Discrimination

  • April 21, 2025

    NBA Wants Some Details Sealed In Fired Refs' COVID Suit

    The NBA has urged a New York federal court to issue a ruling protecting private medical records and other information about employees not in involved a lawsuit brought by former referees, who alleged they were terminated after refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine even though they requested religious exemption.

  • April 21, 2025

    CBS, Male Writer End Bias Suit Over Diversity Quotas

    CBS Studios Inc. and its parent have agreed to end a lawsuit brought by a straight white male freelance writer who accused CBS of discriminating against him by repeatedly choosing to hire more diverse candidates for writer roles, according to a stipulation filed in California federal court Friday.

  • April 21, 2025

    Fired Claims Co. Exec Says Pay Bias Led To Her Ouster

    A claims management company paid a former executive less than three of her male colleagues with the same work duties, then fired her after she filed a charge with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, she told a Georgia federal court.

  • April 21, 2025

    Sacramento State Prof Can Take Race Bias Claims To Trial

    A California federal judge is sending race bias claims by a Black lecturer at Sacramento State University to trial, finding a jury needs to parse through his allegations that a colleague may have attempted to sabotage his application to a tenure-track role on the basis of discrimination. 

  • April 21, 2025

    Va. City Says It Wasn't Employer Of Atty Bringing FMLA Suit

    An attorney cannot sustain his lawsuit accusing the city of Martinsville, Virginia, of unlawfully firing him after he requested leave to care for his mother, the city told a federal court, saying it had no power to terminate him because it was not his employer.

  • April 18, 2025

    Ex-Katten Partner Hits Firm With $67M Age Bias Suit

    A former Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP partner launched a $67 million discrimination lawsuit against his one-time firm in New York federal court, alleging he was pushed out of the aircraft-finance practice group, pressured to resign and then fired because of the firm CEO's "stereotyped views of lawyers in their 60s."

  • April 18, 2025

    11th Circ. Won't Revive ADA Suit Over Remote Work Firing

    The Eleventh Circuit on Friday refused to revive a former call center director's Americans with Disabilities Act suit against a financial services company, holding that the company had legitimate reasons to fire her and reasonably accommodated her request to work from home due to her Crohn's disease during the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • April 18, 2025

    Split 6th Circ. Clarifies Scope Of Sexual Harassment Arb. Ban

    A split Sixth Circuit panel clarified on Friday that a new federal law banning the mandatory arbitration of sexual-harassment claims may apply to alleged misconduct that occurred before the law was enacted, while a dissenting judge slammed the majority's opinion as a "formula for disaster."

  • April 18, 2025

    Trump Moves For More Power To Hire, Fire Federal Workers

    The Office of Personnel Management on Friday proposed a rule that would give President Donald Trump's administration the power to hire and fire some 50,000 career federal employees, a move that federal worker unions say will allow the president "to replace qualified public servants with political cronies."

  • April 18, 2025

    Sunoco Accused Of Age Bias By Ex-Chief Counsel

    A former chief counsel for Sunoco LP sued her ex-employer in Texas state court Wednesday, alleging she was denied promotional opportunities and later terminated due to her age, while also accusing the company of replacing attorneys older than 50 with significantly younger attorneys with less experience.

  • April 18, 2025

    NBA's Suns Sued Again For Harassment, Toxic Workplace

    A third former employee of the Phoenix Suns in a five-month span has accused the NBA franchise of discrimination, retaliation and a hostile workplace, with a Hispanic woman suing the Suns on Friday in Arizona federal court.

  • April 18, 2025

    DC Circ. Revives Fired Workers' Bias Suit Over Vax Policy

    The D.C. Circuit on Friday revived claims by two Black employees of a union who allege they were disparately affected by a COVID-19 vaccination policy where more Black employees than white employees were fired if they didn't get vaccinated, saying their racial discrimination allegations regarding the policy "cross the line from conceivable to plausible."

