Discrimination

  • June 25, 2025

    Restored Quorum Could Jump-Start EEOC In 2nd Half Of 2025

    The potential addition of a new Republican member to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission would give the agency's leader the quorum she needs to launch precedent-setting litigation and overhaul Biden-era policies. Here's what experts expect from the EEOC in the second half of 2025.

  • June 24, 2025

    New EEOC Suits Plummeted In The 1st Half Of 2025

    The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed 20 fewer lawsuits in the five months since the second Trump administration began than it did during the same time period in 2024. Here’s a look at the cases filed so far by Trump's EEOC.

  • June 24, 2025

    4th Circ. Tosses Trans Man's Appeal Over Canceled Surgery

    The Fourth Circuit declined to revive a transgender man's constitutional claims against a religious hospital run by the University of Maryland Medical System over a canceled hysterectomy for gender dysphoria, concluding Tuesday that it couldn't grant further relief, and refused to consider a "late-breaking" argument for emotional distress damages.

  • June 24, 2025

    X Corp. Fights Ex-Twitter Workers' Arbitration Bid

    X Corp. challenged a request from former Twitter employees in Washington state to make the social media giant arbitrate claims about unpaid severance and bonuses, telling a federal judge that there is a lack of evidence showing the workers have valid arbitration agreements with the company.

  • June 24, 2025

    10th Circ. Says Ex-US Bank VP Can't Relitigate Bias Suit

    The Tenth Circuit backed the dismissal Tuesday of a suit from an ex-U.S. Bank executive who blamed his termination on age bias, ruling his state law allegations could have been addressed when his federal discrimination claim was resolved by a judge.

  • June 24, 2025

    4 State W&H Laws That Moved The Needle So Far In 2025

    In the first half of 2025, states tackled the litigation consequences of some statutes and continued the trend of developing employment laws that go far beyond the federal floor. Here, Law360 highlights four state law developments that stirred debate.

  • June 24, 2025

    ByteDance Can't Arbitrate Pay Bias Suit, Calif. Court Says

    A California state appellate court has rejected TikTok parent ByteDance Inc.'s bid to make a former employee arbitrate pay discrimination claims against it, saying that an underlying arbitration agreement was unenforceable for requiring her to arbitrate claims while preserving all the Chinese internet technology company's rights and remedies.

  • June 24, 2025

    Texas A&M Escapes Prof's Pregnancy Leave FMLA Suit

    A state appeals court freed Texas A&M University on Tuesday from a lawsuit brought by a professor who was denied tenure, finding that her pregnancy-related leaves fell under a portion of the Family Medical Leave Act under which the university has immunity.

  • June 24, 2025

    Worker Surveilled By Township Loses FMLA Suit At 6th Circ.

    The Sixth Circuit refused Tuesday to revive a suit from a highway department worker who claimed he was fired for taking medical leave, saying an Ohio township's position that a private investigator saw him doing construction work put the termination on solid ground.

  • June 24, 2025

    Ex-J&J Atty's Race Bias Suit Lacks Facts, Company Argues

    Johnson & Johnson Services Inc. told a New Jersey federal court this week that a former in-house data privacy attorney suing the pharmaceuticals giant for discrimination failed to plead any facts supporting her allegation that the company passed her over for a job in favor of a less qualified candidate.

  • June 24, 2025

    DLA Piper Fired IT Worker Because Of Depression, Suit Says

    DLA Piper fired an information technology employee because of his depression and anxiety, he told a New York federal court, saying the firm cited a poor "culture fit" to gloss over terminating him at the end of his medical leave.

  • June 24, 2025

    Exec Says Event Co. Bosses Called Her Too Old For CFO Job

    A former vice president of finance at an endurance event operator has alleged in Massachusetts state court that the company considered her "too old for the C-suite" when it passed her over for the job of chief financial officer, then fired her in retaliation for complaining about age discrimination.

