Discrimination

  • July 29, 2025

    Ex-LA Officer Can't Resurrect Suit Over COVID-19 Testing Costs

    A California appellate court Monday refused to revive a former Los Angeles police officer's suit claiming that he was denied due process when he was fired after refusing to comply with the city's COVID-19 policies, finding that the officer wasn't fired until after he made his case to the city.

  • July 29, 2025

    10th Circ. Backs Lab In Christian Worker Group's Bias Case

    The Tenth Circuit refused on Tuesday to reopen a Christian employee resource group's lawsuit alleging a Department of Energy lab operator unlawfully withdrew its support from the group because it required leaders to affirm certain beliefs, finding no issue with a trial court's toss of the case.

  • July 29, 2025

    Axos Wants Justices To Undo Auditor's $1.5M Retaliation Win

    BofI Federal Bank, now operating as Axos Bank, has taken its dispute with a former auditor to the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the justices to vacate a Ninth Circuit decision upholding a $1.5 million jury verdict in favor of the auditor, who claimed he was fired for whistleblowing.

  • July 29, 2025

    Detroit Casino Can't Beat Denied Vaccine Exemption Suit

    A dozen former supervisors at a Detroit casino can proceed to trial on claims that their employer refused to accommodate their religiously motivated requests to skip the COVID-19 vaccine, a Michigan federal judge has ruled.

  • July 29, 2025

    Travelers Gets Trim Of Ex-Worker's Tobacco Health Fee Suit

    A Minnesota federal judge pared down claims Tuesday from a former Travelers worker's suit alleging the insurance and financial services company unlawfully imposed a surcharge on the health plans of employees who disclosed they were tobacco users and thereby violated nondiscrimination provisions in federal benefits law.

  • July 29, 2025

    EEOC's Design Implies Job Security, Fired Commish Says

    Former U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commissioner Jocelyn Samuels urged a D.C. federal court not to toss her lawsuit challenging her January removal, arguing the agency's design shows Congress didn't intend to give the president unrestricted power to remove commissioners he disagreed with.

  • July 29, 2025

    7th Circ. Backs Ex-CTA Worker's Sanction Over Deleted Chats

    The Seventh Circuit has affirmed a lower court's dismissal of a former Chicago Transit Authority employee's retaliation lawsuit as a sanction for spoiling evidence, saying his explanation about how electronic phone messages were deleted changed over time and concluding that he wasn't entitled to an evidentiary hearing or jury review.

  • July 29, 2025

    NYC Teacher's Breastfeeding Bias Suit Tossed

    A federal judge tossed a teacher's sex bias suit claiming the New York City Education Department failed to provide a space to pump breast milk on the job, ruling her case fell flat because she was never punished for pumping at work.

  • July 29, 2025

    Attys Blast 'Chilling Message' Of Judge Shopping Sanctions

    Three attorneys sanctioned for judge shopping while challenging an Alabama statute that criminalizes gender-affirming care have asked the Eleventh Circuit to clear their names, castigating the process that led to their censure as "so extraordinary as to approach unprecedented."

  • July 29, 2025

    Rising Star: Cohen Milstein's Harini Srinivasan

    Harini Srinivasan of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC secured a $45 million settlement on behalf of U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers who claimed pregnancy discrimination and also challenged AT&T's attendance point system, earning her a spot among the employment law practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

  • July 29, 2025

    11th Circ. Revives Furniture Consultant's ADA Suit

    The Eleventh Circuit ruled Tuesday that a former furniture design consultant could have returned to work after a brief medical leave to handle his anxiety, sending his Americans with Disabilities Act suit back to a Florida district court that had ruled in favor of his employer.

  • July 28, 2025

    Ex-Munchkin GC Sues Over 'War On Families' At Baby Co.

    Munchkin Inc.'s former general counsel says he was fired for trying to sound the alarm about the baby products brand's "war on families" and culture of discrimination against working mothers and families, in a $10 million suit filed in California state court on Friday.

