Discrimination

  • March 28, 2025

    Gannett Wraps Up ADA Suit From Worker With Vision Loss

    Newspaper publisher Gannett agreed to settle a former content strategist's lawsuit claiming he was let go because he has vision loss that requires him to work from home, according to a Friday filing in Florida federal court.

  • March 28, 2025

    Jackson Lewis Names New Leader In White Plains, NY

    Nationwide employment law firm Jackson Lewis PC has promoted Michael L. Abitabilo from office litigation manager to office managing principal in White Plains, New York, the firm has announced.

  • March 28, 2025

    UAW Beats Black Truck Driver's Bias Claim

    The United Auto Workers escaped a former Howmet Aerospace Inc. employee's lawsuit claiming the union failed to adequately challenge his termination because he's Black, with an Ohio federal judge saying he'd failed to identify a non-Black colleague who received the representation he felt he was owed.

  • March 28, 2025

    Calif. Forecast: 9th Circ. Hears Trucker Piece-Rate Args

    In the coming week, attorneys should watch for Ninth Circuit oral arguments in a proposed class action that revolves around a transportation company's alleged piece-rate pay policy. Here's a look at that case and other labor and employment matters on deck in California.

  • March 28, 2025

    PruittHealth Ends Gay Ex-Nursing Director's Harassment Suit

    A Georgia PruittHealth location and a former nursing director have resolved his suit accusing the facility of failing to step in when he was harassed for being gay and then firing him after he complained about it, the parties told a Georgia federal court.

  • March 28, 2025

    Judges Block Trump's Jenner & Block, WilmerHale Orders

    Jenner & Block LLP and WilmerHale both won temporary restraining orders late Friday blocking President Donald Trump's executive orders targeting the firms, with two Washington, D.C., federal judges determining the firms have shown the orders are likely retaliation for their representation of certain clients.

  • March 27, 2025

    EEOC's 'Nudge' Keeps ADA Suit Over Leave Policy Alive

    A Pennsylvania federal judge said Thursday the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission put forward just enough detail to sustain a disability bias suit claiming a non-profit health system made workers re-apply and battle for their jobs after taking medical leave.

  • March 27, 2025

    6th Circ. Says Stomach Bug Not Covered By Disability Statute

    A former delivery driver can't reopen his lawsuit claiming he was fired by a manufacturing component company for requesting time off to recover from an illness, the Sixth Circuit ruled Thursday, saying his temporary stomach bug didn't qualify as a disability under federal law.

  • March 27, 2025

    UPS, Workers To Take Military Leave Suit To Mediation

    United Parcel Service and a class of employees alerted a Washington federal court that they intend to mediate the workers' lawsuit accusing the company of failing to pay drivers on short-term military leave while paying those who take time off for jury duty and other short-term absences.

  • March 27, 2025

    Raytheon, Black Accounting Workers End Hiring Bias Suit

    Raytheon Technologies Corp. has resolved a lawsuit alleging it refused to permanently hire four temporary Black accountants and replaced them with less qualified non-Black workers, according to a Thursday filing in Texas federal court.

  • March 27, 2025

    Full 7th Circ. Urged To Review Law Prof's Retaliation Suit

    The full Seventh Circuit was asked on Thursday to revisit a panel's ruling reviving a retaliation claim from a law school professor at the University of Illinois in Chicago who was disciplined for including a redacted racist slur on an exam, saying the opinion "raises, without answering, questions of exceptional importance that will have sweeping implications for university officials."

  • March 27, 2025

    Dem Lawmakers Say EEOC Firings Exceeded Trump's Power

    A coalition of 241 Democratic lawmakers urged President Donald Trump on Thursday to reinstate two Democratic members of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, saying the president usurped congressional power and threatened the agency's independence when he fired them in January.

