Discrimination

  • July 01, 2025

    State AI Law Moratorium Struck From Senate Budget Bill

    The U.S. Senate on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly to cut a proposal that would have blocked states from regulating artificial intelligence for a decade from the budget reconciliation package after a deal to reduce the length and potential scope of the ban fell apart. 

  • July 01, 2025

    EEOC Wraps Up June With A Flurry Of Suits

    The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a spate of new cases as June ended, including suits alleging that an executive asked a worker to enter a sexual contract, a company required an applicant to take an electrocardiogram, and Walmart pushed out a worker returning from COVID-19 leave. Here, Law360 takes a look at seven lawsuits the EEOC filed Monday.

  • July 01, 2025

    The Sharpest Dissents From The Supreme Court Term

    The term's sharpest dissents often looked beyond perceived flaws in majority reasoning to raise existential concerns about the role and future of the court, with the justices accusing one another of rewarding executive branch lawlessness, harming faith in the judiciary and threatening democracy, sometimes on an emergency basis with little briefing or explanation.

  • July 01, 2025

    Lighting Co. Can't Escape 401(k) Forfeiture, Health Fee Suit

    An Illinois federal judge narrowed a proposed federal benefits class action against an automotive lighting company from an ex-worker, but allowed allegations to proceed to discovery alleging the company misspent 401(k) forfeitures and failed to properly notify workers about a health plan tobacco surcharge.

  • July 01, 2025

    Defamation Litigation Roundup: Newsom, Lively, MyPillow

    In this month's defamation litigation roundup, Law360 looks back on a decision in the high-profile fight between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, as well as at a jury verdict in a voting machine company executive's case against MyPillow's CEO.

  • July 01, 2025

    Justices Face Busy Summer After Nixing Universal Injunctions

    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision to limit nationwide injunctions was one of its biggest rulings of the term — a finding the court is likely going to be dealing with all summer. Here, Law360 takes a look at the decision, how it and other cases on the emergency docket overshadowed much of the court's other work, and what it all means for the months to come.

  • July 01, 2025

    4 Takeaways As Tennessee Dissolves Civil Rights Agency

    Tennessee lawmakers have eliminated the state's independent human rights agency and handed the attorney general its responsibility to enforce workplace anti-discrimination laws, a move that experts said other Republican-led states may follow. Here are four things to know about the transition.

  • July 01, 2025

    What Justices' Injunctions Ruling Means For Employment Law

    Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has limited universal injunctions, employers, workers and their advocates could have to turn to motions to vacate, associational standing and other pathways to relief in employment law litigation, attorneys said. Here, Law360 explores the potential impact.

  • July 01, 2025

    Unvaccinated Ex-Staffer Can Pursue Leaked Health Info Claims

    A Missouri appeals court on Tuesday revived a former hospital staffer's claims that her former employer failed to protect her medical records while she was a patient, leading to her coworkers finding out she was unvaccinated against the COVID-19 virus and them harassing her until she resigned.

  • July 01, 2025

    Amazon Escapes Worker's Military Leave Suit

    A former Amazon employee cannot show that she was fired because she requested to take military leave or because she needed to care for her son, a New York federal judge ruled, saying she can't rebut the company's argument that she was fired for violating security protocol.

  • July 01, 2025

    Legal Aid Attys Can't Sever Union Ties Over Its Mideast Views

    A New York federal judge tossed two New York City public defenders' lawsuit against their union, saying the attorneys can't leverage the U.S. Supreme Court's Janus ruling to stop paying the union because they disagree with its stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

  • June 30, 2025

    Feds Say Title VII Doesn't Protect EEOC Member From Firing

    Former EEOC Commissioner Jocelyn Samuels doesn't have standing to challenge her January firing from the agency, the federal government told a D.C. federal court Monday, arguing federal civil rights law doesn't protect members of the commission from removal.

  • June 30, 2025

    Meta, Shutterstock Can Arbitrate Ex-Worker's Pay Bias Suit

    A former Giphy engineer must arbitrate her lawsuit accusing Meta, and later Shutterstock, of paying her $2 million less than male colleagues when they took over the online GIF database, a New York federal judge ruled Monday.

  • June 30, 2025

    Ex-Defender Tells 4th Circ. Bias Hearing Would've Been Futile

    A former assistant public defender looking to revive her bias suit fought Monday to convince the Fourth Circuit that it would have been futile to wait for a final hearing on her sexual harassment claim through the judiciary's internal complaint process before quitting, citing in part her boss's alleged favoritism of the accused party.

