Discrimination
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January 13, 2025
Walmart Says Deaf Applicant Could Have Provided Interpreter
Walmart urged an Illinois federal judge to toss a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission suit claiming it never called back a deaf job applicant after he said he needed an American Sign Language interpreter, arguing that he's responsible for the breakdown in communication.
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January 13, 2025
Ex-NJ Public Defender, Atlantic City End Bias Suit
A New Jersey federal judge has dismissed a gender discrimination and retaliation lawsuit brought by a former municipal public defender against Atlantic City and her onetime supervisor after the parties settled.
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January 13, 2025
Smith Gambrell Faces DQ Bid In Major Lindsey Suit
A former Major Lindsey & Africa employee with a lengthy legal history with the recruiter is seeking to disqualify Smith Gambrell from representing Major Lindsey in her $75 million federal defamation suit, arguing three attorneys are key witnesses to help determine liability.
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January 10, 2025
Up Next At High Court: Porn ID Check & Retiree Discrimination
The U.S. Supreme Court will return to the bench Monday for a full argument session, in which the justices will debate whether a Texas law requiring pornography websites to verify their visitors aren't minors violates the First Amendment and if retirees have the right to sue former employers for benefits discrimination.
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January 10, 2025
Blue State AGs Urge Walmart To Reinstate DEI Initiatives
A group of Democratic state attorneys general sent a letter to Walmart CEO Doug McMillon on Thursday urging the retail giant to reconsider scrapping diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, saying such programs "are not just good policy, but in many cases are necessary to comply with the law."
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January 10, 2025
Health Co. Wants To Quit Nicotine Surcharge Suit
Nonprofit health system Advocate Aurora Health is urging an Illinois federal judge to permanently toss former employees' lawsuit targeting an allegedly illegal tobacco-use surcharge in its health plan, arguing that after three tries they still have failed to bring a viable claim.
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January 10, 2025
NJ Says Existing Anti-Discrimination Law Applies To Using AI
New Jersey's attorney general issued guidance clarifying that the Garden State's discrimination law applies to "algorithmic discrimination," or discrimination and bias-based harassment stemming from the use of artificial intelligence and other similar technologies.
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January 10, 2025
Ex-Accenture Worker Fights To Keep Harassment Suit Alive
A former management consulting analyst for Accenture LLP who sued the company over its handling of sexual harassment complaints against a supervisor asked a Georgia federal judge Thursday to ignore a magistrate judge's position that adding "meritless" disability claims to the suit would be a pointless exercise.
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January 10, 2025
6th Circ. Revives Physical Therapist's Miscarriage ADA Suit
The Sixth Circuit revived a physical therapist's suit Friday claiming an Ohio medical center wouldn't let her transfer to a new role after raising concerns that her current job triggered panic attacks following a miscarriage, ruling the lower court failed to correctly probe whether she had a disability.
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January 10, 2025
3rd Circ. Won't Revive Ex-US Steel Worker's Race Bias Suit
The Third Circuit upheld U.S. Steel's win over a Black former train operator's lawsuit claiming he was fired after he was erroneously blamed for a 2015 derailment, ruling Friday he'd failed to show his race cost him the job rather than his lengthy disciplinary record.
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January 10, 2025
Minn. Worker Says Honeywell Nixed Job Offer Over Drug Test
A Minnesota man is suing Honeywell International Inc., saying that the company violated state cannabis and disability law when it rescinded an offer of employment after he tested positive for cannabis use despite being on the state's Medical Cannabis Registry.
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January 10, 2025
High Court To Weigh Long-Standing Split On ADA's Scope
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments Monday about whether retirees with disabilities can pursue Americans with Disabilities Act claims over post-employment benefits, in a case that gives the justices a chance to clear up a question that lower courts have grappled with for decades.
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January 10, 2025
Fired Athletics Exec Slaps USC With Intersectional Bias Suit
The University of Southern California fired a high-ranking Black woman from its athletics department after she complained that her boss made frequent racist and sexist remarks, according to a suit filed in state court that invokes California's new intersectionality bias law.
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January 10, 2025
2nd Circ. Yanks Prior Ruling, Revives Pfizer Race Bias Suit
The Second Circuit reopened an advocacy group's lawsuit Friday claiming a Pfizer Inc. fellowship program unlawfully excluded white and Asian applicants, upending a March panel decision that said the group failed to pinpoint who was harmed.
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January 10, 2025
Law School Admissions Council Sued For Bias By DEI Staffer
A Black woman and former manager of the Law School Admission Council's diversity initiatives on Friday sued the nonprofit, claiming she was passed over for promotion because she complained about alleged discrimination by one of her supervisors.
