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Discrimination

  • August 29, 2025

    NY Forecast: 2nd Circ. Hears Northwell COVID Vaccine Suit

    This week, the Second Circuit will consider whether to revive a suit brought by former healthcare workers who claimed they were discriminated against on the basis of their religion when they were fired for refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine.

  • August 29, 2025

    UPenn Prof Suspended For Racist Remarks Loses Bias Claim

    University of Pennsylvania law professor Amy Wax lost her federal discrimination claims against the school for suspending her over disparaging comments she made about minorities, with a judge finding that she was disciplined for racist speech, not because of her own race.

  • August 29, 2025

    Ill. Jury Sides With Ex-CTA Worker In Vax Bias Lawsuit

    An Illinois federal jury on Friday awarded a former Chicago Transit Authority employee $425,000 in damages, finding the transit agency liable on his religious discrimination claim after he was terminated following his refusal to take the COVID-19 vaccine and denied an exemption to the agency's vaccine requirement.

  • August 29, 2025

    Calif. Forecast: NLRB Fights Co. With Union-Busting Claims

    In the coming week, attorneys should watch for arguments in a National Labor Relations Board case against an environmental and engineering consultant. Here's a look at that case and other labor and employment matters on deck in California.

  • August 29, 2025

    Single Slur Not Enough For Retaliation Suit, Judge Says

    A Michigan federal judge stood by her dismissal of an Arab American worker's suit claiming a car dealership fired him for protesting a supervisor's racist language while following up on her original ruling to say that opposition to the single use of a slur isn't enough to establish a retaliation case.

  • August 29, 2025

    Wage And Hour Laws To Look Out For This Fall

    Workers in Maine will get extra wages if their employer cancels or cuts back their shift last minute, and employers in Cleveland will have to abide by new salary history and pay transparency requirements. Here, À¶Ý®ÊÓÆµ looks at these and other wage and hour and equal pay laws coming in the fall.

  • August 28, 2025

    10th Circ. Told Okla. 'Race Theory' Law Must Go

    The Tenth Circuit is being told it must ensure academic freedom for the students of Oklahoma, whose constitutional rights and "the very nature of the classroom as a place that nurtures inquiry and discussion" are being undermined by a state law restricting what they can be taught.

  • August 28, 2025

    Ex-Katten Partner's $67M Age Bias Suit Stayed For Arbitration

    A Manhattan federal judge stayed a $67 million discrimination lawsuit brought by a former Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP partner alleging the firm pushed him out of the aircraft-finance practice group, pressured him to resign and then fired him because of his age, saying there is an arbitration agreement at play.

  • August 28, 2025

    Car Dealership Settles EEOC Hiring Bias Suit For $275K

    The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced Thursday that it struck a $275,000 deal with a Missouri car dealership to end a gender bias suit claiming the business only hired women for office jobs and men for sales jobs.

  • August 28, 2025

    Religion Didn't Drive Ex-CTA Worker's Vax Refusal, Jury Hears

    A former Chicago Transit Authority electrician hasn't met his burden of proving religious discrimination was behind his termination when he refused to be vaccinated against COVID-19, and his refusal was based on personal preference and health and safety concerns about the jab, an Illinois federal jury heard Thursday.

  • August 28, 2025

    White Workers Say Shell Reorganization Was Discriminatory

    Shell was hit with a federal lawsuit this week accusing it of implementing a "pretextual departmental reorganization" that discriminated against several white employees.

  • August 28, 2025

    Ex-State Farm VP Sues Activists Over Secretly Recording Date

    A former State Farm executive has sued political activist James O'Keefe and a woman who lied about her intentions to date him, claiming they violated Illinois' eavesdropping statute by secretly recording his comments about State Farm's diversity efforts and rate hikes and later posting misleading videos of him, costing him his job.

