Discrimination

  • October 04, 2024

    Real Estate Co., EEOC Strike Deal To End Race Bias Suit

    A real estate company has agreed to end a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lawsuit alleging it gave a Black manager twice as much work as a white colleague and ultimately fired him because he was "lazy," according to a filing in Georgia federal court.

  • October 04, 2024

    LA Dispensary Hit With Sex Harassment, Unpaid Wages Suit

    A dispensary in Los Angeles failed to fairly compensate workers and allowed its CEO to sexually harass a former employee, she told a California state court.

  • October 04, 2024

    High Court To Weigh In On Halliburton Worker's Age Bias Suit

    The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Friday to wade into an age discrimination lawsuit from a former Halliburton employee who said his case was wrongly shut down when the Tenth Circuit ruled a trial court lacked the power to reopen it following arbitration.

  • October 04, 2024

    Justices Take Up Straight Worker's Demotion Bias Suit

    The U.S. Supreme Court said Friday it will review a discrimination lawsuit by a former Ohio Department of Youth Services worker claiming she was denied a promotion and then demoted for being heterosexual while LGBTQ candidates were advanced.

  • October 04, 2024

    Greenberg Traurig Adds WeWork Employment Law Head In SF

    Greenberg Traurig LLP is boosting its West Coast team, bringing in WeWork's former global head of employment law as a shareholder in its San Francisco office.

  • October 03, 2024

    Cognizant Worker Transfers From India Declining, Jury Told

    Cognizant Technologies rested its defense Thursday of class action claims that it is biased toward Indian workers after a company executive testified that the number of employee transfers from India to the U.S. has steadily decreased since 2014, bringing to a close live testimony in the racially charged retrial.

  • October 03, 2024

    11th Circ. Rejects Bid To Block Fla. Law Banning Trans Care

    The Eleventh Circuit said Thursday it would not reconsider a decision that allowed a Florida law that bans gender-affirming care for transgender minors and restricts it for adults to take effect.

  • October 03, 2024

    2nd Circ. Revives NYC School Principal's Retaliation Suit

    The Second Circuit reinstated Thursday a former principal's suit claiming the New York City Department of Education hit her with a bogus investigation after she complained about racial bias, ruling the lower court was wrong to find a carveout for Title VI retaliation claims killed her case.

  • October 03, 2024

    12 Lawyers Who Are The Future Of The Supreme Court Bar

    One attorney hasn't lost a single U.S. Supreme Court case she's argued, or even a single justice's vote. One attorney is perhaps "the preeminent SCOTUS advocate." And one may soon become U.S. solicitor general, despite acknowledging there are "judges out there who don't like me." All three are among a dozen lawyers in the vanguard of the Supreme Court bar's next generation, poised to follow in the footsteps of the bar's current icons.

  • October 03, 2024

    Garth Brooks Accused Of Rape By Former Stylist

    Country music star Garth Brooks' former hair and makeup stylist sued him in California state court on Thursday, claiming he raped her in a Los Angeles hotel room while preparing for a Recording Academy event in 2019.

  • October 03, 2024

    Okla. Campus Police Officer Gets Trial In Age Bias Suit

    An Oklahoma federal judge on Thursday teed up for trial a former campus police officer's claims alleging a school district refused to rehire him because he was 65 and had lodged complaints about a superior, but threw out his allegation that he was deprived of his due process rights.

  • October 03, 2024

    Dollar Tree Dodges Retaliation Claims In FMLA Suit

    A former Dollar Tree store manager failed to support her claims that she faced retaliation over her Family and Medical Leave Act request to take time off to care for her disabled son due to the coronavirus pandemic, a Pennsylvania federal judge ruled, handing a partial win to the retailer.

  • October 03, 2024

    4th Circ. Revives Retaliation Claim In NIH Race Bias Suit

    The Fourth Circuit has revived part of a discrimination suit by a Black former chief grants management officer with the National Institutes of Health, reasoning in a published opinion that the lower court failed to consider her retaliation claim solely in the context of the complaint's allegations.

