Discrimination

  • April 30, 2025

    Fired Whataburger Worker's Bias Case Sent To Arbitration

    A Georgia federal judge said Wednesday a Black and gay ex-Whataburger employee should have to arbitrate his claims that he endured racial and homophobic slurs on the job before being fired, saying he signed a valid agreement to handle employment-related disputes out of court.

  • April 30, 2025

    6th Circ. Skeptical Of Chili's 'Culture' Rationale For Firing

    The Sixth Circuit appeared inclined Wednesday to revive an age discrimination case by a former Chili's restaurant manager, indicating that the restaurant's definition of "culture" — the reason given for his firing — has been hard to pin down.

  • April 30, 2025

    Marine Reservist Says Retaliation Suit Should Go To Trial

    A U.S. Marine Corps reservist urged a Texas federal court to keep in play his lawsuit alleging a professional services company fired him after two months because he took time off to attend training, saying the firm's reasoning that he was let go for poor performance is bogus.

  • April 30, 2025

    3rd Circ. Sides With Pa. Transit Agency In Race Bias Suit

    The Third Circuit on Wednesday upheld a Pennsylvania public transportation authority's defeat of a Black employee's lawsuit alleging she was given lower raises than white colleagues and transferred to a different department when she complained, saying she hadn't provided enough evidence to sustain her claims.

  • April 30, 2025

    6 Argument Sessions Bias Attorneys Should Watch In May

    The Sixth Circuit will tackle tricky questions about the reach of a federal law curbing employers' use of mandatory arbitration provisions for workers' sexual harassment and assault claims, while U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission attorneys will venture to three appellate courts to support cases and amicus briefs they've filed. Here, Law360 looks at six argument sessions discrimination attorneys should keep tabs on this month.

  • April 30, 2025

    McDonald's Operator Loses Assault Suit Coverage Appeal

    Two insurers were correct to deny coverage for a former Pittsburgh-area McDonald's franchisee in a lawsuit accusing it of failing to stop a supervisor from sexually harassing and assaulting underage employees, since the litigation that sent it into bankruptcy fell under exceptions to the insurance policies, a Third Circuit panel ruled Wednesday.

  • April 30, 2025

    IHOP Franchisee Dodges Most Of Fired Server's Bias Suit

    A North Carolina federal judge let an IHOP franchisee escape the bulk of a fired waitress's suit claiming she was propositioned for sex by a male manager and fired for complaining about it, ruling she had failed to put forward any corroboration about the alleged harassment to keep her claims in court.

  • April 30, 2025

    Dems Renew Effort To Enshrine LGBTQ+ Bias Protections

    Democratic lawmakers have reintroduced a bill meant to codify protections against sexual orientation and gender identity bias established by the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark Bostock decision, saying the proposal is critical amid increasing attacks on LGBTQ+ rights across the U.S.

  • April 30, 2025

    $27M Union Pacific Verdict Caps Strong April For Workers

    A former Union Pacific employee who said the railroad used medical screenings to push out disabled workers scored a $27 million verdict, while the EEOC landed a $400,000 win on claims that a veteran lost a job offer after testing positive for prescribed medication. Here's a look back at four wins employment discrimination plaintiffs notched in the past month.

  • April 30, 2025

    Michael Best Gains Higher Ed Leader In Austin From Littler

    Michael Best & Friedrich LLP has deepened its labor and employment practice group with a partner in Austin who also serves as co-chair of the firm's higher education industry team and came aboard from Littler Mendelson PC.

  • April 30, 2025

    Bipartisan House Members Pitch Expanded Paid Family Leave

    A bipartisan group of House lawmakers unveiled legislation Wednesday that they said would expand access to paid family leave by incentivizing states to establish their own programs and facilitating the exchange of information between state and federal officials.

  • April 29, 2025

    Ex-Levi's Exec Loses Bid To Call Therapist At Bias Trial

    A California federal judge on Tuesday rejected a renewed bid from an ex-Levi Strauss executive suing for sex discrimination to have her therapist testify in the trial's liability phase about work-related stress, saying comments from a former Levi's colleague about the plaintiff's home struggles didn't open the door for his testimony.

