Discrimination

  • August 16, 2024

    New Jersey Litigation Highlights Of 2024: A Midyear Report

    A court's upheaval of New Jersey's longstanding "county line" ballot layout for the Democratic primary fueled both sides of the lively political aisle this year, while the same federal judge also riled the state's pharmaceutical hotbed by ending two challenges to Medicare's ability to negotiate drug prices. Here, Law360 looks at some of the notable cases so far in New Jersey.

  • August 15, 2024

    CBS, Writer To Resolve Bias Suit Via Summary Judgment

    A California federal judge refused to toss a freelance scriptwriter's lawsuit accusing CBS of repeatedly denying him a staff writer position for being a "white, heterosexual male," but said the suit could be resolved without a hearing.

  • August 15, 2024

    9th Circ. Judges Seem To Split On Wash. Abortion Coverage

    A Ninth Circuit judge asked Thursday how a church could be harmed by a Washington law requiring employee health plans to cover abortions, since none of its workers had ever actually sought one, while another judge asked if tossing the case would slam the door on religious objections.

  • August 15, 2024

    3 Hurdles Facing Worker-Side Attys Looking To Tackle AI Bias

    The growing use of artificial intelligence in hiring and other workplace decisions has the plaintiffs bar playing catch-up as attorneys try to track down workers who have been harmed by AI tools and figure out how and when the technology is being used. Here are the three biggest obstacles for plaintiffs lawyers who want to ensure AI doesn't discriminate.

  • August 15, 2024

    Caterpillar Must Face Illinois Ex-Workers' Genetic Privacy Suit

    Caterpillar Inc. can't escape a proposed class action alleging it violated an Illinois genetic information privacy statute by asking job applicants about their family medical history, a federal judge ruled, rejecting the machinery manufacturer's assertion that it didn't intend to collect the data.

  • August 15, 2024

    Full 11th Circ. To Weigh Georgia Deputy's Trans Health Win

    The Eleventh Circuit agreed Thursday to a full-court rehearing of an appeal from Georgia county officials looking to overturn a deputy's win in her suit alleging a health plan coverage exclusion for gender-affirming surgery violated federal anti-discrimination law.

  • August 15, 2024

    Ex-Morelli Atty Says Sex Assault Claims Waived In Settlement

    Morelli Law Firm PLLC and its founding partner Benedict Morelli settled sexual assault allegations from an associate at its predecessor firm, Morelli Ratner PC, before she filed suit against fellow named partner David Ratner, according to a motion Ratner filed in New York state court Tuesday seeking a copy of the settlement.

  • August 15, 2024

    Pet Supply Co. To Pay $340K In EEOC Sex Harassment Suit

    A pet supply company has agreed to hand over $340,000 to resolve a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sexual harassment suit alleging it allowed two male workers to subject female colleagues to crude comments and inappropriate touching.

  • August 15, 2024

    NJ Court Urged To Toss All Of Ex-Elections Chief's Claims

    New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has again asked a Garden State trial court judge to dismiss a lawsuit claiming he conspired with top staffers to oust the state's former elections chief, arguing that as government officials, the defendants are all entitled to qualified immunity.

  • August 15, 2024

    NY Asks Top Court To Nix Ruling Against Ethics Commission

    The Office of the New York State Attorney General has submitted a brief urging the state's highest court to reverse a finding against an ethics commission that former Gov. Andrew Cuomo convinced a state court was unconstitutional.

  • August 15, 2024

    Washington Nationals, Ex-Scout Drop Vaccine Mandate Fight

    The Washington Nationals and a former scout accusing the team of firing him for seeking a religious exemption to a COVID-19 vaccine requirement have agreed to end a two-year legal fight, according to D.C. federal court documents filed Thursday.

  • August 15, 2024

    Norfolk Southern Engineer Asks 3rd Circ. To Revive ADA Suit

    A train conductor urged the Third Circuit to reinstate his disability bias suit claiming he was unlawfully disqualified from his position because of his history of seizures, saying Norfolk Southern Railway Co. and a lower court ignored evidence that he could safely perform his job.

