Discrimination

  • January 20, 2026

    Ex-MSG Worker Says DQ Attempt Is 'Clear Misdirection'

    A former employee pursuing wrongful firing claims against Madison Square Garden Entertainment has asked a New York federal judge to reject the company's request to remove his counsel based on his potential need to testify, arguing that key facts are available from other sources and his lawyer will not need to take the stand.

  • January 20, 2026

    Fired Worker's Own Words Doom Her Bias Suit, 6th Circ. Says

    The Sixth Circuit backed the dismissal of a Black urgent care worker's suit claiming she was discriminated against and harassed when she was fired for allegedly asking a police officer patient if he had killed anyone, ruling she undermined her case through her own deposition.

  • January 20, 2026

    High Court Won't Review Timeliness Of MSU Bias Suit

    The U.S. Supreme Court refused Tuesday to hear an Asian Michigan State University worker's challenge to a Sixth Circuit ruling that his race and age bias suit had been filed too late, despite his argument that the deadline for filing federal discrimination suits needs to be clarified.

  • January 16, 2026

    Law360 Names Practice Groups Of The Year

    Law360 would like to congratulate the winners of its Practice Groups of the Year awards for 2025, which honor the attorney teams behind litigation wins and significant transaction work that resonated throughout the legal industry this past year.

  • January 16, 2026

    Amazon Fights Class Claims That Clunky HR App Broke ADA

    Amazon urged a Washington federal judge on Thursday to pull the plug for good on a lawsuit from workers who claim the company violated state and federal disability law by dragging its heels on accommodations requests filed through its A to Z human resources app, saying the workers again failed to adequately plead their case.

  • January 16, 2026

    Littler Adds Epstein Becker Employment Litigator In Calif.

    Littler Mendelson PC announced that an attorney from Epstein Becker Green is joining its Century City, California, office as a shareholder, bringing a wealth of experience in employment law. 

  • January 16, 2026

    Bikini Barista Boss Says AG Can't Bring Sex Harassment Suit

    The owner of Seattle-area "bikini barista" company Paradise Espresso urged a state judge to dismiss Washington's lawsuit accusing him of sexual harassment and withholding pay from workers, arguing the state's attorney general lacks authority to bring the case.

  • January 16, 2026

    Legal Nonprofit Settles EEOC Suit Over Atty Fired On Leave

    A Philadelphia legal services organization secured court approval Friday for a $240,000 deal to end a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lawsuit alleging it unlawfully fired a staff attorney who was on leave for post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.

  • January 16, 2026

    Security Guard Gets $5.5M Jury Win In Sex Harassment Case

    A federal jury in Atlanta said that a former security guard who alleged she was sexually harassed and assaulted by her ex-employer's vice president of operations should get $5.5 million in damages, attorneys for the ex-worker announced Friday. 

  • January 16, 2026

    Judge Backs Employment Law Firm's 'Harmless Flirting' Ad

    A New York federal judge said an employment law firm would probably win its constitutional challenge to the rejection of a billboard advertising its willingness to sue companies that dismiss sexual harassment as "harmless flirting," calling a Syracuse airport authority's concerns that the ad pushed false information "nonsense."

  • January 16, 2026

    Maurene Comey Fights DOJ Bid To Toss Firing Suit

    Former Manhattan federal prosecutor Maurene Comey has urged a New York federal court to reject the U.S. Department of Justice's bid to dismiss her firing suit, arguing her claims belong before the district court and not under the jurisdiction of a non-independent board now controlled by the president.

  • January 16, 2026

    J&J Largely Loses Bid To Toss Former Atty's NJ Bias Suit

    A New Jersey federal judge largely shot down Johnson & Johnson's bid to scrap a former company data privacy attorney's racial and gender discrimination suit and rejected its bid to sanction her over the case.

  • January 16, 2026

    11th Circ. Affirms Toss Of Worker's Bias Suit Against UPS

    The Eleventh Circuit has ruled that an Alabama district court rightly tossed a Black worker's discrimination suit against UPS, rejecting her arguments that she should have been allowed to revise her case.