  • April 29, 2025

    LA County Approves $4B Juvenile Sex Abuse Settlement

    Los Angeles County officials on Tuesday officially approved a previously announced $4 billion settlement to resolve nearly 7,000 claims of sexual abuse at juvenile detention facilities and foster homes, touted as the largest sex abuse settlement in U.S. history.

  • April 29, 2025

    6th Circ. Reopens Ex-Mich. County Worker's Firing Challenge

    The Sixth Circuit partially revived a former Michigan county department head's lawsuit claiming he was fired because he was in his 50s, finding Tuesday that while his age bias claim can't proceed, a reasonable jury could find he wasn't given an adequate opportunity to challenge his termination before it was finalized.

  • April 29, 2025

    Workday Bias Suit May Gain Collective Status

    A federal judge appeared inclined Tuesday to greenlight a collective action from job applicants over 40 who say they were unlawfully steered away from jobs by a Workday hiring tool, saying she saw a "common answer" applying across the proposed group.

  • April 29, 2025

    10th Circ. Backs Burger King Franchisee In Sex Bias Suit

    The Tenth Circuit refused Tuesday to revive a suit from a worker who said a Burger King franchisee did nothing to stop "appalling" sexual harassment by her manager, ruling she missed her chance to raise sex discrimination claims in a previous case.

  • April 29, 2025

    ​​Lawmaker Floats Bill To Bar COVID Vax Mandates In Higher Ed

    Colleges and universities that maintain a COVID-19 vaccine mandate would be barred from receiving federal funds under a bill introduced in the House. 

  • April 29, 2025

    Ex-Plant Workers Take Aim At Company's Atty Bribe Claims

    Two former employees of a plastics manufacturing plant are urging a Georgia federal court to disregard the company's attempt to push liability for an alleged bribery offer sent to their attorney onto a disgruntled former executive rather than the company's current financial director. 

  • April 29, 2025

    Littler Brings Back Arbitration Pro In Calif.

    Labor and employment firm Littler Mendelson PC is expanding its California arbitration team, announcing Tuesday that it is welcoming back an employment attorney who left briefly to join Whitney Thompson & Jeffcoach LLP.

  • April 29, 2025

    5th Circ. Says Hispanic DOT Worker Filed Bias Case Too Late

    A U.S. Department of Transportation employee was about a decade late in formally accusing his employer of discriminating against him and other Hispanic workers through failing to promote them to a higher pay level, the Fifth Circuit found, upholding a lower court's decision.

  • April 29, 2025

    1st Circ. Ruling Spotlights Shortcoming In EEOC Case Alerts

    A recent worker-friendly decision from the First Circuit on what qualifies as a right-to-sue notice from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission conflicts with another circuit's stance on the issue, highlighting an aspect of EEOC communications that lawyers said needs reform.

  • April 28, 2025

    Levi's Biased Against Pregnant Exec, Jury Told At Trial's Start

    Counsel for a former Levi Strauss executive suing for sex discrimination told a California federal jury Monday that her manager told the then-pregnant woman she lacked "work capacity" for a promotion, while Levi's lawyer said she merely "grew impatient" climbing the corporate ladder at a company where many mothers are leaders.

  • April 28, 2025

    Wells Fargo Investors Win Class Cert. In 'Sham' Hiring Case

    A California federal judge has certified a class of thousands of Wells Fargo & Co. investors in litigation over the bank's alleged practice of conducting "sham" job interviews to meet diversity targets, a strategy investors say led to stock prices dropping when the truth came to light, according to an order issued Friday.

  • April 28, 2025

    'Withdraw Your Accusation': Attys, Justices Clash In ADA Case

    U.S. Supreme Court arguments over the standard of proof students must meet to pursue Americans with Disabilities Act claims of discrimination in public schooling turned combative Monday when one veteran litigator accused another of lying to the justices, eliciting sharp rebukes from several members of the bench.

  • April 28, 2025

    9th Circ. Backs Vegas Hotel In Ex-Worker's Disability Bias Suit

    The Ninth Circuit on Monday refused to reopen a former bartender's lawsuit alleging a Las Vegas hotel forced her to take leave and eventually fired her for tremors caused by her cancer treatment, saying she hadn't provided enough evidence to back up her claims.