  • August 15, 2024

    Harvard, Grad Students Settle Sexual Harassment Case

    Harvard University and a group of doctoral students in its anthropology program have reached a settlement in a sexual harassment lawsuit alleging the school ignored a now-retired professor's misconduct, according to a Wednesday federal court filing.

  • August 14, 2024

    Tesla Factory Race Bias Class Action Will Go To Trial In 2025

    A California judge said at a case management conference Wednesday that a certified class action by Black workers alleging Tesla allowed racial discrimination to run rampant will go to trial in 2025, noting the plaintiff sued in 2017 and "everybody, the plaintiffs and the defense, needs to have closure on these issues."

  • August 14, 2024

    Holland & Knight Out, Polsinelli In For Tesla After Atty Moves

    As Holland & Knight LLP steps out of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's lawsuit alleging Tesla allowed rampant racism to overtake a California factory, a California federal judge allowed Polsinelli PC to step in as the electric carmaker's counsel after three attorneys switched to the incoming firm.

  • August 14, 2024

    Doctor Loses Challenge To Nursing Home's Vax Policy

    A New Jersey federal judge on Wednesday tossed a CareOne doctor's challenge to the nursing home operator's COVID-19 vaccine mandate, saying she did not pass the Third Circuit's test for an exemption for failing to exhaust her administrative remedies.

  • August 14, 2024

    Denver Law Grad Sanctioned In Suit Over Externship Failure

    A University of Denver law school graduate with disabilities who was fired by the Denver District Attorney's Office during a school externship cannot sue the school for discrimination, a Colorado federal judge has ruled, sanctioning the former student for misogynistic attacks against opposing counsel and other behavior.

  • August 14, 2024

    8th Circ. Backs Firing Of Worker Who Dissed Pride Rainbow

    The Eighth Circuit refused Wednesday to revive a religious bias suit from a Christian worker who said he was unlawfully fired by Arconic Davenport LLC after calling a Pride month rainbow on the aluminum company's website an "abomination," backing Arconic's determination that he violated company policy.

  • August 14, 2024

    Music Exec L.A. Reid Can't Trim Producer's Sex Assault Suit

    Music executive Antonio "L.A." Reid can't toss false imprisonment and emotional distress claims in a lawsuit accusing him of sexual assault brought under the New York Adult Survivors Act, after a federal judge rejected his argument that the claims are untimely because the act revives claims stemming from the alleged assault.

  • August 14, 2024

    6th Circ. Backs Ohio Dept. In Ex-Auditor's Disability Bias Suit

    The Sixth Circuit upheld an Ohio state health department's win over a former auditor's lawsuit alleging she was fired for requesting a schedule adjustment because of her depression and anxiety, saying Wednesday that the worker refused to engage in conversations that could've identified a suitable accommodation.

  • August 14, 2024

    NC DOT Looks To Ditch Race Bias Suit Over $17.8M Megasite

    The North Carolina Department of Transportation wants an early exit from a subcontractor's suit claiming that its Black employees were met with racial discrimination on a large development site, saying the subcontractor's real beef is with the main contractor on the project.

  • August 14, 2024

    Ex-PGA Tour Employee Pushes For Vaccine Suit To Proceed

    A former PGA Tour employee urged a Florida federal judge to keep his discrimination suit alive, saying Tuesday that not only did the organization refuse to honor his religious objection to COVID-19 vaccine protocols, it fired him for it.

  • August 14, 2024

    1st Circ. Revives Vax Refusal Suit Against Beth Israel

    The First Circuit on Tuesday revived a suit against health facility system Beth Israel Lahey Health Inc. from an office manager who was fired over her refusal to be vaccinated against COVID-19, disagreeing with a lower court that said she hadn't shown a genuine religious belief meriting a vaccine exemption.

  • August 14, 2024

    Calbiotech Beats Ex-Worker's 401(k) Retaliation Suit

    A former Calbiotech Inc. employee must return a $12,500 payment he received after being terminated, a California federal judge ruled, finding he breached his severance agreement by filing a lawsuit claiming he was let go for asking about the life sciences company's 401(k) plan documents.