  • June 30, 2025

    Muldrow No Help In United Age Bias Case, 7th Circ. Says

    The Seventh Circuit backed United Airlines' win over a suit from a former communications worker who alleged she was placed on a performance improvement plan because she complained about age bias, rejecting her argument that the U.S. Supreme Court's 2024 Muldrow decision put her case on solid ground.

  • June 30, 2025

    Calif. Civil Rights Agency Gets Workplace AI Rules Approved

    California's civil rights agency announced Monday that it has secured final approval for employment regulations governing the use of artificial intelligence tools, saying the rules will help protect against potential employment discrimination.

  • June 30, 2025

    4th Circ. Won't Rethink Tossed Pregnancy Bias Suit

    The Fourth Circuit has said it would not reconsider the dismissal of a lawsuit in which a former medical center worker claimed she was denied fair accommodation and fired due to pregnancy bias.

  • June 30, 2025

    Trump Admin Appeals Perkins Coie Case To DC Circ.

    The Trump administration announced in D.C. federal court on Monday that it's not giving up on its effort to punish Perkins Coie LLP through an executive order, even after losing four court rulings that found its actions in this and three similar cases are unconstitutional.

  • June 30, 2025

    Justices Decline To Hear Ex-Tesla Worker's Whistleblower Suit

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up a petition filed by a former Tesla employee who claimed he was retaliated against for reporting various forms of alleged misconduct at a Nevada factory to both company management and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

  • July 07, 2025

    CORRECTED: 3 Bias Arguments Sessions To Watch In July

    The Third and Sixth Circuits are scheduled to hear a trio of oral arguments in July as a fired professor, human resources executive and school dean each plan to argue that their terminations violated federal anti-bias law. Here, Law360 looks at those cases. 

  • June 30, 2025

    Tennessee Shutters Civil Rights Agency After 62 Years

    Tennessee has closed its 62-year-old agency tasked with enforcing antidiscrimination laws, nullifying any charges pending before it and transferring its civil rights duties to a newly created division within the state attorney general's office.

  • June 30, 2025

    High Court Turns Away Fired Christian Workers' Vax Bias Case

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review a Third Circuit ruling that shuttered Christian workers' suits claiming a healthcare system illegally fired them for opposing its COVID-19 vaccine mandate, despite the workers' assertions that the opinion improperly constricted their religious rights.

  • June 30, 2025

    Trump Administration Says Harvard Violated Civil Rights Law

    The Trump administration on Monday informed Harvard University that it had run afoul of federal civil rights law by failing to protect Jewish and Israeli students on campus from harassment, and threatened to cut all funding from the nation's oldest university.

  • June 30, 2025

    Justices Undo Patients' Win In Gender-Affirming Care Fight

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday struck down a Fourth Circuit decision that preserved access to gender-affirming care under two state-run health plans, telling the lower court to consider a recent decision by the justices that upheld a Tennessee law limiting treatments for young transgender people.

  • June 30, 2025

    Justices Turn Away Fired Teacher's Prehire Speech Case

    The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to review a Massachusetts high school teacher's claim that individuals' speech rights should extend to things they say before being hired to a public job, though Justice Clarence Thomas wrote to express dismay with the First Circuit's approach toward controversial political commentary.

Expert Analysis

  • How Justices Rule On Straight Bias May Shift Worker Suits

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    Following oral argument at the U.S. Supreme Court in Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services, in which a heterosexual woman sued her employer for sexual orientation discrimination, the forthcoming decision may create a perfect storm for employers amid recent attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • Employer Tips To Navigate Cultural Flashpoints Investigations

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    As companies are increasingly flooded with complaints of employees violating policies related to polarizing social, cultural or political issues, employers should beware the distinct concerns and increased risk in flashpoints investigations compared to routine workplace probes, say attorneys at Seyfarth.

  • A Path Forward For Employers, Regardless Of DEI Stance

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    Whether a company views the Trump administration's executive orders ending diversity, equity and inclusion programs as a win or a loss, the change rearranges the employment hazards companies face, but not the non-DEI and nondiscriminatory economic incentive to seek the best workers, says Daniel S. Levy at Advanced Analytical Consulting Group.

  • Bias Suit Shows WNBA Growing Pains On Court And In Court

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    A newly filed disability discrimination and retaliation lawsuit against the Los Angeles Sparks is the latest in a series of employment discrimination disputes filed by WNBA professionals, highlighting teams' obligation to meet elevated workplace expectations and the league's role in facilitating an inclusive work environment, say attorneys at Michelman & Robinson.

  • 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.