  • March 27, 2025

    Movie Theater Co. Agrees To Settle EEOC Age Bias Suit

    A company that owns movie theaters has agreed to settle an age discrimination suit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claiming it yanked a worker's health insurance after he turned 65 and later forced him to retire during the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • March 27, 2025

    Ex-Troutman Atty Says Racial Bias Suit Should Go To Trial

    A former Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP associate who says she was fired for calling out racial bias told a Washington, D.C., federal judge that the firm's own documents and testimony show it saw her as a valuable attorney, despite saying she was let go over performance.

  • March 27, 2025

    2nd Circ. Ruling Illuminates Overlooked Disability Law Tenet

    The Second Circuit recently made clear that a worker can be qualified for an accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act even if they can do their job without one, aligning with its sister circuits on a nuance of discrimination protections that experts say often flies under the radar.

  • March 27, 2025

    Trans Corrections Officer's Harassment Case Cleared For Trial

    A Georgia federal judge said Thursday that the state's corrections department must face a suit from a transgender officer who said he was mocked for transitioning, teeing up a trial on a harassment claim the Eleventh Circuit revived in March 2024.

  • March 27, 2025

    3M Says It's Settled Ex-Worker's Vaccine Retaliation Suit

    3M Co. has reached a settlement with a former employee who claimed she was canned from the company for refusing to comply with its COVID-19 vaccination policy, according to a Wednesday filing in Georgia federal court.

  • March 26, 2025

    IBM Can't Yet Ditch White Man's 'Reverse Discrimination' Suit

    A Michigan federal judge on Wednesday refused to throw out a white male consultant's suit alleging that IBM threatens to punish executives if they don't meet diversity goals, finding that, at least at this stage in the litigation, he's offered enough facts to support a "reverse discrimination" claim.

  • March 26, 2025

    Delta Must Face Ex-Worker's Disability Bias Suit At Trial

    A Tennessee federal judge said a jury needs to determine whether Delta failed to accommodate a former worker's disability by denying his request to use a stool on the job, stating there are too many disputes about whether safety regulations prevented the airline from providing the seating.

  • March 26, 2025

    EEOC Guidance Flags Affinity Groups As Potentially Risky

    The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice's recent joint guidance on workplace diversity programs highlighted affinity groups — caucus groups of employees who share common traits or concerns — as measures that could be legally risky.

  • March 26, 2025

    Ex-IATSE Officer's Discipline Claims Over Porn Issue Survive

    A New Mexico federal court on Wednesday sustained some claims from a former vice president for an International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees affiliate who said he was wrongly disciplined after raising concerns about another officer's name appearing on porn websites, while dismissing other allegations under federal racketeering and state laws.

  • March 26, 2025

    Court Backs Pitt, UPMC In Firing Doctor Over DEI Article

    A former program director at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine failed to show that officials at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center were acting in a state capacity when they removed him from overseeing a cardiac fellowship program over his criticism of diversity initiatives, a federal judge ruled Wednesday in dismissing his case.

  • March 26, 2025

    NJ Appeals Court Says Ruling Nixing Bias Suit Thin On Details

    A New Jersey appeals court revived on Wednesday a researcher coordinator's lawsuit claiming Rutgers Cancer Institute fired her for taking time off and asking for a private work area because of a tissue disorder, finding the trial court's explanation for kicking the case to arbitration was too sparse.

  • March 26, 2025

    Trump's DEI Firings Are Discriminatory, Fed Workers Claim

    Former federal workers asked an employment board Wednesday to reinstate them to jobs they lost because of President Donald Trump's executive orders shuttering all government diversity, equity and inclusion positions, stating the firings illegally targeted their assumed political beliefs and fell disproportionately hard on workers who weren't white men.

  • March 26, 2025

    DOJ Can't DQ Judge In Perkins Coie Suit Over Trump Order

    A D.C. federal judge on Wednesday shot down a demand from the U.S. Department of Justice that she step aside from Perkins Coie LLP's lawsuit against the federal government over President Donald Trump's executive order targeting the firm.

Expert Analysis

  • Employer Best Practices For Pay Transparency Compliance

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    With conflicting pay transparency and disclosure laws appearing across the country, employers must carefully develop different strategies for discussing compensation with employees, applicants, and off-site workers, disclosing salaries in job ads, and staying abreast of new state and local compliance requirements, says Joy Rosenquist at Littler Mendelson.

