Discrimination

  • January 09, 2025

    ​​​​​​​Challenging Religious Beliefs Early In Vax Suits May Be Futile

    A ruling from the Fourth Circuit reviving a religious bias suit by a Christian pediatric nurse who was fired after refusing the COVID-19 vaccine demonstrates the ineffectiveness of questioning an employee's religious beliefs at early stages of litigation, experts said.

  • January 09, 2025

    Biden's Title IX Gender Identity Rule Struck By Ky. Judge

    A Kentucky federal judge on Thursday struck down the Biden administration's expansion of Title IX to include gender identity, saying the rule "impermissibly redefines discrimination on the basis of sex" in excess of U.S. Department of Education authority.

  • January 09, 2025

    Christian Group Seeks Injunction On EEOC Abortion Regs

    A Christian education foundation asked a Missouri federal judge to press pause on U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity regulations that require employers to provide accommodations for abortions, stating it would face irreparable harm if it is forced to shirk its religious principles by following the rule.

  • January 09, 2025

    Philly Principal Files Bias Suit Over Diploma Incident

    The former principal of the Philadelphia High School for Girls has sued the school district, claiming her removal from the job over her refusal to hand out diplomas to students who disrupted a graduation ceremony was discriminatory, saying her Black predecessors were allowed to do the same thing without consequence.

  • January 09, 2025

    DraftKings Says Fired Worker 'Has No Legal Path' Forward

    DraftKings asked a Massachusetts federal judge on Thursday to throw out a former engineer's lawsuit claiming that he was fired in retaliation for seeking paid parental leave, saying the claims have no legal basis.

  • January 09, 2025

    Worker's Atty Fees Upheld In Settled Calif. Harassment Suit

    A California state appeals court upheld a $493,600 attorney fees award handed to a freight trucking company worker whose sexual harassment case made it to the state's highest court, finding her former boss failed to show she didn't deserve the sum as the suit's prevailing party.

  • January 09, 2025

    Ex-Steel Co. Worker Who Won $3 Wants Age Bias Redo

    A fired steel company human resources worker who was awarded $3 for his age discrimination claims told a Michigan federal judge Wednesday he should get a new trial on damages because evidence presented to jurors shows he is owed far more in lost pay.

  • January 09, 2025

    Arkansas Justices At Odds Over Chief's Bid To Revive Firings

    Members of the Arkansas Supreme Court are at an impasse over the chief justice's attempt to fire 10 state court employees after her fellow justices blocked the move, with her issuing an order to vacate their ruling and them saying her order is a mere dissent with no effect.

  • January 09, 2025

    Walmart Escapes Fired Worker's Pregnancy Bias Suit

    A California federal judge tossed a Walmart associate's suit claiming she was fired after requesting working accommodations for her pregnancy, saying she couldn't overcome the retail behemoth's position that she was terminated to address the store's ballooning headcount as workers returned from COVID-19 leave.

  • January 09, 2025

    5th Circ. Backs Texas A&M In Iranian Ex-Lecturer's Bias Suit

    The Fifth Circuit upheld Texas A&M University's win over a former lecturer's lawsuit claiming she was let go because she's an Iranian woman, ruling she'd abandoned any argument that she was treated worse than a comparable colleague by not bringing it up before the trial court.

  • January 08, 2025

    UPS Can't Erase $40M Race Bias Verdict, Ex-Employee Says

    A former UPS worker whose retaliation verdict was slashed from $238 million to $40 million urged a Washington federal judge Tuesday to deny UPS' motion for a new trial, saying the company is leaning on "triple hearsay and jealous gossip."

  • January 08, 2025

    Judge Says DOI Can't Get New Ageism Trial After Worker Win

    A Washington federal judge has reproached the U.S. Department of the Interior for seeking a new trial on damages in a former employee's age discrimination case after the Ninth Circuit vacated the plaintiff's initial $1.7 million win over calculation errors, saying the agency missed its chance to litigate the worker's lost wages.

  • January 08, 2025

    DEI Challenges Will Fuel Rise In Class Actions, Report Says

    A landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision triggered a rise in lawsuits from workers who say they endured discrimination because of their employers' diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, a trend that's likely to spur a rise in class actions in 2025, according to a new report by Duane Morris LLP.