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January 10, 2025
MLB Can't Pause Discovery In Umpires' Harassment Suit
Major League Baseball can't pause a lawsuit alleging it allowed two minor league umpires to be sexually harassed by a female colleague, a New York federal judge ruled, saying MLB hadn't shown it was necessary to halt discovery while he considered a bid to trim the case.
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January 10, 2025
Calif. Forecast: 9th Circ. To Weigh Cal State 'Caste' Policy
In the next week, attorneys should watch for Ninth Circuit oral arguments regarding whether a "caste" policy at the California State University system unlawfully targets Hindu employees and others. Here's a look at that case and other labor and employment matters on deck in the Golden State.
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January 09, 2025
Amazon HR App Puts Workers In 'Disability Limbo,' Suit Says
An Amazon worker has hit the company with a proposed class action in Washington federal court, saying the e-commerce giant's human resources A to Z app illegally denies disability accommodations and puts workers in "disability limbo."
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
Expert Analysis
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9th Circ. Ruling Flags Work Harassment Risks Of Social Media
The recent Ninth Circuit ruling in Okonowsky v. Garland, holding an employer could be liable for a co-worker's harassing social media posts, highlights new challenges in technology-centered and remote workplaces, and underscores an employer's obligation to prevent hostile environments wherever their employees clock in, say Jennifer Lada and Phillip Schreiber at Holland & Knight.
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Eye On Compliance: NY's New Freelance Protection Law
New York's Freelance Isn't Free Act is set to take effect later this month, meaning employers must be proactive in ensuring compliance and take steps to mitigate risks, such as updating documentation and specifying correct worker classification, says Jonathan Meer at Wilson Elser.
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3 Notes For Arbitration Agreements After Calif. Ruling
After last month's California Supreme Court decision in Ramirez v. Charter Communications invalidated several arbitration clauses in the company's employee contracts as unconscionable, companies should ensure their own arbitration agreements steer clear of three major pitfalls identified by the court, say attorneys at Cooley.
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Eye On Compliance: New Pregnancy And Nursing Protections
With New York rolling out paid lactation breaks and extra leave for prenatal care, and recent federal legislative developments enhancing protection for pregnant and nursing workers, employers required to offer these complex new accommodations should take several steps to mitigate their compliance risks, says Madjeen Garcon-Bonneau at Wilson Elser.
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How Calif. Ruling Alters Worker Arb. Agreement Enforcement
The California Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Ramirez v. Charter Communications should caution employers that while workers’ arbitration agreements will no longer be deemed unenforceable based on their number of unconscionable provisions, they must still be fair and balanced, says Sander van der Heide at CDF Labor.
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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: July Lessons
In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy considers cases touching on pre- and post-conviction detainment conditions, communications with class representatives, when the American Pipe tolling doctrine stops applying to modified classes, and more.
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How To Comply With Chicago's New Paid Leave Ordinance
Chicago's new Paid Leave and Paid Sick and Safe Leave Ordinance went into effect earlier this month, so employers subject to the new rules should update leave policies, train supervisors and deliver notice as they seek compliance, say Alison Crane and Sarah Gasperini at Jackson Lewis.
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Big Business May Come To Rue The Post-Administrative State
Many have framed the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decisions overturning Chevron deference and extending the window to challenge regulations as big wins for big business, but sand in the gears of agency rulemaking may be a double-edged sword, creating prolonged uncertainty that impedes businesses’ ability to plan for the future, says Todd Baker at Columbia University.
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A Timeline Of Antisemitism Legislation And What It Means
What began as hearings in the House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce has expanded to a House-wide effort to combat antisemitism and related issues, with wide-ranging implications for education, finance and nonprofit entities, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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Colo. Ruling Adopts 'Actual Discharge' Test For The First Time
After a Colorado court’s recent decision in Potts v. Gaia Children, adopting for the first time a test for evaluating an actual discharge claim, employers must diligently document the circumstances surrounding termination of employment, and exercise particular caution when texting employees, says Michael Laszlo at Clark Hill.
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It's Time For Nationwide Race-Based Hair Protections
While 24 states have passed laws that prohibit race-based hair discrimination, this type of bias persists in workplaces and schools, so a robust federal law is necessary to ensure widespread protection, says Samone Ijoma and Erica Roberts at Sanford Heisler.
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After Chevron: EEOC Status Quo Will Likely Continue
As the legal landscape adjusts to the end of Chevron deference, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s rulemaking authority isn’t likely to shift as much as some other employment-related agencies, says Paige Lyle at FordHarrison.
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After Chevron: Various Paths For Labor And Employment Law
Labor and employment law leans heavily on federal agency guidance, so the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to toss out Chevron deference will ripple through this area, with future workplace policies possibly taking shape through strategic litigation, informal guidance, state-level regulation and more, says Alexander MacDonald at Littler.