  • Congress Must Level The Employer Arbitration Playing Field

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    Federal courts have largely eviscerated state bans on arbitration of employment claims through Federal Arbitration Act preemption holdings, and they are also limiting the impact of the federal Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act, so Congress needs to step in and amend both laws, says Alan Kabat at Bernabei & Kabat.

  • What 11th Circ. Revival Of Deaf Employee's Bias Suit Portends

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    The Eleventh Circuit's recent Beasley v. O'Reilly Auto Parts decision, which created a circuit split involving the issue of linking accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act to essential job functions, is a curiosity about the court's analysis at least and a potential game changer for employer duties at most, says John Doran at Sherman & Howard.

  • What To Watch As Justices Take Up Title VII Job Transfer Case

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    With its recent decision to hear Muldrow v. City of St. Louis, the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether an involuntary job transfer can count as employment discrimination under Title VII — an eventual ruling that has potential to reshape workplace bias claims nationwide, says Adam Grogan at Bell Law Group.

  • Parsing EEOC Guidance On Accommodating Low Vision

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    Employers need to examine recent Equal Employment Opportunity Commission guidance on provisions for employees who are blind or partially sighted, particularly on the consequences of terminating an employee with blindness or low vision without meeting obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act, says Amy Epstein Gluck at FisherBroyles.

  • 5 Tips For Employers Handling Generative AI Privacy Risks

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    Employers should carefully consider the privacy implications of using generative artificial intelligence tools, and employ steps to mitigate the risks, such as de-identifying data, providing notice and identifying data flows, say Zoe Argento and Amy Kabaria at Littler.

  • Water Cooler Talk: 'The Bear' Serves Up Advice For Managers

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    Tracey Diamond and Evan Gibbs at Troutman Pepper chat with Ernst & Young’s Laura Yehuda about Hulu's "The Bear" and the best practices managers can glean from the show's portrayal of workplace challenges, including those faced by young, female managers.

  • Recalling USWNT's Legal PR Playbook Amid World Cup Bid

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    As the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team strives to take home another World Cup trophy, their 2022 pay equity settlement with the U.S. Soccer Federation serves as a good reminder that winning in the court of public opinion can be more powerful than a victory inside the courtroom, says Hector Valle at Vianovo.

  • Mass. Age Bias Ruling Holds Employer Liability Lessons

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    The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s recent ruling in Adams v. Schneider Electric — upholding a laid-off employee’s age discrimination claim — is an important reminder that employers may face liability even if a decision maker unknowingly applies a discriminatory corporate strategy, say attorneys at Armstrong Teasdale.

  • Regulating AI: Litigation Questions And State Efforts To Watch

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    In view of the developing legal and regulatory framework for artificial intelligence systems in the U.S., including state legislation and early federal litigation, there are practical takeaways as we look toward the future, says Jennifer Maisel at Rothwell Figg.

  • Regulating AI: An Overview Of Federal Efforts

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    The U.S. has been carefully managing a national policy and regulatory ecosystem toward artificial intelligence, but as AI technology continues to expand into our everyday lives, so too has its risks and the need for regulation, says Jennifer Maisel at Rothwell Figg.

  • Justices' Job Transfer Review Should Hold To Title VII Text

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's upcoming decision in Muldrow v. City of St. Louis should hold that a job transfer can be an adverse employment action, and the analysis should be based on the straightforward language of Title VII rather than judicial activism, say Lynne Bernabei and Alan Kabat at Bernabei & Kabat.

  • Employer Tips For Fighting Back Against Explosive Verdicts

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    Massive jury verdicts are a product of our time, driven in part by reptile tactics, but employers can build a strategic defense to mitigate the risk of a runaway jury, and develop tools to seek judicial relief in the event of an adverse outcome, say Dawn Solowey and Lynn Kappelman at Seyfarth.