  • April 18, 2025

    Employment Lawyers' Weekly DEI Cheat Sheet

    The Trump administration faced off with two BigLaw firms in lawsuits over executive orders, a group of law students sued the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over its demand for law firm diversity information and the American Bar Association was sued for race discrimination. Here, Law360 looks at notable DEI-related legal developments from the past week.

  • April 18, 2025

    3rd Circ. Won't Revive Norfolk Southern Conductor's ADA Suit

    The Third Circuit refused Friday to reinstate a Norfolk Southern Railway Co. train conductor's suit alleging he was illegally suspended because of his history of seizures, saying the railroad's decision wasn't rooted in discrimination.

  • April 18, 2025

    Philly Firm Leaders Form Employment, Civil Rights Boutique

    Attorneys out of Philadelphia and New Jersey have merged their practices to start a new law firm focused on employment, criminal, civil rights and survivor's rights law, the partners announced earlier this week.

  • April 18, 2025

    Calif. Forecast: Court Weighs $20M Raytheon Cos. Wage Deal

    In the coming week, attorneys should keep an eye out for potential initial approval of an almost $20 million class action settlement involving three Raytheon companies. Here's a look at that case and other labor and employment matters coming up in California.

  • April 18, 2025

    NJ Law Prof Given Chance To Amend Tossed Free Speech Suit

    A New Jersey federal judge has declined a law professor's request to revive her free speech suit against Kean University over alleged controversial statements made in class, finding she failed to show errors in law in his dismissal, but left the door open for her to amend her complaint.

  • April 18, 2025

    NY Forecast: Judge Hears Hospital's Bid To Nix Race Bias Suit

    In the coming week, a New York federal judge will consider a hospital's request to toss a suit brought by a doctor who claims she was discriminated against on the basis of her race and gender and retaliated against when she complained.

  • April 18, 2025

    Tesla Settles Black Production Worker's Race Bias Suit

    Tesla has agreed to settle a Black former production worker's suit claiming she was called racist slurs on the job and retaliated against for complaining that the facility fostered a culture of discrimination, according to a California federal court filing.

  • April 18, 2025

    NY State Settles Ex-Cuomo Aide's Sex Harassment Suit

    The state of New York agreed Friday to pay $450,000 to resolve a lawsuit claiming it didn't do enough to address allegations by a onetime aide to former Gov. Andrew Cuomo that he made inappropriate comments and sexual advances toward her.

  • April 18, 2025

    Fla. Law Seeks To 'Demonize' Trans Workers, Suit Says

    A transgender teacher was forced to quit after a Florida school district required him to use pronouns that didn't align with his gender identity under a state law that aims to "stigmatize and demonize" transgender workers, he told a federal court in a discrimination suit.

  • April 17, 2025

    3 Takeaways After ADA Suit Over High Heels Cleared For Trial

    A disability discrimination lawsuit by a fired cocktail waitress who'd asked to wear comfortable black shoes to work instead of the required high heels points to lessons employers can learn about workplace dress codes and how they intersect with sex and disability discrimination, experts told Law360. Here are three takeaways on the issue.

  • April 17, 2025

    USPS Escapes Fired Worker's Sex Harassment Suit

    A Washington federal judge sided with the U.S. Postal Service on Thursday in an ex-worker's harassment and retaliation suit claiming she was coerced into a sexual relationship by a supervisor and then fired for taking part, ruling that her claims were either untimely or lacked evidence of bias.

  • April 17, 2025

    EMT Org. Changes Scholarship Criteria To End Race Bias Suit

    An emergency medical technician trade association told a Mississippi federal court Thursday it will change its diversity scholarship program criteria to remove conditions based on applicants' race or ethnicity in order to resolve a medical advocacy group's bias suit.

  • April 17, 2025

    DOD Analyst Who Failed Polygraphs Meets Skeptical DC Circ.

    The D.C. Circuit on Thursday appeared to lean toward backing the U.S. Department of Defense's win in an intelligence analyst's disability discrimination suit alleging he was unlawfully reassigned after failing polygraph tests, though judges had pointed questions for both sides.

