-
May 15, 2026
SEATTLE — The operators of three Denny’s franchises and their executive officer and director sued their primary and excess commercial general liability insurers in a Washington federal court for breach of contract, bad faith, declaratory relief and violations of Washington’s Insurance Fair Conduct Act and Consumer Protection Act, alleging that they had to fund the defense and $425,000 resolution of an underlying wage-and-hour class action after the insurers walked away from the mediation.
-
February 18, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a Feb. 17 response brief filed in a U.S. Supreme Court case challenging whether a federal court should retain jurisdiction after ordering a stay pending arbitration when deciding post-arbitration motions, the owners and operators of a West Hollywood luxury hotel argue that there is nothing in the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) or case law that “overrides the ordinary jurisdictional rules” stating that “federal courts with preexisting jurisdiction may resolve related claims in the same pending case.”
-
May 14, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In its second unanimous decision of the day, the U.S. Supreme Court on May 14 ruled that nothing in the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) bars a federal court from ruling on motions brought under Sections 9 and 10 of the FAA confirming or vacating an arbitration award when the court previously stayed the case pending arbitration.
-
May 14, 2026
FRESNO, Calif. — The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) will pay $303 million to end wage-fixing claims by current and former “volunteer” college coaches after final class settlement approval was granted by a federal judge in California who noted that class counsel reported that the settlement amount is more than 100% of the alleged damages.
-
May 13, 2026
CINCINNATI — A Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed the award of compensatory damages and attorney fees in a former restaurant employee’s case against the company that owned the restaurant for violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, finding that the lower court didn’t abuse its discretion in awarding damages or attorney fees.
-
May 13, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Individuals seeking to represent a class of more than 1,000 people who had personal services contracts (PSCs) with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in a wrongful termination case that was filed after the federal agency was dismantled following a January 2025 presidential action that suspended funding have demonstrated that common questions exist and that class adjudication is superior, a judge in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims ruled, granting the plaintiffs’ class certification motion.
-
May 13, 2026
ST. LOUIS — An Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel, in a judgment partially enforcing and partially denying a National Labor Relations Board decision in a labor dispute between two unions and a Kansas City hospital, held that the board was correct in ruling that a union representative should have been allowed to attend a grievance hearing but that the hospital did not violate the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) when it cut ties with one of the unions before a decertification vote was finalized.
-
May 13, 2026
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will pay $2.25 million to settle wage, California unfair competition law and Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) claims brought by a distribution center worker on behalf of himself and other workers, according to an order granting final approval of the class settlement signed by a federal judge in California.
-
May 11, 2026
SCRANTON, Pa. — A federal judge in Pennsylvania certified after modifications four classes of child support debtors detained at the Lackawanna County Prison in a class and collective lawsuit alleging that the debtors are forced to work in “abominable and hazardous conditions at a county-owned recycling center” for $5 per day while the county and others profit from the “forced labor.”
-
May 11, 2026
AUSTIN, Texas — Addressing “an issue of first impression in Texas, and perhaps the nation” under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA), a state appeals court panel held that because of “erroneous” jury instructions, a trial court’s judgment awarding a former reservist more than $5.4 million in wages, benefits, interest and attorney fees in a lawsuit against the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) “must be reversed” and remanded the case to the trial court for further proceedings.
-
May 11, 2026
CHICAGO — Ruling that a former pitching prospect’s claims of negligence and violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in requiring that he be vaccinated for COVID-19 and in treating the symptoms that resulted from the vaccination and ultimately ended his career were time-barred, an Illinois federal judge granted without prejudice a motion to dismiss by the Chicago White Sox (CWS) and Major League Baseball.
-
May 11, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court declined to review cases challenging a push to replace a shipping company’s workforce with warehouse union members, the denial of dismissal of a railroad conductor’s job-related injury claims against his employer, the “continued viability” of the McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green burden-shifting framework, and whether a judge or jury has authority to evaluate “intentional discrimination” pursuant to a company’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policy.
-
May 07, 2026
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Testimony from an expert retained by a man who sued his former employer will not assist a jury in determining whether the man was fired in retaliation for using leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), a West Virginia federal judge said in a May 7 order granting a motion to exclude his testimony.