  • January 08, 2025

    Minn. Senior Facility Pushed Out Pregnant Worker, EEOC Says

    A Minnesota senior living facility falsely accused a worker of misconduct and ultimately forced her out for failing to disclose her pregnancy before accepting a promotion, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said in a federal suit against the company.

  • January 08, 2025

    6th Circ. Says USPS Worker Can't Relitigate Race Bias Claims

    The Sixth Circuit upheld the dismissal of a Black USPS worker's suit claiming he was passed over for a job because of race bias and as retaliation for previous complaints he made, ruling Wednesday the allegations were already resolved in a previous lawsuit he filed against the agency.

  • January 08, 2025

    Chemical Co. Wants Atty Fee Award After Beating EEOC Suit

    A chemical company asked a Missouri federal court for nearly $372,000 in attorney fees following its jury win over a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission suit, arguing Wednesday the agency should've known its case alleging the company failed to prevent an employee's racist slurs was flimsy.

  • January 08, 2025

    Ex-MGM Worker Had 'God-Given Right' To Skip Vax, Jury Told

    An attorney for a fired MGM Grand Detroit warehouse manager harked back to the American Revolution to try to persuade a Michigan federal jury during opening statements that his client was wrongfully denied an exemption from the casino's COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

  • January 08, 2025

    Welch's Asks 3rd Circ. To Nix Alleged Harasser Rehire Order

    Welch's is asking the Third Circuit to undo a September order from a Pennsylvania judge requiring it to rehire a worker fired for allegedly sexually harassing a co-worker, saying the labor arbitrator who issued the decision failed to make a clear finding of fact both initially and on remand.

  • January 08, 2025

    Black Ex-Poultry Worker Wants Secret Recordings In Bias Trial

    A Black former employee at Mountaire Farms Inc. has urged a North Carolina federal judge to let the jury in his upcoming racial termination bias trial hear secret recordings he made of his conversations with company representatives, arguing he can verify their authenticity.

  • January 08, 2025

    Medical Info Fair Game In EEOC Harassment Suit, Judge Says

    A Texas federal judge ordered the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to hand over medical records concerning an ex-worker's claims that the stress she experienced while enduring sexual harassment at a Jack in the Box franchise caused her to miscarry.

  • January 08, 2025

    Jay-Z Wants Sanctions Against Buzbee In Diddy Rape Suit

    Rapper Jay-Z asked Wednesday that Texas attorney Tony Buzbee be sanctioned for filing a lawsuit accusing him and embattled rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs of raping a 13-year-old girl, claiming inconsistencies in the girl's story show Buzbee "knowingly filed a false complaint."

  • January 08, 2025

    Cops' Suit Over Firing For Pot Use Sent To NJ State Court

    A New Jersey federal judge has kicked back to state court a suit against Jersey City by two police officers who say they were wrongly fired for off-duty cannabis use, finding that the suit does not implicate federal law that would give the federal courts jurisdiction.

  • January 08, 2025

    Judge Laments Atty's $32K Sanctions Saga In Tasty Bias Case

    A Pennsylvania judge expressed disappointment Wednesday about the need for a $32,000 sanction against an attorney accused of flouting deadlines in his client's employment discrimination claims against Tasty Baking Co., noting that "it didn't have to be this way."

  • January 08, 2025

    New Dad Says Raytheon Unit Fired Him Over Leave Request

    A Raytheon subsidiary allowed managers to make disparaging comments to an employee who sought to take parental leave to care for his newborn and then fired him six days before the leave was about to start, according to a suit filed in New York federal court.

  • January 07, 2025

    Ex-Prosecutor Disbarred For Fabricating Harassing Texts

    A former Denver prosecutor will be disbarred after a Colorado disciplinary panel found she fabricated text messages in order to falsely accuse a coworker of sexual harassment.

Expert Analysis

  • One Contract Fix Can Reduce Employer Lawsuit Exposure

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    A recent Fifth Circuit ruling that saved FedEx over $365 million highlights how a one-sentence limitation provision on an employment application or in an at-will employment agreement may be the easiest cost-savings measure for employers against legal claims, say Sara O'Keefe and William Wortel at BCLP.