  • June 24, 2025

    Prior Salaries Not An Excuse For Gender Pay Gap, Vet Says

    An animal health company's argument that paying a female veterinary pathologist less than her male counterparts was not motivated by bias because the employer matched incoming male workers' prior salaries is not an adequate defense, she told a New Jersey federal court.

  • June 24, 2025

    Pregnant Worker Fired After Telework Request, EEOC Says

    A restaurant franchisee fired an employee after she announced she was pregnant and asked to work from home to manage her pregnancy-related nausea, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said in a suit filed in South Dakota federal court.

  • June 23, 2025

    Okla. Court Says Race Theory Law Excludes College Classes

    A group of civil rights advocates and their opponent, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, are both claiming victory after the state's high court determined that a 2021 law that blocks the teaching of certain racial and gender topics in public classrooms does not apply to academic speech in higher educational settings.

  • June 23, 2025

    4th Circ. Says Christian's Vaccine Bias Suit Needs 2nd Look

    The Fourth Circuit reinstated a lawsuit Monday accusing a Kaiser Permanente subsidiary of yanking a Christian woman's job offer after rejecting her request to sidestep its COVID-19 vaccine requirement, stating the lower court should reassess the sincerity of her beliefs in light of a recent circuit ruling.

  • June 23, 2025

    Justices Leave Door Open For Retirement Benefit Bias Claims

    The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled against a retired firefighter and held that the Americans with Disabilities Act suit doesn't prohibit discrimination against people who have left the workforce, but the high court didn't completely foreclose discrimination claims over post-employment benefits.

  • June 23, 2025

    Michigan Must Face Christian Refugee Aid Provider's Bias Suit

    A federal judge said a Christian refugee resettlement agency may move ahead with claims that Michigan sought to force the agency to agree to hire non-Christians to be eligible for contracts.

  • June 23, 2025

    Telemarketer Strikes $85K Deal To End EEOC Race Bias Suit

    A telemarketing company agreed to pay $85,000 to resolve a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lawsuit claiming it unlawfully fired a Black employee after falsely accusing her of using profanity during a customer call, according to a filing in Ohio federal court.

  • June 23, 2025

    Assistant DA Says Race Bias Led To Pay, Treatment Disparity

    An assistant district attorney alleged in North Carolina federal court that her boss, District Attorney Michael Waters, discriminated against her and other Black employees by treating them unfairly and paying them less than white colleagues.

  • June 23, 2025

    EEOC Accuses Restaurant Of Sex Harassment, Pay Bias

    The owner of a Missouri restaurant repeatedly made lewd comments to a female manager, paid her less than a male colleague and punished her when she tried to ignore his advances, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleged in federal court.

  • June 23, 2025

    IT Co. Can't Get Justices To Review White Worker's Bias Suit

    The U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to review a Third Circuit ruling that revived a proposed class action claiming a subsidiary of India-based Tech Mahindra unlawfully favored South Asian workers, despite the company's argument that the appeals court had deepened a circuit split.

  • June 20, 2025

    Employment Lawyers' Weekly DEI Cheat Sheet

    A coalition of Democratic attorneys general convinced a federal judge to block the National Institutes of Health from nixing grants over their purported connections to diversity, equity and inclusion programs, and lawmakers in North Carolina advanced legislation to ban DEI in state employment. Here, Law360 looks at DEI-related legal developments from the past week that employment attorneys should know.

  • June 20, 2025

    Wash. AG Says Hops Farm Favored H-2A Workers Over Locals

    Washington state's attorney general launched a lawsuit on Friday accusing a hops grower of illegally firing local employees, often women, and replacing them with foreign farmworkers, abusing the federal H-2A temporary visa program for seasonal agricultural labor.

  • June 20, 2025

    Victoria's Secret Narrows Ex-Worker's Sex Harassment Suit

    A Pennsylvania federal judge trimmed claims from a former Victoria's Secret sales associate's suit claiming her boss made sexual comments and touched her inappropriately on the job, ruling she didn't file the proper pre-suit charges to keep her local and state claims in play.