  • August 14, 2024

    EEOC Can't End 2 States' Freeze Of Pregnant Worker Rule

    A Louisiana federal judge rejected the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's bid to knock out an injunction blocking the agency from making two states and several religious groups require workplace accommodations for elective abortions, saying a June U.S. Supreme Court decision didn't upend his analysis.

Expert Analysis

  • Anticipating The Impact Of 2 Impending New Title IX Rules

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    Two major amendments to Title IX — which the U.S. Department of Education is expected to finalize next month — would substantially alter the process schools must use for sexual discrimination complaints and limiting student participation in athletics based on gender identity, says Rebecca Sha at Phelps Dunbar.

  • Despite Regulation Lag, AI Whistleblowers Have Protections

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    Potential whistleblowers at companies failing to comply with the voluntary artificial intelligence commitments must look to a patchwork of state and federal laws for protection and incentives, but deserve comprehensive regulation in this field, say Alexis Ronickher and Matthew LaGarde at Katz Banks.

  • FCRA Legislation To Watch For The Remainder Of 2023

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    If enacted, pending federal and state legislation may result in significant changes for the Fair Credit Reporting Act landscape and thus require regulated entities and practitioners to pivot their compliance strategies, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • A Closer Look At Another HBCU Race Bias Suit Against NCAA

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    The National Collegiate Athletic Association's Academic Performance Program has become a lightning rod for scrutiny, as seen in the recently filed class action McKinney v. NCAA — where statistics in the complaint raise questions about the program's potential discriminatory impact on student-athletes at historically Black colleges and universities, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • Employer Defenses After High Court Religious Bias Decision

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    Following the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in Groff v. DeJoy — which raised the bar for proving that a worker’s religious accommodation presents an undue hardship — employers can enlist other defense strategies, including grounds that an employee's belief is nonsectarian, say Kevin Jackson and Jack FitzGerald at Foley & Lardner.

  • Where Employers Stand After 5th Circ. Overturns Title VII Test

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    The substantial impact of the recent holding in Hamilton v. Dallas County means employers in the Fifth Circuit can now be liable under Title VII for a whole range of conduct not previously covered — but the court did set limits, and employers can take tangible steps to help protect themselves, say Holly Williamson and Steven DiBeneditto at Hunton.

  • Gauging The Scope Of NYC's New AI Employment Law

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    Although employers have received some guidance on the requirements of New York City's new restriction on the use of automated employment decision tools, there are many open questions to grapple with as Local Law 144 attempts to regulate new and evolving technology, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.

  • Eye On Compliance: Women's Soccer Puts Equal Pay In Focus

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    As the U.S. Women's National Team returns from World Cup, employers can honor the fighting spirit of the athletes — which won them a historic gender pay equality settlement in 2022 — by reviewing federal equal pay compliance requirements and committing to a level playing field for all genders, says Christina Heischmidt at Wilson Elser.

  • Inflexible Remote Work Policies Can Put Employers In A Bind

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    As made clear in the recent decision by a Pennsylvania federal court in Oross v. Kutztown University, employers need to engage in individualized assessments of all requests for exemptions or accommodations to return-to-work policies to avoid potentially violating the Americans with Disabilities Act or Rehabilitation Act, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper. 

  • Congress Should Ban Employee Body Size Discrimination

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    New York City's recent enactment of a law that bans employers from discriminating against applicants and employees because of their height or weight should signal to Congress that now is the time to establish federal legislation that would prohibit such harmful practices, says Joseph Jeziorkowski at Valiant Law.

  • Why Employers Should Heed High Court Web Designer Ruling

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    While not an employment law ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in the First Amendment case 303 Creative v. Elenis raises serious questions for employers that constitute public accommodations and have related anti-discrimination policies, says Tanner Camp at Foley & Lardner.

  • What To Expect From The EEOC's Proposed Pregnancy Law

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    U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission regulations implementing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act require accommodations for many conditions related to pregnancy and childbirth, and while the final rule won't be published until the public comment period expires in October, employers should act promptly, says Amy Gluck at FisherBroyles.

  • Employer Best Practices For Pay Transparency Compliance

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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.