  • October 03, 2024

    Del. Agency Dodges Ex-Employee's Disability Bias Suit

    A Delaware state agency defeated a former employee's lawsuit alleging she faced increased scrutiny from supervisors because of her service dog and was terminated while on medical leave, with a federal judge ruling Thursday that the department is immune from her federal bias claims.

  • October 03, 2024

    Jones Day Parental Leave Bias Claims Must Go To Jury

    Jones Day will have to defend its family leave policy at trial against claims from married ex-associates who say it is discriminatory and violates District of Columbia law, a D.C. federal judge said Thursday in concluding such bias allegations were a close call.

  • October 03, 2024

    Md. State Police Ink $2.8 Deal To End DOJ Hiring Bias Suit

    The Maryland Department of State Police has agreed to pay $2.75 million to settle a U.S. Department of Justice suit claiming it used physical fitness and written tests to screen out Black and female applicants for entry-level trooper positions.

  • October 03, 2024

    Co. Fired Older Worker After One Look, EEOC Says

    A Washington-based construction services company pulled a 67-year-old assembler's job placement because of a manager's incorrect assumption about his physical capabilities, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleged in a complaint filed in federal court.

  • October 03, 2024

    EEOC Says Colo. Pot Shop Fired Budtender Over Disability

    The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is suing a Colorado marijuana dispensary, alleging that it fired a budtender for memory issues stemming from a mini stroke when she was nine years old, while privately calling her a "fruitcake."

  • October 03, 2024

    Liberty U. Says Its Faith Compelled Trans Worker's Firing

    Liberty University asked a Virginia federal judge Thursday to toss a transgender worker's suit claiming she was fired after she announced she was transitioning, arguing it was allowed to fire her because her gender identity ran counter to the school's religious beliefs.

  • October 03, 2024

    Venable Assistant Sues Firm For Denying Medical WFH Status

    A Venable LLP administrative assistant has sued her employer in Los Angeles Superior Court, accusing the firm of denying her medically necessary work from home request in violation of the Fair Employment and Housing Act by forcing her into unpaid administrative leave.

  • October 02, 2024

    Kirkland Accuses Ex-IP Atty Of Delaying Bias Suit Discovery

    Kirkland & Ellis LLP told a California federal magistrate judge Wednesday that a former Kirkland intellectual property associate has delayed discovery production in her discrimination lawsuit against the firm, arguing that her discovery responses cite an erroneous legal standard, are non-committal and are "not even close to being proper."

  • October 02, 2024

    Cognizant Exec Cites India's Talent Pool To Explain Workforce

    A Cognizant Technologies vice president repeatedly denied in testimony Wednesday that the company is biased toward Indian workers in a class action brought by former employees, and said the company's high percentage of Indian workers with visas is due to the "vast pool of engineering talent" in that country.

  • October 02, 2024

    5 Takeaways As EEOC Crosses Into New Fiscal Year

    The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a surge of new suits before its fiscal year wrapped up Monday but still ended up bringing fewer cases than the previous year, which management-side experts attribute to the agency focusing on potentially high-impact systemic suits and targeting key priorities. Here are five takeaways as the calendar flips at the EEOC.

  • October 02, 2024

    White Ex-Coach Won't Get 11th Circ. Redo In Bias Suit

    An Eleventh Circuit panel on Wednesday rejected a former football coach's request to reconsider its decision not to reopen a lawsuit alleging that a Georgia school district refused to renew his contract because he is white.

  • October 02, 2024

    3rd Circ. Revives Fired Window Co. Manager's Retaliation Suit

    The Third Circuit reinstated a suit Wednesday from a window factory manager in Pennsylvania who said he was fired for opposing the termination of two Black employees who didn't show up for their shifts, rejecting the lower court's concerns that he didn't clearly oppose the move as discriminatory.

Expert Analysis

  • Employer Best Practices For Pay Transparency Compliance

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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.