be Venezuelan nationals who are members of Tren de Aragua; further, the majority’s per curiam opinion treated the individuals’ application as a petition for a writ of certiorari, granted it, vacated the judgment in the case by the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals and remanded to the appellate court.

LOS ANGELES — A California appellate panel on May 16 affirmed a trial court’s denial of an anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) motion filed by the owner of an animal care nonprofit seeking to strike allegations by a deceased homeless man’s daughter who accuses the owner of stealing her father’s dog and later euthanizing it in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL), writing that the conduct at issue was not protected speech activity.

NEW YORK — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on May 16 affirmed a lower federal court’s finding that a commercial general liability insurer failed to establish facts supporting its quest to pierce a construction company insured’s corporate veil in connection with its breach of contract lawsuit seeking to hold the insured’s owners and officers liable for the alleged $1,247,950.03 in policy premiums, taxes and fees that the insured failed to pay.

CINCINNATI — Ruling against a claimant who said in her opening brief that “this appears to be the first ‘Long COVID’ disability case to come before the Court,” the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on May 15 affirmed a judgment upholding denial of her claim for long-term disability (LTD) benefits, concluding that the insurer’s “decision was neither procedurally nor substantively unreasonable.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The constitutionality of nationwide or universal injunctions was debated before the U.S. Supreme Court in May 15 oral arguments concerning three consolidated applications by the federal government seeking a partial stay of the injunctions halting enforcement of President Donald J. Trump’s Jan. 20 birthright citizenship executive order (EO).

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The District of Columbia U.S. Court of Appeals on May 14 denied a petition for a writ of mandamus filed by U.S. DOGE Service (DOGE or USDS) after a nonprofit’s discovery motion seeking information relevant to whether DOGE has substantial authority independent of President Donald J. Trump was partially granted.