  • January 16, 2026

    2nd Circ. Backs School Official In Librarian's Race Bias Suit

    A Black librarian could not show that race discrimination drove a New York school superintendent to pull a job offer from her, the Second Circuit ruled, affirming a federal judge's decision.

  • January 16, 2026

    La. State Court Greenlights Challenge To Gender Care Ban

    A Louisiana state judge sided with a group of transgender teenagers who argue the state's ban on gender-affirming care for minors is unconstitutional, denying the state's bid to dismiss the case, according to an announcement Friday from the minors' attorneys.

  • January 16, 2026

    NY Forecast: 2nd Circ. Weighs Arbitration Ban In TikTok Case

    This week, the Second Circuit will consider TikTok's bid to overturn a federal judge's decision keeping a former executive's age and gender bias suit in court instead of sending it to arbitration.

  • January 15, 2026

    Univ. Of Arkansas Drops New Law Dean, Reportedly Over Brief

    The ACLU of Arkansas and others Thursday criticized the University of Arkansas for reversing its decision to hire legal scholar Emily Suski as its law school dean, reportedly due to political pressure generated by her support for transgender student athletes in an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court.

  • January 15, 2026

    Air Force Asks Justices Not To Hear COVID Vax Back Pay Case

    The U.S. Air Force urged the U.S. Supreme Court to not hear a reservist's bid for back pay after he refused to follow its now-overturned COVID-19 vaccine mandate on religious grounds, arguing its sovereign immunity bars compensatory damages claims. 

  • January 15, 2026

    Verizon, Calif. Strike Diversity Deal In Frontier Takeover

    California utility regulators approved Verizon's takeover of Frontier Communications' fiber network Thursday, after the wireless giant has reached several agreements to support statewide diversity and digital equity initiatives.

  • January 15, 2026

    Inability To Work In Person Sinks Fired Employee's ADA Suit

    The Fourth Circuit backed the dismissal of a disability bias suit from a worker who claimed a private aircraft servicer fired her for seeking remote work to manage her breast cancer diagnosis, ruling her termination was fair game because she couldn't consistently perform in-person duties critical to her role.

  • January 15, 2026

    Ex-Coach Says NJ University's Gender Bias Led To Her Firing

    An award-winning Montclair State University softball coach told a New Jersey federal court that the university wrongfully fired her following an investigation into alleged misconduct that she said was tainted with gender bias and failed to let her respond.

  • January 15, 2026

    DOJ Targets Minnesota's Affirmative Action Hiring Policies

    The U.S. Department of Justice told a federal court that Minnesota's affirmative action hiring policies for government positions violate civil rights law by handing opportunities to workers based on their identity.

  • January 15, 2026

    2nd Circ. Seems Reluctant To Wrap Up EEOC Union Bias Suit

    The Second Circuit appeared skeptical Thursday of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's push to wind down a more than half-century-old race discrimination case against unions and apprenticeship programs, questioning whether bias still pervaded the organizations' practices.

  • January 15, 2026

    6th Circ. Says Cop's Rap Videos, Not Race Bias, Got Him Fired

    The Sixth Circuit declined to revive a suit from a Black cop who said race bias cost him his job, ruling he couldn't overcome evidence that he was actually terminated for creating and posting rap videos that depicted him brandishing guns and simulating shooting a homeless person.

  • January 14, 2026

    Full 5th Circ. Will Revisit PWFA's Constitutionality

    The Fifth Circuit late Wednesday vacated a split panel opinion allowing enforcement of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act against the state of Texas, granting an en banc rehearing to consider whether the U.S. Constitution required House lawmakers' physical presence to have a quorum when the statute was approved.

Expert Analysis

  • 2 Areas Of Labor Law That May Change Under Trump

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    Based on President Donald Trump's recent moves, employers should expect to see significant changes in the direction of law coming out of the National Labor Relations Board, particularly in two areas where the Trump administration will seek to roll back the Biden NLRB's changes, says Daniel Johns at Cozen O’Connor.