-
May 06, 2026
RICHMOND, Va. — The Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals issued the mandate in an appeal over the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) access to individuals’ personally identifiable information (PII) more than eight months after the panel ruled that the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland abused its discretion when it found that the unions and veterans were likely to prevail on each issue raised in their lawsuit, vacating a preliminary injunction and remanding for further proceedings; the mandate was filed eight days after the court denied the unions’ and veterans’ petition for rehearing en banc.
-
May 06, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The union that represents groups of locked-out Macy’s Inc. employees in an ongoing collective bargaining dispute contends that the challenges brought by the company in a U.S. Supreme Court certiorari petition seeking review of whether neutral practices can be “inherently destructive” under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and whether the National Labor Relations Board can require compensation for worker financial harms fail to warrant high court review.
-
May 05, 2026
PORTLAND, Ore. — An employee who was fired for refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine pursuant to company policy during the pandemic filed a notice of appeal to the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on May 4 seeking review of a summary judgment ruling in favor of her former employer in an Oregon federal court, which adopted a magistrate judge’s findings that the employee’s objections to the COVID-19 vaccine derived not from religious principle but rather from a subjective evaluation of secular considerations and that accommodating her objection would have placed an undue burden on her employer.
-
May 04, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. — With a goal to clarify responsibilities and improve enforcement efforts, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) proposed a new rule to provide a nationwide standard for determining when multiple entities are joint employers under federal labor laws and apply it consistently in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA).
-
May 04, 2026
CHICAGO — A company that develops and sells workplace biometric timeclocks and its insurers will pay $1,685,000 to end class claims by an Illinois woman that the company collected and stored her biometric data and the biometric data of others in violation of the Illinois Biometric Privacy Act (BIPA), according to an order dismissing the case with prejudice filed by a federal judge in that state.
-
May 01, 2026
NEW YORK — A New York federal judge denied a motion for partial reconsideration filed by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), refusing to revisit her April 1 order unsealing the identities of six DOGE agents after finding that the agencies failed to meet their burden of demonstrating that continued sealing of the agents’ identities is necessary to preserve their privacy and safety in a Privacy Act and Administrative Procedure Act (APA) suit challenging DOGE’s access to personnel records maintained by OPM.
-
May 01, 2026
SAN FRANCISCO — Personnel actions and recommended personnel actions will be designated confidential, but the names, work email addresses and work telephone numbers of lower-level Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) workers will not, a federal judge in California ordered, ruling on a motion for a protective order filed by federal government parties in a lawsuit by unions, groups and local governments challenging an executive order (EO) and memorandum implementing the EO that resulted in widespread layoffs of federal workers.
-
April 30, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In an ongoing fight in a yearslong labor dispute, the exiting publisher of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette asks the U.S. Supreme Court whether the National Labor Relations Board can infer bad faith bargaining from proposals alone under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), receive judicial deference and award consequential damages in a certiorari petition seeking review of the NLRB’s finding that the newspaper acted in bad faith, unlawfully declared an impasse and unlawfully surveilled union activities.
-
April 29, 2026
SAN FRANCISCO — Workday Inc. and thousands of hiring-discrimination plaintiffs have wrapped up briefing before a federal judge in California over the need for interlocutory review of the viability of a disparate-impact claim under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 while a motion to dismiss an amended complaint remains pending.
-
April 27, 2026
MINNEAPOLIS — A county employee who sued her employer for constructive discharge based on its COVID-19 vaccination-or-test policy reached a settlement with the county after a panel of the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed the dismissal of the lawsuit by a Minnesota federal court, having found that the employee’s refusal to comply with the policy was based on sincerely held religious beliefs.
-
April 27, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court granted a petition for a writ of certiorari on April 27 filed by the Department of Labor (DOL) seeking review of Article III issues related to the adjudication of cases involving alleged violations of H-2A migrant worker visa rules. The court limited the case to two questions regarding whether Article III precludes the DOL from adjudicating such cases and whether the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) authorizes the department to do so.
-
April 23, 2026
PORTLAND, Ore. — In an amended opinion filed in a years-long wage-and-hour suit, a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel revived both individual and class claims brought by Jack in the Box workers alleging that they are entitled to pay for shortened meal breaks, reversing and remanding an earlier ruling in favor of their employer.