Discrimination

  • August 04, 2025

    Jury Finds For Drexel In Professor's Gender Bias Suit

    A federal jury has sided with Drexel University in a gender discrimination case by one of its former doctors, finding the school is not liable for her claims of retaliation over reporting instances of discrimination against female doctors in the medical college, according to a verdict docketed Monday.

  • August 04, 2025

    10th Circ. Ends Age Bias Suit After High Court Remand

    The Tenth Circuit refused to let an ex-Halliburton employee continue fighting an age discrimination case that led the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that voluntarily dismissed suits can be reopened, ruling he hadn't shown there were extraordinary circumstances that warranted pulling his claims from arbitration.

  • August 04, 2025

    NYU Must Pay Fired Doc $4M In Disability Bias Suit, Jury Says

    An ex-New York University doctor nabbed a $4 million trial win in his disability bias case claiming he was fired after his employer denied his request to work from home so he could recover from a COVID-19 infection that left him in a coma for nearly two months.

  • August 04, 2025

    Rising Star: McDermott's Chris Braham

    Chris Braham of McDermott Will & Emery LLP helped Circle K defeat a Fair Credit Reporting Act case that went to a California appellate court and helped Darden Restaurants survive an advocacy organization's discrimination suit, earning him a spot among the employment law practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

  • August 04, 2025

    Nespresso Accused Of Racial Bias In Ex-Employee's Lawsuit

    A Black woman who worked at Nespresso for more than a decade has sued her former employer in Illinois federal court, saying she was routinely denied promotions and subjected to comments about her "messy" hair and having the "loudest voice in the room," but was still trotted out to work on the Nestle subsidiary's diversity initiatives.

  • August 04, 2025

    Crane Co. Settles With EEOC To End Race Bias Claims

    A Texas-based crane service provider will pay $525,000 to resolve a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lawsuit alleging it allowed a field manager to use racial slurs toward Black employees and forced out a white worker who complained, according to federal court filings.

  • August 04, 2025

    Arnold & Porter Expands On West Coast With K&L Gates Team

    Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP is continuing to grow on the West Coast, announcing Monday that it has added seven lawyers from K&L Gates LLP to its newly launched Seattle office and one to its Los Angeles location.

  • August 04, 2025

    Religious Carveout Sinks Nurse's Vax Bias Suit, 8th Circ. Says

    The Eighth Circuit refused to reinstate a religious discrimination suit from a nurse who said a Catholic hospital unlawfully fired her for rejecting its COVID-19 vaccination mandate, ruling the institution is shielded from liability under Title VII's exception for religious organizations.

  • August 01, 2025

    9th Circ. Lifts Order Halting Trump From Curbing Fed Unions

    The Ninth Circuit on Aug. 1 granted the Trump administration's bid to halt an injunction blocking enforcement of President Donald Trump's executive order axing labor contracts covering agencies with "national security" aims, saying in a published opinion that the government was likely to succeed against six unions' First Amendment retaliation claim.

  • August 01, 2025

    Wheeling & Appealing: Midyear Highlights For Every Circuit

    In this special edition of Wheeling & Appealing, we're spotlighting key decisions and developments in every circuit court during the first half of 2025, while also previewing August's most intriguing oral arguments, including a remarkably "fierce" showdown between Edible Arrangements and 1-800-Flowers with millions of dollars in attorney fees on the line.

  • August 01, 2025

    En Banc 9th Circ. Backs LA Schools In Vax Mandate Fight

    A majority en banc Ninth Circuit has affirmed a lower court's decision upholding Los Angeles Unified School District's COVID-19 vaccine mandate for employees, while two partially dissenting judges disagreed with the majority's conclusion that the policy passes constitutional muster.

  • August 01, 2025

    8th Circ. Backs U. Of Nebraska In ADHD Disability Bias Suit

    The Eighth Circuit backed the dismissal Friday of an ex-information technology worker's suit claiming the University of Nebraska fired him for seeking accommodations for his attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, ruling he failed to show his condition, rather than a violation of school policy, caused his termination.

  • August 01, 2025

    4 Arguments Bias Attorneys Should Watch In August

    The Fifth Circuit will consider reinstating a $70 million verdict in favor of workers who accused a telecommunications company of race discrimination, while the Ninth Circuit will tackle a religious bias case over a vaccine mandate, a legal battle over attorney fees and a separate religious discrimination case over anti-LGBTQ+ comments. Here are four argument sessions discrimination attorneys should keep tabs on this month.

  • August 01, 2025

    NJ Town Faces Whistleblower Suit Over Immigration Policies

    A former New Jersey township manager has claimed in state court that he was the target of retaliation and discrimination after opposing a set of local ordinances that he said would have unlawfully targeted immigrants and enabled racial profiling.

  • August 01, 2025

    7th Circ. Backs Prison Warden's Firing Over Facebook Memes

    The Seventh Circuit has refused to revive a deputy prison warden's suit claiming he was terminated in retaliation for sharing memes online denigrating Muslims, Black people, liberals and the LGBTQ community and calling the Confederate flag "our flag," saying the corrections department's interest as a public employer outweighs his speech interests.

  • August 01, 2025

    Calif. Forecast: Toxicology Co. Wants Wage Claims Arbitrated

    In the coming week, attorneys should watch for arguments about whether a proposed wage and hour class action against a drug and alcohol testing company should be sent to arbitration or back to state court. Here's a look at that case and other labor and employment matters on deck in California.