  • August 28, 2025

    8th Circ. Brings Back EEOC Harassment Suit Against BNSF

    The Eighth Circuit on Thursday revived a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lawsuit accusing BNSF Railway Co. of failing to adequately safeguard women at a Nebraska rail yard from rampant harassment, saying the legal standard applied by a trial court was too rigid.

  • August 28, 2025

    School Union Inks $110K Deal To End EEOC Race Bias Suit

    A school district labor union has agreed to pay $110,000 to resolve a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission suit claiming it discriminated against a Black custodian by challenging his promotion, according to a filing Thursday in Illinois federal court.

  • August 28, 2025

    Ex-Law Firm Worker Gets More Time To Give Info In Bias Suit

    A New Jersey state judge gave the attorney for a woman suing a Garden State law firm in a workplace discrimination case additional time to respond to overdue discovery requests after he failed to reply for more than seven months.

  • August 28, 2025

    EEOC Yanks Guide On Workforce Demographic Data

    A recently published U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission fact sheet reminding federal employers to adhere to longstanding employee demographic reporting requirements was taken down after an agency source said it was released prematurely while still in draft form.

  • August 28, 2025

    4th Circ. Says Jury Should Hear Ex-Professor's Sex Bias Suit

    The Fourth Circuit revived an ex-Morgan State University professor's suit claiming she was denied multiple promotions and paid less than her male colleagues, finding the lower court overlooked key evidence that warrants a trial, such as claims that a department chair called her a "reject lesbian."

  • August 27, 2025

    Seattle Asks Court To Bar Feds From Yanking Grants Over DEI

    The city of Seattle has urged a federal court to block the Trump administration from enforcing two executive orders that condition federal grants on recipients abandoning the promotion of diversity, equity and inclusion or "gender ideology," saying the conditions are unconstitutional and jeopardize several of the city's critical public services.

  • August 27, 2025

    DOD Education Unit Accused Of Bias By Assistant Principal

    A Black, longtime employee of the Department of Defense Education Activity has sued the agency and its leaders in North Carolina federal court, alleging a lower school principal harassed her, that she was denied promotions based on her race and sex and is being unfairly terminated.

  • August 27, 2025

    6th Circ. Says Hospital Waived Arbitration In Pronoun Dispute

    The Sixth Circuit reversed an order Wednesday allowing a University of Michigan hospital to arbitrate an ex-worker's suit claiming she was fired out of religious bias for refusing to use preferred pronouns for certain LGBTQ patients, ruling the institution waited too long to invoke an arbitration pact.

  • August 27, 2025

    Ex-Drexel Medical Professor Fights Gender Bias Trial Loss

    A former Drexel University medical professor who lost her gender bias lawsuit alleging the university treated male faculty better than women has asked a Pennsylvania federal judge for a redo, claiming the jury's verdict in favor of the school was against the weight of the evidence.

  • August 27, 2025

    X Settles Disability Bias Suit Over Musk's Twitter Takeover

    X Corp. has agreed to settle a proposed class action alleging the company purposefully created severe working conditions during Elon Musk's 2022 takeover of Twitter to drive out workers with disabilities, according to a California federal court filing.

  • August 27, 2025

    More Courts Taking Broad View Of EEOC Investigative Power

    The Second Circuit's ruling this week that the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission can continue investigating a worker's charge even if the employee files their own lawsuit reflects a growing consensus among federal appeals courts on the breadth of the agency's powers.

  • August 27, 2025

    Mich. Judge Advises Trimming $500K Fees For Retaliation Win

    A magistrate judge said a human resources director who won a retaliation suit should be awarded attorney fees but recommended slashing costs for a third plaintiffs attorney to attend the trial and for tasks the judge said could have been performed by junior associates.

  • August 27, 2025

    Union Dodges Medical Assault Claim Over Vax Mandate

    A mariners union has escaped a deck officer's accusation of attempted medical assault, with a California federal judge tossing his claim that the union teamed up with his former employer, Matson Navigation Co., to pressure him to get a COVID-19 vaccination.