Expert Analysis

  • Employer Tips For PUMP Act Compliance As Law Turns 2

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    Enacted in December 2022, the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act requires employers to provide reasonable break time and a private space for employees to express breast milk, but some companies may still be struggling with how to comply, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • What To Know About Ill. Employment Law Changes

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    Illinois employers should review their policies in light of a number of recent changes to state employment law, including amendments to the state’s Human Rights Act and modifications to the Day and Temporary Labor Services Act, say attorneys at Kilpatrick.

  • Mich. Whistleblower Ruling Expands Retaliation Remedies

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    The Michigan Supreme Court's recent Occupational Health and Safety Act decision in Stegall v. Resource Technology is important because it increases the potential exposure for defendants in public policy retaliation cases, providing plaintiffs with additional claims, say Aaron Burrell and Timothy Howlett at Dickinson Wright.

  • How States Are Approaching AI Workplace Discrimination

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    As legislators across the U.S. have begun addressing algorithmic discrimination in the workplace, attorneys at Reed Smith provide an overview of the status, applicability and provisions of 13 state and local bills.

  • The Risks Of Employee Political Discourse On Social Media

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    As election season enters its final stretch and employees increasingly engage in political speech on social media, employers should beware the liability risks and consider policies that negotiate the line between employees' rights and the limits on those rights, say Bradford Kelley and James McGehee at Littler.

  • 7th Circ. Rulings Offer Employee Vaccine Exemption Guidance

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    Dawn Solowey and Samantha Brooks at Seyfarth explain how two recent Seventh Circuit rulings in Passarella v. Aspirus and Bube v. Aspirus could affect litigation involving employee vaccine exemptions, and discuss employer best practices for handling accommodation requests that include both religious and secular concerns.

  • Employers Should Not Neglect Paid Military Leave Compliance

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    An August decision from the Ninth Circuit and the settlement of a long-running class action, both examining paid leave requirements under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, are part of a nationwide trend that should prompt employers to review their military leave policies to avoid potential litigation and reputational damage, says Bradford Kelley at Littler.

  • Old Employment Law Principles Can Answer New AI Concerns

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    Despite growing legal and regulatory concerns about how artificial intelligence tools may affect employment decisions and worker rights, companies should take comfort in knowing that familiar principles of employment law and established compliance regimes can still largely address these new twists on old questions, say attorneys at Foley & Lardner.

  • NYC Wage Info Bill Highlights Rise In Pay Transparency Laws

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    With New York City the latest to mull requiring companies to annually report employee wage data, national employers should consider adapting their compliance practices to comply with increasingly common pay transparency and disclosure obligations at state and local levels, says Kelly Cardin at Littler Mendelson.

  • Workday AI Bias Suit Suggests Hiring Lessons For Employers

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    As state laws and a federal agency increasingly focus on employment bias introduced by artificial intelligence systems, a California federal court's recent decision to allow a discrimination suit to proceed against Workday's AI-driven recruitment software, shows companies should promptly assess these tools' risks, say attorneys at Williams & Connolly.

  • How Anti-DEI Bill Could Affect Employers' Diversity Efforts

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    Sen. J.D. Vance's recently introduced Dismantle DEI Act would substantially limit employers’ ability to implement and promote workplace diversity, equity and inclusion, but there are still steps employers can take to support a diverse workforce, says Peter Ennis at Cozen O’Connor.

  • US Labor And Employment Law Holds Some Harsh Trade-Offs

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    U.S. labor and employment laws have evolved into a product of exposure-capping compromise, which merits discussion in a presidential election year when the dialogue has focused on purported protections of middle-class workers, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Water Cooler Talk: Immigration Insights From 'The Proposal'

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    Tracey Diamond and Evan Gibbs at Troutman Pepper chat with their colleague Robert Lee about how immigration challenges highlighted in the romantic comedy "The Proposal" — beyond a few farcical plot contrivances — relate to real-world visa processes and employer compliance.