Expert Analysis

  • Justices Mull Sex-Based Classification In Trans Law Case

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    After the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in U.S. v. Skrmetti this week, it appears that the fate of the Tennessee law at the center of the case — a law banning gender-affirming healthcare for transgender adolescents — will hinge on whether the majority read the statute as imposing a sex-based classification, says Alexandra Crandall at Dickinson Wright.

  • Pa. Ruling Highlights Challenges Of Employer Arb. Appeals

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    A Pennsylvania federal court's recent ruling in Welch Foods v. General Teamsters Local Union No. 397 demonstrates the inherent difficulties employers face when seeking relief from labor arbitration decisions through appeals in court — and underscores how employers are faced with often conflicting legal priorities, says Daniel Johns at Cozen O'Connor.

  • 7 Ways To Prepare For An I-9 Audit Or Immigration Raid

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    Because immigration enforcement is likely to surge under the upcoming Trump administration, employers should take steps to ensure their staff is trained in employment eligibility verification requirements and what to do in the event of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement I-9 audit or workplace raid, say attorneys at Littler.

  • California Supreme Court's Year In Review

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    Attorneys at Horvitz & Levy highlight notable decisions on major questions from the California Supreme Court's last term, including voter initiatives, hostile work environment and the economic loss rule.

  • Disentangling Various Forms Of Workplace Discrimination

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    Pay inequity can be missed where it exists and misidentified due to incorrect statistics, leaving individuals to face multiple facets of discrimination connected by a common root cause, meaning correct identification and measurement is crucial, says Daniel Levy at Advanced Analytical.

  • Key Requirements In New Maryland Pay Transparency Laws

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    Although several jurisdictions now require pay transparency in job advertisements, Maryland's new law is among the broadest in the country, both in terms of what is required and the scope of its applicability, says Sarah Belger at Quarles & Brady.

  • Lessons From EEOC Case Of Fla. Worker Fired After Stillbirth

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    A recent federal court settlement between a Florida resort and a fired line cook shows that the U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission sees stillbirth as protected under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, also providing four other important lessons, says Gordon Berger at Pierson Ferdinand.

  • Advising Employers As AI Meets DEI And Discrimination

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Though companies can use artificial intelligence tools to develop more diverse and inclusive workforces, counsel should also prepare employers for how AI can stymie these efforts, provoke discrimination claims and complicate resulting litigation, says Emily Schifter at Troutman Pepper.

  • A Look At The Hefty Demands In Calif. Employer AI Draft Regs

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    California's draft regulations on artificial intelligence use in employment decisions show that the California Privacy Protection Agency is positioning itself as a de facto AI regulator for the state, which isn't waiting around for federal legislation, says Lily Li at Metaverse Law.

  • Federal Salary History Ban's Reach Is Limited

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    Though a newly effective Office of Personnel Management rule takes important steps by banning federal employers from considering job applicants' nonfederal salary histories, the rule's narrow applicability and overconfidence in the existing system's fairness will likely not end persistent pay inequities, says Margaret House at Kalijarvi Chuzi.

  • 2nd Circ. Hostile Workplace Ruling Widens Arbitration Pitfalls

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    The Second Circuit’s recent decision, affirming the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act applies to a worker whose workplace hostility claims arose before the law’s 2022 enactment, widens the scope of the law — and the risks of unenforceable arbitration agreements for employers, say attorneys at Hinshaw.

  • Title VII Compliance Lessons From Raytheon Age Bias Suit

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    A Texas federal court’s recent refusal to dismiss age discrimination claims from a former Raytheon employee, terminated after he admitted to acts that Raytheon says violated its harassment policy, nonetheless illustrates strategies employers can use to protect themselves when facing competing Title VII workplace obligations, say attorneys at Segal McCambridge.

  • How The Presidential Election Will Affect Workplace AI Regs

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    The U.S. has so far adopted a light-handed approach to regulating artificial intelligence in the labor and employment area, but the presidential election is unlikely to have as dramatic of an effect on AI regulations as it may on other labor and employment matters, say attorneys at Littler.