  • August 01, 2025

    3rd Circ. Won't Revive Age Bias Suit Over COVID Layoffs

    The Third Circuit declined to reinstate a suit accusing a marketing firm of slating a worker for layoff because of her age, saying she failed to rebut the company's argument that the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated the layoffs.

  • August 01, 2025

    Vegas Casinos Settle EEOC Vax Exception Charges

    Two Las Vegas resorts and casinos struck deals with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to settle claims that they shirked anti-bias laws by refusing to grant religious accommodations related to COVID-19 vaccine mandates, the agency announced.

  • August 01, 2025

    NY Forecast: Judge Weighs Tossing Hospital Retaliation Suit

    This week, a New York federal judge will consider tossing a suit brought by a former administrator at Mount Sinai Beth Israel hospital who claims she was fired for complaining about sexual harassment she faced from a co-worker.

  • July 31, 2025

    'It Ends With Us' Coverage Suit Opens New Front In Legal War

    The decision by Justin Baldoni's insurer to seek relief from defending the "It Ends With Us" actor and his associates from co-star Blake Lively's sexual harassment claims has legal experts raising their eyebrows, as they observe strange circumstances mixed with common coverage issues.

  • July 31, 2025

    GAO Says VA Not Monitoring All Whistleblower Settlements

    The U.S. Government Accountability Office said in a report Thursday that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' lacks information on all settlement agreements reached in whistleblower retaliation cases involving VA employees due to lack of coordination between agencies. 

  • July 31, 2025

    Ex-FDIC Chair 'Livid' Over Toxic Workplace Claims, OIG Says

    An investigation by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s inspector general has found evidence that former Chair Martin Gruenberg and four unnamed ex-senior officials "personally engaged in some degree of inappropriate workplace conduct," in the latest report on the sexual harassment and toxic workplace scandal that erupted into public view nearly two years ago.

  • July 31, 2025

    Senate Confirms EEOC Leader Lucas For Fresh Term

    The U.S. Senate voted on party lines Thursday to confirm acting U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Chair Andrea Lucas for a fresh five-year term, clearing the way for her to continue recalibrating the agency's work to match President Donald Trump's agenda.

  • July 31, 2025

    NJ Town Knocks Out Worker's $1.6M Disability Bias Win

    A New Jersey appellate court scrapped a $1.6 million verdict Thursday for a township employee who said she was discriminated and retaliated against for taking leave to treat her anxiety, ruling the evidence presented at trial didn't justify the damages award.

  • July 31, 2025

    EEOC Says Hospital Wrong To Fire Worker Allergic To Vaccine

    A hospital violated federal disability law when it fired a worker in its insurance department who didn't get the COVID-19 vaccine because she was allergic to it, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleged in Illinois federal court Thursday.

Expert Analysis

  • Lessons Learned From 2024's Top ADA Decisions

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    Last year's major litigation related to the Americans with Disabilities Act highlights that when dealing with accommodation requests, employers must communicate clearly, appreciate context and remain flexible in addressing needs, say attorneys at Dechert.

  • Top 10 Employer Resolutions For 2025

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    While companies must monitor for policy shifts under the new administration in 2025, it will also be a year to play it safe and remember the basics, such as the importance of documenting retention policies and conducting swift investigations into workplace complaints, say attorneys at Krevolin Horst.

  • What To Expect From EEOC Next Year After An Active 2024

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    While highlights this year for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission include its first-ever Pregnant Workers Fairness Act cases and comprehensive workplace harassment guidance, the question for 2025 is whether the commission will sustain its momentum or shift its focus in a new direction, says Shannon Kelly at GrayRobinson.

  • Ledbetter's Legacy Shines In 2024 Equal Pay Law Updates

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    The federal Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act turned 15 this year, and its namesake's legacy is likely to endure in 2025 and beyond, as demonstrated by 2024's state- and local-level progress on pay equity, as well as several rulings from federal appellate courts, say attorneys at Fisher Phillips.

  • What Employers Should Consider When Drafting AI Policies

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    As generative artificial intelligence continues to evolve and transform the workplace, employers should examine six issues when creating their corporate AI policies in order to balance AI's efficiencies with the oversight needed to prevent potential biases and legal pitfalls, say attorneys at Jackson Lewis.

  • Eye On Compliance: When Calif. Jobs Require Driver Licenses

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    With a California law banning unnecessarily requiring job applicants to have driver's licenses rolling out Jan. 1, employers should take to heart the law's goal of preventing discriminatory barriers while they assess and revise their employment materials for compliance, says Ani Khachatryan at Wilson Elser.

  • Ring In The New Year With An Updated Employee Handbook

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    One of the best New Year's resolutions employers can make is to update their employee handbooks, given that a handbook can mitigate, or even prevent, costly litigation as long as it accounts for recent changes in laws, court rulings and agency decisions, say attorneys at Kutak Rock.

  • 5 Employer Defenses To Military Status Discrimination Claims

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    A Colorado federal court's recent ruling, finding a Navy reservist wasn't denied promotion at his civilian job due to antimilitary bias, highlights several defenses employers can use to counter claims of violations of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, say attorneys at Littler Mendelson.

  • 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.