Expert Analysis

  • What To Expect From EEOC Next Year After An Active 2024

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    While highlights this year for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission include its first-ever Pregnant Workers Fairness Act cases and comprehensive workplace harassment guidance, the question for 2025 is whether the commission will sustain its momentum or shift its focus in a new direction, says Shannon Kelly at GrayRobinson.

  • Ledbetter's Legacy Shines In 2024 Equal Pay Law Updates

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    The federal Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act turned 15 this year, and its namesake's legacy is likely to endure in 2025 and beyond, as demonstrated by 2024's state- and local-level progress on pay equity, as well as several rulings from federal appellate courts, say attorneys at Fisher Phillips.

  • What Employers Should Consider When Drafting AI Policies

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    As generative artificial intelligence continues to evolve and transform the workplace, employers should examine six issues when creating their corporate AI policies in order to balance AI's efficiencies with the oversight needed to prevent potential biases and legal pitfalls, say attorneys at Jackson Lewis.

  • Eye On Compliance: When Calif. Jobs Require Driver Licenses

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    With a California law banning unnecessarily requiring job applicants to have driver's licenses rolling out Jan. 1, employers should take to heart the law's goal of preventing discriminatory barriers while they assess and revise their employment materials for compliance, says Ani Khachatryan at Wilson Elser.

  • Ring In The New Year With An Updated Employee Handbook

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    One of the best New Year's resolutions employers can make is to update their employee handbooks, given that a handbook can mitigate, or even prevent, costly litigation as long as it accounts for recent changes in laws, court rulings and agency decisions, say attorneys at Kutak Rock.

  • 5 Employer Defenses To Military Status Discrimination Claims

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    A Colorado federal court's recent ruling, finding a Navy reservist wasn't denied promotion at his civilian job due to antimilitary bias, highlights several defenses employers can use to counter claims of violations of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, say attorneys at Littler Mendelson.

  • Justices Mull Sex-Based Classification In Trans Law Case

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    After the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in U.S. v. Skrmetti this week, it appears that the fate of the Tennessee law at the center of the case — a law banning gender-affirming healthcare for transgender adolescents — will hinge on whether the majority read the statute as imposing a sex-based classification, says Alexandra Crandall at Dickinson Wright.

  • Pa. Ruling Highlights Challenges Of Employer Arb. Appeals

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    A Pennsylvania federal court's recent ruling in Welch Foods v. General Teamsters Local Union No. 397 demonstrates the inherent difficulties employers face when seeking relief from labor arbitration decisions through appeals in court — and underscores how employers are faced with often conflicting legal priorities, says Daniel Johns at Cozen O'Connor.

  • 7 Ways To Prepare For An I-9 Audit Or Immigration Raid

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    Because immigration enforcement is likely to surge under the upcoming Trump administration, employers should take steps to ensure their staff is trained in employment eligibility verification requirements and what to do in the event of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement I-9 audit or workplace raid, say attorneys at Littler.

  • California Supreme Court's Year In Review

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    Attorneys at Horvitz & Levy highlight notable decisions on major questions from the California Supreme Court's last term, including voter initiatives, hostile work environment and the economic loss rule.

  • Disentangling Various Forms Of Workplace Discrimination

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    Pay inequity can be missed where it exists and misidentified due to incorrect statistics, leaving individuals to face multiple facets of discrimination connected by a common root cause, meaning correct identification and measurement is crucial, says Daniel Levy at Advanced Analytical.

  • Key Requirements In New Maryland Pay Transparency Laws

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    Although several jurisdictions now require pay transparency in job advertisements, Maryland's new law is among the broadest in the country, both in terms of what is required and the scope of its applicability, says Sarah Belger at Quarles & Brady.

  • Lessons From EEOC Case Of Fla. Worker Fired After Stillbirth

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    A recent federal court settlement between a Florida resort and a fired line cook shows that the U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission sees stillbirth as protected under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, also providing four other important lessons, says Gordon Berger at Pierson Ferdinand.