Adopting EEOC Binary Bathroom Stance Seen As Risky Move

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently declared that it's legal for federal agencies to bar transgender workers from accessing restrooms that match their gender identity, but employment experts said private employers that adopt this approach may be putting themselves in legal jeopardy.

Woman, shown from the rear, entering a gift shop

Gift Shop Co. Cuts $600K Deal In EEOC Disability Bias Suit

A hospital gift shop company has agreed to pay $600,000 to end a suit from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claiming it asked questions on its job applications that illegally screened out workers with disabilities.

4 Argument Sessions Bias Attys Should Watch In March

A federal judge will consider forcing the University of Pennsylvania to give the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission contact information of Jewish employees who may have endured or witnessed on-campus antisemitism, and the Fourth Circuit will mull whether Liberty University should face a transgender former employee's lawsuit. Here are four oral arguments discrimination attorneys should watch in March. 

Expert Analysis

Miss. Race Bias Ruling Offers Cautionary Tale For Employers

Robin Shea

A Mississippi federal court's recent decision to let a jury decide a fired worker's discrimination claims illustra... (more story)

What's Next After NLRB Dismissal Of SpaceX Suit

Joshua Fox, Daniel Dorson and Andrew Landesman

Though the National Labor Relations Board’s recent decision to dismiss its long-running unfair labor practice comp... (more story)

A Look Inside The EEOC Probe Of Nike's DEI Practices

Tracey O’Brien and Erik Eisenmann

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's recent sweeping subpoena against Nike for alleged discriminatio... (more story)

Labor More

D.C. Judge Pauses Challenge To Federal Worker Layoffs

A D.C. federal judge has paused a challenge to the Trump administration's mass layoff of federal employees, telling a group of unions that he'll resume processing their lawsuit once rulings come down that clar... (more story)

5th Circ. Judge Flags 'Pretty Extreme' Timing Of Barista Firing

A Fifth Circuit judge said on Monday that the timing of Starbucks' firing of a California barista was "pretty extreme" and that management's words about benefits "do matter" as the court weighed the coffee gia... (more story)

Woman seated before a microphone and nameplate
NLRB Attys Drop Push For Refusal-To-Bargain Payouts

National Labor Relations Board prosecutors in the Trump era won't pursue a Biden-era mission to get workers compensated after their employer refuses to work with their union, a prosecutor told the board, sayin... (more story)

Concrete Co. Says Teamsters Withheld Evidence In Strike Suit

A concrete company has urged the National Labor Relations Board to reopen the record on a labor dispute stemming from a 2017 strike organized by a Teamsters local, arguing that the union didn't fully comply wi... (more story)

Logistics Co. Illegally Delayed Grievance Reply, NLRB Says

A warehouse, logistics and transportation company violated federal labor law by failing to timely respond to five employee grievances filed by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers,... (more story)

Teamsters Unit Pushes To Arbitrate Alaska Hiring Hall Fight

A Teamsters local urged an Alaska federal court to order a construction company to arbitrate grievances alleging it bypassed the union's hiring hall on infrastructure projects, arguing the contractor is breach... (more story)

Charter Schools Lose Bid To Block Ill. Union Neutrality Law

An Illinois federal judge won't block a new state law requiring charter schools to include a "union neutrality clause" in their charter agreements that instructs them to remain neutral on the unionization of t... (more story)

Discrimination More

Worker's Heart Issues Can't Save Vax Bias Suit, 5th Circ. Says

The Fifth Circuit declined to revive a worker's bias suit claiming he was forced out of an oil and gas services company because his heart condition prevented him from complying with its COVID-19 vaccine mandat... (more story)

NFL Teams Ask Judge To Revisit Flores Suit Arbitration Ruling

Three NFL teams have asked a New York federal judge to reverse a decision she made two weeks ago and allow their dispute with former head coach Brian Flores to be decided in arbitration instead of in court.

Round exterior sign with Chipotle signage and logo
Ex-Chipotle Worker Can't Rebut Roach Rationale In Firing Suit

The Tenth Circuit on Monday refused to reopen a former Chipotle manager's lawsuit claiming he was fired because he was in his 50s, saying he couldn't overcome the fast casual restaurant chain's argument that h... (more story)

School Mask Rule Warning Cost Admin His Job, Jury Told

A former administrator told a Pennsylvania federal jury Monday that Upper Bucks County Technical School violated his First Amendment rights by firing him for speaking out about the school's purported violation... (more story)

Nurse Who Won Retaliation Verdict Can't Get Former Job Back

The First Circuit refused to order a Puerto Rico agency to return a nurse to her previous job even though a jury handed her a six-figure retaliation win, saying unwinding her transfer wasn't justified because ... (more story)

Pepsi Extinguishes Employee's Tobacco Fee Lawsuit

Pepsi has defeated a proposed class action claiming it unlawfully charged employees who used tobacco more to obtain health insurance, with a New York federal judge shutting down a worker's argument that the co... (more story)

Marshall Dennehey Can't Arbitrate Atty's Sex Harassment Suit

An Ohio appeals court declined Thursday to send a former Marshall Dennehey PC attorney's sexual harassment suit to arbitration, ruling that mocking comments he faced from a senior lawyer triggered the protecti... (more story)

Wage & Hour More

Servers Get Quick Win In Tip Suit Against Restaurant Chain

A restaurant chain is liable for not paying servers their full minimum wage while they performed tasks that were unrelated to tipped work, an Ohio federal judge ruled Monday, finding the U.S. Department of Lab... (more story)

NC Care Co. Operator Urges Judge To Ax Wage Verdict

A North Carolina residential mental health company and its owner have urged a federal judge to nix a jury verdict finding that they underpaid workers, saying the employees relied on speculative evidence and a ... (more story)

FILE - In this May 15, 2019, file photo, fans cheer during the seventh inning stretch during in the first baseball game of a doubleheader between the New York Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium in New York. The Yankees have reacquired the YES Network, partnering with Amazon.com and the Sinclair Broadcast Group to purchase 80 percent of the station from The Walt Disney Co. Thursday, Aug. 29, 2019, in a deal that values it at $3.47 billion. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Justices Reject Latest Bid To Nix Baseball's Antitrust Shield

The U.S. Supreme Court refused to review baseball's long-standing exemption from federal antitrust law on Monday, in a case accusing a league in Puerto Rico of forcing out a team's owners.

Construction Co. Dodged OT With Rounding, Worker Says

A construction company failed to pay workers for all hours worked by rounding their time down and excluding daily payments from overtime calculations, a pipefitter said in a proposed collective action filed in... (more story)

Colo. Casino Denied Wages During Payroll Change, Court Told

A casino operator's switch to a new payroll system left hourly workers unpaid or underpaid, according to a proposed collective and class action filed in Colorado federal court.

Wash. Whole Foods Workers Didn't Get Breaks, Suit Alleges

Whole Foods employees in Washington state frequently work through lunch and don't get to take the rest breaks they're entitled to, a new proposed class action in Washington state court alleges, looking to hold... (more story)

Fed. Circ. Says Reinstated VA Worker Can Get Attorney Fees

A U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs field examiner was still a prevailing party entitled to recover attorney fees and costs after the department reinstated her with back pay following her removal, the Federa... (more story)