  • July 28, 2025

    Drexel U Gender Bias Potentially Cost Doctor $6M, Jury Told

    A former Drexel University medical college professor and emergency doctor told a Pennsylvania federal jury Monday that she was fired for complaining about gender discrimination in the workplace, saying among other things she was denied a promotion that would have brought her potentially $6 million.

  • July 28, 2025

    EEOC Says Plastics Co. Ignored Sex Harassment Complaints

    A Michigan plastics company that makes plant and garden products failed to take action to address pervasive sexual harassment against a female worker, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleged in a new lawsuit filed Monday.

  • July 28, 2025

    Rising Star: Shegerian & Associates' John David

    John David of Shegerian & Associates helped a former bank branch manager secure a $14 million jury verdict in her sex discrimination lawsuit and led a consultant to victory in his disability bias case, earning him a spot among the employment law practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

  • July 28, 2025

    Security Co., EEOC End Sex Bias Suit Over Job Denial

    A Houston-based hospital security contractor has agreed to pay $35,000 and implement anti-discrimination training to resolve a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission suit accusing the company of turning away a woman seeking a job because of her sex.

  • July 28, 2025

    6th Circ. Revives Fired State Farm Worker's Retaliation Suit

    The Sixth Circuit reinstated a former State Farm worker's retaliation suit claiming she was fired for helping a co-worker pursue a disability bias complaint, ruling that she showed she may have been targeted for timekeeping violations out of revenge for her advocacy.

  • July 28, 2025

    Biotech GC Says She Was Ousted Amid 'Systemic' Bias

    A former general counsel at Massachusetts life sciences firm Repligen has filed a lawsuit in state court claiming that a pervasive culture of gender bias led to her and other women being treated differently and paid less.

  • July 25, 2025

    4th Circ. Revives Kraft Heinz Suit Over Safety Complaints

    The Fourth Circuit on Friday overturned a win for Kraft Heinz Inc. in a suit by a former worker at a meatpacking plant who alleged that he'd been fired for reporting safety issues, saying the district court wrongly concluded that a separate disciplinary investigation was the sole reason he was terminated.

  • July 25, 2025

    EEOC Says $21M Columbia Bias Deal Holds 'Historic' Value

    Columbia University's agreement to pay $21 million to quell allegations that Jewish employees endured harassment marks the biggest settlement the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has ever reached stemming from alleged antisemitism, the EEOC said Friday.

  • July 25, 2025

    8th Circ. Revives Union Pacific Worker's ADA Suit

    The Eighth Circuit on Friday breathed new life into a disability bias lawsuit against Union Pacific, finding that a carman who suffered brain hemorrhaging in an off-duty accident may have a case that the railroad discriminated against him based on theoretical future medical episodes.

  • July 25, 2025

    NY Forecast: Judge To Weigh Dismissal Of Nurses' OT Suit

    This week, a federal magistrate judge will consider a nursing home company's attempt to toss a proposed collective action brought by nurses who claim they were not paid overtime required by federal law, and a competing motion by the nurses to conditionally certify the collective action. Here, Law360 looks at this and other cases on the docket in New York.

  • July 25, 2025

    Jury Awards $5M To Utility Inspector Fired Over Work Injuries

    A former field inspector for a Washington utility was awarded $5 million in emotional damages after a federal jury found his termination over his medical restrictions contravened state and federal prohibitions on disability discrimination.

  • July 25, 2025

    Los Angeles Seeks Early Win In Military Leave Bias Suit

    The city of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Police Department urged a California federal court Friday to grant them an early win in a proposed class action alleging the city didn't grant equal sick and vacation time to service members and wouldn't promote them because of their service obligations.

  • July 25, 2025

    Worker's Deposition Sinks Religious, Race Bias Suit Over Vax

    A North Carolina federal court tossed a Black worker's religious and race bias suit claiming she was fired by a hygiene products company for opposing its COVID-19 vaccine, ruling her suit fell apart when she admitted in a deposition that refusing the vaccine was a personal choice.

Expert Analysis

  • Trans Bias Suits Will Persist Despite EEOC's Shifting Priorities

    Author Photo

    In U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Sis-Bro, an Illinois federal court let a transgender worker intervene in a bias suit that the EEOC moved to dismiss, signaling that the agency's pending gender identity-related actions will carry on even as its priorities shift to align with the new administration, say attorneys at Venable.