  • Justices' Revival Ruling In Bias Suit Exceeds Procedural Issue

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in Waetzig v. Halliburton allowed the plaintiff in an age discrimination lawsuit to move to reopen his case after arbitration, but the seemingly straightforward decision on a procedural issue raises complex questions for employment law practitioners, says Christopher Sakauye at Dykema.

  • Water Cooler Talk: 'Late Night' Shows DEI Is More Than Optics

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    Amid the shifting legal landscape for corporate diversity, equity and inclusion programs, Troutman's Tracey Diamond and Emily Schifter chat with their firm's DEI committee chair, Nicole Edmonds, about how the 2019 film "Late Night" reflects the challenges and rewards of fostering meaningful inclusion.

  • 9 Considerations For Orgs Using AI Meeting Assistants

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    When deciding to use artificial intelligence meeting assistants, organizations must create and implement a written corporate policy that establishes the do's and don'ts for these assistants, taking into account individualized business operations, industry standards and legal and regulatory requirements, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

  • What's At Stake In High Court Transgender Care Suit

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    The outcome of U.S. v. Skrmetti will have critical implications for the rights of transgender youth and their access to gender-affirming care, and will likely affect other areas of law and policy involving transgender individuals, including education, employment, healthcare and civil rights, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • Determining What 'I Don't Feel Safe' Means In The Workplace

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    When an employee tells an employer "I don't feel safe," the phrase can have different meanings, so employment lawyers must adequately investigate to identify which meaning applies — and a cursory review and dismissal of the situation may not be a sufficient defense in case of future legal proceedings, says Karen Elliott at FordHarrison.

  • How EEOC Enforcement Priorities May Change Under Trump

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    The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has already been rocked by the Trump administration's dramatic changes in personnel and policy, which calls into question how the agency may shift its direction from the priorities set forth in its five-year strategic enforcement plan in 2023, say attorneys at Seyfarth.

  • Handbook Hot Topics: Back To Basics After Admin Change

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    Having an up-to-date employee handbook is more critical now than ever, given the recent change in administration, and employers should understand their benefits and risks, including how they can limit employers’ liability and help retain employers’ rights, say Kasey Cappellano and Meaghan Gandy at Kutak Rock.

  • What Axed Title IX Gender Identity Rule Means For Higher Ed

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    Following a Kentucky federal court's recent decision in State of Tennessee v. Cardona to strike down a Biden-era rule that expanded the definition of Title IX to prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity, institutions of higher education should prepare to reimplement policies that comply with the reinstated 2020 rule, say attorneys at Venable.

  • A Path Forward For Cos. Amid Trump's Anti-DEIA Efforts

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    Given the Trump administration’s recent efforts targeting corporate diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility programs — including threatening possible criminal prosecution — companies should carefully tailor their DEIA initiatives to comply with both the letter and the spirit of antidiscrimination law, say attorneys at Pillsbury.

  • Workforce Data Collection Considerations After DEI Order

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    Following President Donald Trump's executive order targeting diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, employers should balance the benefits of collecting demographic data with the risk of violating the order’s prohibition on "illegal DEI," say Lynn Clements at Berkshire Associates, David Cohen at DCI Consulting and Victoria Lipnic at Resolution Economics.

  • How DOGE's Severance Plan May Affect Federal Employees

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    President Donald Trump's administration, working through the Department of Government Efficiency, recently offered a severance package to nearly all of the roughly 2 million federal employees, but unanswered questions about the offer, coupled with several added protections for government workers, led to fewer accepted offers than expected, says Aaron Peskin at Kang Haggerty.

  • Rethinking 'No Comment' For Clients Facing Public Crises

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    “No comment” is no longer a cost-free or even a viable public communications strategy for companies in crisis, and counsel must tailor their guidance based on a variety of competing factors to help clients emerge successfully, says Robert Bowers at Moore & Van Allen.