  • The State Of Play In DEI And ESG 1 Year After Harvard Ruling

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    Almost a year after the U.S. Supreme Court decided Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, attorney general scrutiny of environmental, social and governance-related efforts indicates a potential path for corporate diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives to be targeted, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • Water Cooler Talk: Sick Leave Insights From 'Parks And Rec'

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    Tracey Diamond and Evan Gibbs at Troutman Pepper spoke with Lisa Whittaker at the J.M. Smucker Co. about how to effectively manage sick leave policies to ensure legal compliance and fairness to all employees, in a discussion inspired by a "Parks and Recreation" episode.

  • Navigating Title VII Compliance And Litigation Post-Muldrow

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Muldrow v. St. Louis has broadened the scope of Title VII litigation, meaning employers must reassess their practices to ensure compliance across jurisdictions and conduct more detailed factual analyses to defend against claims effectively, say Robert Pepple and Christopher Stevens at Nixon Peabody.

  • Why Employers Shouldn't Overreact To Protest Activities

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    Recent decisions from the First Circuit in Kinzer v. Whole Foods and the National Labor Relations Board in Home Depot hold eye-opening takeaways about which employee conduct is protected as "protest activity" and make a case for fighting knee-jerk reactions that could result in costly legal proceedings, says Frank Shuster at Constangy.

  • Best Practices To Accommodate Workplace Service Animals

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Since the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently pledged to enforce accommodations for people with intellectual, developmental and mental health-related disabilities, companies should use an interactive process to properly respond when employees ask about bringing service animals into the workplace, say Samuel Lillard and Jantzen Mace at Ogletree.

  • Kansas Workers' Comp. Updates Can Benefit Labor, Business

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    While the most significant shake-up from the April amendment to the Kansas Workers Compensation Act will likely be the increase in potential lifetime payouts for workers totally disabled on the job, other changes that streamline the hearing process will benefit both employees and companies, says Weston Mills at Gilson Daub.

  • Fostering Employee Retention Amid Shaky DEI Landscape

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    Ongoing challenges to the legality of corporate diversity, equity and inclusion programs are complicating efforts to use DEI as an employee retention tool, but with the right strategic approach employers can continue to recruit and retain diverse talent — even after the FTC’s ban on noncompetes, says Ally Coll at the Purple Method.

  • Justices' Title VII Ruling Requires Greater Employer Vigilance

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Muldrow v. St. Louis ruling expands the types of employment decisions that can be challenged under Title VII, so employers will need to carefully review decisions that affect a term, condition or privilege of employment, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • 6th Circ. Bias Ruling Shows Job Evaluations Are Key Defense

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    In Wehrly v. Allstate, the Sixth Circuit recently declined to revive a terminated employee’s federal and state religious discrimination and retaliation claims, illustrating that an employer’s strongest defense in such cases is a documented employment evaluation history that justifies an adverse action, says Michael Luchsinger at Segal Mccambridge.

  • Navigating Harassment Complaints From Trans Employees

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    The Eleventh Circuit's recent decision in Copeland v. Georgia Department of Corrections, concerning the harassment of a transgender employee, should serve as a cautionary tale for employers, but there are steps that companies can take to create a more inclusive workplace and mitigate the risks of claims from transgender and nonbinary employees, say Patricia Konopka and Ann Thomas at Stinson.

  • Employer Considerations Before Title IX Rule Goes Into Effect

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    While the U.S. Department of Education's final rule on Title IX is currently published as an unofficial version, institutions and counsel should take immediate action to ensure they are prepared for the new requirements, including protections for LGBTQ+ and pregnant students and employees, before it takes effect in August, say Jeffrey Weimer and Cori Smith at Reed Smith.

  • 5 Employer Actions Now Risky After Justices' Title VII Ruling

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    Last week in Muldrow v. St. Louis, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that harm didn't have to be significant to be considered discriminatory under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, making five common employer actions vulnerable to litigation, say Kellee Kruse and Briana Scholar at The Employment Law Group.