  • Reverse Bias Rulings Offer Warning About DEI Quotas

    Author Photo

    Several recent holdings confirm that targeted or quota-based diversity programs can substantiate reverse discrimination claims, especially when coupled with an adverse action, so employers should exercise caution before implementing such policies in order to mitigate litigation risk, says Noah Bunzl at Tarter Krinsky.

  • 4 In-Flux Employment Law Issues Banks Should Note

    Author Photo

    Attorneys at Ogletree provide a midyear update on employment law changes that could significantly affect banks and other financial service institutions — including federal diversity equity and inclusion updates, and new and developing state and local artificial intelligence laws.

  • 7 Ways Employers Can Avoid Labor Friction Over AI

    Author Photo

    As artificial intelligence use in the workplace emerges as a key labor relations topic in the U.S. and Europe, employers looking to reduce reputational risk and prevent costly disputes should consider proactive strategies to engage with unions, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • 3rd Circ. Bias Ruling Offers Safety Policy Exception Lessons

    Author Photo

    The Third Circuit's decision in Smith v. City of Atlantic City, partially reinstating a religious bias suit over a policy requiring firefighters to be clean-shaven, cautions employers on the legal risk of including practical or discretionary exceptions in safety procedures, say Joseph Quinn and Mark Schaeffer at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Managing Risks As State AGs Seek To Fill Enforcement Gap

    Author Photo

    Given an unprecedented surge in state attorney general activity resulting from significant shifts in federal enforcement priorities, companies must consider tailored strategies for navigating the ever-evolving risk landscape, say attorneys at Cozen O'Connor.

  • How NY Appeals Ruling Alters Employers' Sex Abuse Liability

    Author Photo

    In Nellenback v. Madison County, the New York Court of Appeals arguably reset the evidentiary threshold in sexual abuse cases involving employer liability, countering lower court decisions that allowed evidence of the length of the undiscovered abuse to substitute as notice of an employee's dangerous propensity, say attorneys at Hurwitz Fine.

  • Protecting Workers Amid High Court-EEOC Trans Rights Rift

    Author Photo

    In Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services and U.S. v. Skrmetti, the U.S. Supreme Court clarified that Title VII protects employees from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, so employers should still protect against such discrimination despite the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's unclear position, says Ally Coll at the Purple Method.

  • How Latest High Court Rulings Refine Employment Law

    Author Photo

    The 2024-2025 U.S. Supreme Court term did not radically rewrite employment law, but sharpened focus on textual fidelity, procedural rigor and the boundaries of statutory relief, say attorneys at Krevolin & Horst.

  • Challenging A Class Representative's Adequacy And Typicality

    Author Photo

    Recent cases highlight that a named plaintiff cannot certify a putative class action unless they can meet all the applicable requirements of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, so defendants should consider challenging a plaintiff's ability to meet typicality and adequacy requirements early and often, say attorneys at Womble Bond.

  • Age Bias Ruling Holds Harassment Policy Lessons

    Author Photo

    A Kansas federal court's recent decision in Holman v. Textron Aviation, rejecting an employee's assertion that his termination for failing to report harassment was pretextual and due to age bias, provides insight into how courts analyze whether actions are pretextual and offers lessons about enforcing anti-harassment policies, say attorneys at Ogletree.

  • Employer Tips As Deepfakes Reshape Workplace Harassment

    Author Photo

    As the workplace harassment landscape faces the rising threat of fabricated media that hyperrealistically depict employees in sexual or malicious contexts, employers can stay ahead of the curve by tracking new legal obligations, and proactively updating policies, training and response protocols, say attorneys at Littler.

  • How To Balance AI Adoption With Employee Privacy Risks

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
    Author Photo

    As artificial intelligence transforms the workplace, organizations must learn to leverage AI's capabilities while safeguarding against employee privacy risks and complying with a complex web of regulations, including by vetting vendors, mitigating employee misuse and establishing a governance framework, say attorneys at Jackson Lewis.