Expert Analysis

  • A Look At The Hefty Demands In Calif. Employer AI Draft Regs

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    California's draft regulations on artificial intelligence use in employment decisions show that the California Privacy Protection Agency is positioning itself as a de facto AI regulator for the state, which isn't waiting around for federal legislation, says Lily Li at Metaverse Law.

  • Federal Salary History Ban's Reach Is Limited

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    Though a newly effective Office of Personnel Management rule takes important steps by banning federal employers from considering job applicants' nonfederal salary histories, the rule's narrow applicability and overconfidence in the existing system's fairness will likely not end persistent pay inequities, says Margaret House at Kalijarvi Chuzi.

  • 2nd Circ. Hostile Workplace Ruling Widens Arbitration Pitfalls

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    The Second Circuit’s recent decision, affirming the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act applies to a worker whose workplace hostility claims arose before the law’s 2022 enactment, widens the scope of the law — and the risks of unenforceable arbitration agreements for employers, say attorneys at Hinshaw.

  • Title VII Compliance Lessons From Raytheon Age Bias Suit

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    A Texas federal court’s recent refusal to dismiss age discrimination claims from a former Raytheon employee, terminated after he admitted to acts that Raytheon says violated its harassment policy, nonetheless illustrates strategies employers can use to protect themselves when facing competing Title VII workplace obligations, say attorneys at Segal McCambridge.

  • How The Presidential Election Will Affect Workplace AI Regs

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    The U.S. has so far adopted a light-handed approach to regulating artificial intelligence in the labor and employment area, but the presidential election is unlikely to have as dramatic of an effect on AI regulations as it may on other labor and employment matters, say attorneys at Littler.

  • Eye On Compliance: ADA Accommodations For Obesity

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    As the classification of "obesity" as a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act continues to evolve, employers should note federal district and state court deviations from U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission guidelines, which have deemed obesity to be a qualifying impairment, no matter the cause, says Lauren Stadler at Wilson Elser.

  • 3rd. Circ. Ruling Shows Employers Where To Put ADA Focus

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    A recent Third Circuit decision in Morgan v. Allison Crane & Rigging, confirming that the Americans with Disabilities Act protects some temporarily impaired employees, reminds employers to pursue compliance through uniform policies that head off discriminatory decisions, not after-the-fact debates over an individual's disability status, says Joseph McGuire at Freeman Mathis.

  • 11th Circ. Ruling Offers Refresher On 'Sex-Plus' Bias Claims

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    While the Eleventh Circuit’s recent ruling in McCreight v. AuburnBank dismissed former employees’ sex-plus-age discrimination claims, the opinion reminds employers to ensure that workplace policies and practices do not treat a subgroup of employees of one sex differently than the same subgroup of another sex, say attorneys at Bradley Arant.

  • Employment Verification Poses Unique Risks For Staffing Cos.

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    All employers face employee verification issues, but a survey of recent settlements with the U.S. Department of Justice's Immigrant and Employee Rights Section suggests that staffing companies' unique circumstances raise the chances they will be investigated and face substantial fines, says Eileen Scofield at Alston & Bird.

  • What To Expect As Worker Bias Suit Heads To High Court

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    The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services, which concerns how courts treat discrimination claims brought by majority group plaintiffs, and its decision could eliminate the background circumstances test, but is unlikely to significantly affect employers' diversity programs, say Victoria Slade and Alysa Mo at Davis Wright.

  • Mitigating Construction Employers' Risks Of Discrimination

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    Recent heightened government scrutiny of construction industry employment practices illustrates the need for nondiscriminatory recruitment and proactive assessment of workforces and worksites, including auditing for demographic disparities and taking documented steps to address such issues, say attorneys at Seyfarth.

  • Cos. Should Focus On State AI Laws Despite New DOL Site

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    Because a new U.S. Department of Labor-sponsored website about the disability discrimination risks of AI hiring tools mostly echoes old guidance, employers should focus on complying with the state and local AI workplace laws springing up where Congress and federal regulators have yet to act, say attorneys at Littler.

  • How The Tide Of EEOC Litigation Rolled Back In FY 2024

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    An analysis of the location, timing and underlying claims asserted in U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission-initiated cases during fiscal year 2024 shows that the commission saw a substantial decrease in litigation activity after a surge last year, but employers should not drop their guard, say Christopher DeGroff and Andrew Scroggins at Seyfarth.