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In a room with a bookshelf in the background, fair-skinned hands are holding a greenish-blue book titled "Types of Workplace Discrimination" and a blue pencil

4 Discrimination Cases To Watch In The 2nd Half Of 2026

As 2026 heads into its homestretch, the U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether its legal test that made it harder for employers to deny religious accommodations needs clarifying, and the Fifth Circuit is poised to rule on whether Congress enacted the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act using unconstitutional voting procedures. Here, Law360 looks at four cases that discrimination attorneys should keep tabs on in the year's back half.

Grocery chain's signage on a grocery cart

Grocer Cites SpaceX In 5th Circ. Challenge To NLRB Order

Supermarket owner WinCo Holdings urged the Fifth Circuit to vacate the National Labor Relations Board's finding that it ducked its duty to bargain with a new union in what may be the first appeal seeking to apply circuit precedent that undercuts ongoing agency cases to a final board decision.

Sign for Northwest ICE Processing Center sits behind a chain link fence

6 Wage And Hour Cases To Watch In The Rest Of 2026

A U.S. Supreme Court look at whether immigrant detainees are owed a minimum wage and a debate over which workers fall under the motor carrier exemption to federal overtime requirements are among the wage and hour cases on attorneys' radar for the rest of the year. Here, Law360 explores cases to watch in the second half of 2026.

Expert Analysis

What To Know If DOL Raises Overtime Salary Floor

James Coleman

With the U.S. Department of Labor recently rescinding a 2024 rule that increased the minimum salary for the Fair L... (more story)

Pregnancy Bias Suits Highlight EEOC's Expanding Reach

Allegra Lawrence-Hardy, Lisa Haldar, and Kevin Wender

Recent U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission suits show that enactment of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act... (more story)

Immigration Ruling Maps Alternative To Universal Injunctions

Kemal Hepsen

A Rhode Island federal court's decision in Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island v. USCIS vacating polici... (more story)

Labor More

Calif. Tribe Asks High Court To Revive Card Check Award Row

A California Native American tribe has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to correct an arbitration award requiring it to follow the guidelines for union representation elections in its 2017 agreement with UNITE HER... (more story)

Safran On The Hook For $1.7M Pension Exit Bill, For Now

A New York federal judge ruled Thursday that aerospace giant Safran must immediately pay off its $1.7 million withdrawal liability bill to the National Retirement Fund, even though the parties are currently in... (more story)

Nighttime image of an oil company logo at a gas station.
Shell Defends Withholding Worker Race Data From Union

A National Labor Relations Board judge should toss allegations that three Shell affiliates violated federal labor law by refusing to give the United Steelworkers lists of their employees broken down by race, S... (more story)

IAM Pension Fund Prevails In $32M Fight With Electrolux

Multinational appliance manufacturer Electrolux owes an International Association of Machinists pension fund $32 million, a D.C. federal judge ruled, affirming an arbitration award over the company's protests.

Ex-Fintech Worker's Posts Protected, NLRB Prosecutor Says

A National Labor Relations Board prosecutor urged an agency judge to find that a female-founded fintech company unlawfully fired a male data engineer over LinkedIn posts that raised concerns about the company'... (more story)

Magistrate Judge Trims Worker's Union Bias Case

A New York magistrate judge has recommended tossing a discrimination claim in a Black operating engineer's lawsuit claiming that an International Union of Operating Engineers local retaliated against him for o... (more story)

Cal Fire Contractor Fights Arbitration Award In Workday Row

A contractor that supplies pilots to California's firefighting service asked a federal court to overturn an arbitrator's finding in its dispute with a union over the length of pilots' 2024 season, saying the a... (more story)

Discrimination More

Ex-Softball Coach's Bias Suit Is Off Base, NJ University Says

Montclair State University and current and former school officials have told a New Jersey federal court that they acted appropriately, followed proper procedures and did not discriminate against a softball coa... (more story)

Colo. Judge Stays CU Regent's Suit To Determine Immunity

A member of the University of Colorado Board of Regents asked a federal judge Wednesday to declare an interlocutory appeal to the Tenth Circuit from university officials she alleges sanctioned her over protect... (more story)

Courthouse exterior
7th Circ. Says Educator's Retaliation Case Needs 2nd Look

The Seventh Circuit reopened an educator's lawsuit alleging that a Wisconsin state agency unlawfully demoted her because she refused to embrace the state education department's views on equity and race, saying... (more story)

5th Circ. Says Workers Needn't Mitigate Emotional Damages

Employees who prevail on sexual harassment claims under federal law don't need to take steps to reduce their emotional distress damages, the Fifth Circuit ruled Thursday, affirming a jury's award of compensato... (more story)

10th Circ. Won't Revive Bias Claims Against Kansas Judge

A Kansas court clerk was unable to revive her gender discrimination suit against a state court judge after the Tenth Circuit on Thursday affirmed the lower court's decision to grant Kansas summary judgment on ... (more story)

Colo. Panel Says EFAA Covers Bartender's Retaliation Claim

A Denver strip club can't arbitrate a former bartender's claim that she was fired for lodging a lawsuit alleging a supervisor sent her unwanted messages, with a Colorado appeals court ruling Thursday that fede... (more story)

Arizona Atty Faces Possible Sanctions Over Bogus Quotes

An Arizona federal judge is mulling fee sanctions against an attorney found to have included erroneous quotations in a brief she filed in her client's employment discrimination case, amid what he called her hi... (more story)

Wage & Hour More

Southwest Airlines Accused Of Shorting Wash. Workers' Pay

Southwest Airlines Co. regularly underpaid its workers in Washington state and denied them legally mandated meal and rest breaks, according to a former employee's proposed class action against the Texas-based carrier.

Ulta Fired Black Trans Worker Who Reported Bias, Suit Says

A Black transgender Ulta employee claimed in a California state lawsuit that she was fired by her boss weeks after she filed a discrimination complaint against her superior, who had previously made disparaging... (more story)

Caregiver helping elderly woman from wheelchair up stairs at home
Wash. Justices Nix Live-In Caregiver Wage Exemption

Adult family homes in Washington cannot use a state minimum wage exemption to deny wage-and-hour protections to caregivers who live where they work, the Washington Supreme Court ruled Thursday, holding the car... (more story)

DOL Says It Wants To Track When And How Americans Use AI

The U.S. Department of Labor wants to begin surveying Americans about artificial intelligence in order to better understand how the technology is shaping the way they live and work, according to a Thursday not... (more story)

Home Depot Hit With Security Screening Wage Suit In Conn.

Home Depot USA Inc. on Wednesday was accused of failing to pay regular and overtime wages to Connecticut workers required to pass security checkpoints and walk to time clocks inside a warehouse, with a propose... (more story)

Workers Say UPS Didn't Pay For Time In Security Screenings

UPS did not pay its hourly workers for time spent completing mandatory security screenings before and after their shifts and otherwise did not properly compensate them for all hours worked, employees alleged i... (more story)

Kroger Failed To Pay For Security Screenings, Suit Says

The Kroger Co. shortchanged hourly employees by requiring unpaid security screenings before and after shifts and denying delivery drivers required meal and rest breaks, according to a proposed class action fil... (more story)