On a dark colored desk rests a pen, two hard-cover books and a white sheet of paper with black letters EEOC in the top left corner. Below the letters is a thin black line, and below the line are the words Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

4 Takeaways As EEOC Wraps Up 2026 Fiscal Year

The cases filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission during its recently concluded fiscal year reflect a focus on workplace accommodation obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act, as well as pregnancy and religious discrimination laws. Here, experts unpack some themes and trends behind the agency's 2026 docket.

Sign outside the NLRB.

NLRB Attys Urge Board To Revive Investigation Secrecy Rule

National Labor Relations Board prosecutors urged the board to rethink a Biden-era precedent shift and hold that employers can instruct workers to keep information about an investigation secret while the probe is active.

DOL Cancels Proposal To Nix Wage-Hour Guidance

The U.S. Department of Labor on Tuesday said it is withdrawing a proposal to remove interpretive rules and policy statements regarding the Fair Labor Standards Act that had not gone through notice-and-comment rulemaking.

Expert Analysis

Visa Ruling Exposes APA Risks For DHS Grace Period Repeal

Jun Li

Four defects described in a September district court decision halting the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's n... (more story)

Religious Accommodation Lessons From Recent EEOC Focus

Crystal Banse

With several recent U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission enforcement actions focusing on religious accommo... (more story)

3rd Circ. Ruling Shows ADA Limits Amid Worker Misconduct

Jason Kaufman and Mallory Campbell

In Hileman v. West Penn Allegheny Health System, the Third Circuit recently rejected a wrongful termination claim ... (more story)

Labor More

Tacoma Must Put Workers' Initiative To Voters, Panel Rules

City leaders in Tacoma, Washington, have a duty to put a so-called Workers' Bill of Rights initiative to voters, a state appellate panel said Tuesday, holding in a published opinion that the city council faile... (more story)

Ford PA Can Vote On Joining UAW Unit, NLRB Official Says

A physician assistant at a Ford assembly plant in Missouri can vote on whether to join an existing bargaining unit of nurses represented by the United Auto Workers, a regional director for the National Labor R... (more story)

Woman reclines in dentist’s examination chair while woman wearing scrubs reaches for overheard light
Dentist Mounts 5th Circ. Challenge To NLRB's Back Pay Power

The National Labor Relations Board exceeds its powers even by ordering employers to cough up back pay to workers, a Texas dental practice argued in its Fifth Circuit challenge to the board's ruling that it fir... (more story)

NJ Judge Backs Denial Of Painting Co.'s $350K Fee Bid

A New Jersey federal judge rejected a painting company's challenge to a magistrate judge's ruling that denied its bid for a union pension fund to cover roughly $350,000 in legal fees, finding that the magistra... (more story)

NLRB Official OKs Withdrawal Of Union Petition At Stanford

A union withdrew its petition for a representation election for Stanford University residential student leaders, with a union attorney telling Law360 on Tuesday the case could have been a vehicle for the Natio... (more story)

Trump's Green Card Policy Shift Must Be Blocked, Groups Say

A slew of families, workers, unions and immigrant rights groups asked a Massachusetts federal judge to block the Trump administration's new policies requiring green card applicants to leave the country, claimi... (more story)

Pot Co. Balks At NJ Union Rule Requiring Labor Peace Pact

A Jersey City dispensary that once proudly recognized its workers' union is now suing it and the New Jersey cannabis commission, seeking a federal court order Monday saying the state cannot require a labor pea... (more story)

Discrimination More

Staffing Co. Must Pay EEOC Remainder Of $276K Bias Deal

A Washington federal judge found a staffing company violated the terms of a $276,000 settlement it reached with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to close a bias investigation, siding with the E... (more story)

Racial Slur Bias Suit Revived By Calif. Justices Heads To Jury

A Black San Francisco prosecutor's office worker was left debilitated when the city failed to take appropriate action after a co-worker called her a racial slur, her lawyer told a jury Tuesday, kicking off tri... (more story)

A green sign reading Landfill, Environmental Collection Center.
EEOC Spotlights More Lenient Way To Evaluate Bias Suits

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed an amicus brief with the Fifth Circuit on Tuesday highlighting the flexible approaches some circuits are taking to evaluate workplace discrimination cases... (more story)

Calif. Urged To Probe Emotional Intelligence Tool For Job Bias

The American Civil Liberties Union on Tuesday filed a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department, asking the agency to investigate Criteria Corp.'s product for screening job applicants by so-called ... (more story)

Calif. Panel OKs Wells Fargo's Win In Sex Harassment Case

A California appeals court has upheld the dismissal of a suit accusing a Wells Fargo supervisor of sexually harassing a coworker on a business trip, saying employers are not strictly liable under the Fair Empl... (more story)

Wrestler Asks Justices To Shield Her From Trans Opponents

A high school wrestler asked the U.S. Supreme Court for emergency relief protecting her from competing against female-identifying students who are biologically male, after she said one such opponent sexually a... (more story)

Conn. Insurer Settles Agent's Free Speech Retaliation Claim

A Connecticut insurance agent who alleges he was fired for raising red flags about practices he believed violated state licensing laws has agreed to settle a lawsuit he brought against his former employer, sta... (more story)

Wage & Hour More

Cracker Barrel Can't Use High Court Ruling To Reopen Suit

An Arizona federal judge refused to let Cracker Barrel use a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision to reopen a collective certification ruling in a wage suit, finding the restaurant chain waited too long to raise... (more story)

Construction Co., DOL Seek To Scrap Trucker Wage Ruling

A construction company and the U.S. Department of Labor jointly asked an Illinois federal court Tuesday to set aside a final agency ruling and send the matter back to the agency, following a Texas court's deci... (more story)

The facade of a hotel is shown.
Omni Evicted Foreign Workers After Pay Gripes, Suit Says

Three Costa Rican former workers at a hotel in Atlanta have sued Omni Hotels in federal court, accusing the company of violating federal wage law and retaliating against workers who complained about pay by boo... (more story)

Ga. Delivery Co. Will Pay $27.5K To Resolve OT Suit

An Atlanta-area FedEx delivery contractor asked a Georgia federal judge to approve a $27,500 settlement with a former delivery driver who accused the company of paying him a flat wage and withholding overtime ... (more story)

'Bikini Barista' Owner Owes Worker $1.4M For Legal Fees

A Washington woman who successfully sued the owner of coffee kiosks known as bikini barista espresso stands won a $1.4 million state court award for attorney fees and costs, with the judge denying the defense'... (more story)

DOL Given Until Year End To Fix H-2A Farmworker Wage Rule

A California federal court has ordered the U.S. Department of Labor to issue a replacement wage rule for temporary agricultural workers by year-end, rejecting the agency's request for up to six months and sett... (more story)

Colo. Caesar's Bartender Says Retaliation Cost Him Tips, Job

A former casino bartender has told a Colorado federal judge he was retaliated against and terminated by his managers for reporting a coworker's drug use and sexual harassment.