8th Circ. Mulls If Supervisor's Family Remark Signals Sex Bias
By Anne Cullen
The Eighth Circuit wondered Tuesday whether a Walmart supervisor's supposed rationale for promoting a male employee to a managerial role — that he had a "family to support" — lends credence to a female former employee's sex discrimination claim over the advancement decision.
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Mass. Court-Appointed Attys Hit 'Boiling Point' Over Low Pay
By Julie Manganis
Hundreds of private attorneys in Massachusetts who are paid by the state to represent indigent defendants and others have stopped accepting new court-appointed cases over complaints about low pay, putting the system on what one veteran advocate called "the verge of imploding."
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7th Circ. Won't Revive United Workers' Vax Mandate Suit
By Celeste Bott
A Seventh Circuit panel on Monday affirmed a district court's decision to throw out a lawsuit from former employees challenging United Airlines' COVID-19 vaccination mandate, agreeing that the workers' claims are "either improperly preserved or inadequately pled."
Opinion attached |
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Nev. Pension Plan Urges 9th Circ. To Ax DOJ Military Bias Suit
By Irene Spezzamonte
Pension credits bought by military service members aren't an accrued benefit under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, Nevada's public employee retirement system argued, urging the Ninth Circuit not to revive the U.S. Department of Justice's suit alleging the state and system overcharged employees for the credits.
Brief attached |
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Ga. Schools Must Face Ex-Principal's Suit Over BLM Support
By Chart Riggall
A federal judge won't let a Georgia school district out of claims that it forced out a Black former principal over his vocal support for the Black Lives Matter movement, ruling that like the school board's individual members and ex-superintendent before it, the district failed to raise its defenses when it had the opportunity to do so.
Order attached |
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GM To Drop 'Cockamamie' Fiat Foreign Account Claims
By Danielle Ferguson
A Michigan judge indicated Tuesday that he would let General Motors withdraw allegations that Fiat Chrysler held foreign bank accounts in a union bribery scheme suit, and said he'd leave the determination of whether the automaker should be sanctioned for not sharing its evidence supporting those claims for another day.
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DISCRIMINATION
Brokerage Firm Fired CFO For Starting Family, She Tells Court
By Grace Elletson
A cloud-based real estate brokerage firm's former chief financial officer was unfairly accused of racking up $17,000 in personal expenses on a company card to justify her termination after her maternity leave ended, she told a New York federal court Tuesday.
Complaint attached |
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Feds Say NH Trans Sports Ban Suit Lacks Real Injury
By Elaine Briseño
The U.S. government hopes to escape a New Hampshire lawsuit challenging both state and federal policies prohibiting transgender athletes from competing in women's sports, saying the complaint shows only "speculative future injury."
Motion attached |
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Atty Accuses City Of 'Game-y' Tactics In Race Bias Settlement
By Hayley Fowler
A North Carolina employment attorney accused the city of Charlotte in federal court Tuesday of being "game-y" by trying to change a Black fire chief's racial bias settlement after both sides agreed to certain terms, saying she wouldn't make him sign something that didn't reflect those promises.
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Worker's Suit Over Weed Firing Gets Thrown Out
By Jonathan Capriel
A construction worker can't sue his employer for wrongful termination on claims that his supervisor wrongly accused him of smoking marijuana while on the job, a Virginia federal judge has ruled, saying state law allows companies to fire workers even on untrue allegations of drug use.
Order attached |
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Pa. University Seeks Toss Of Sergeant's Retaliation Claims
By Beverly Banks
The University of Scranton wants a Pennsylvania federal judge to dismiss retaliation and disability bias allegations from a police sergeant who alleged he was fired because he had cancer, telling the district court that the worker hadn't put up enough facts to support some of his claims.
Motion attached |
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WAGE & HOUR
T-Mobile Worker Can't Upend Arbitration Order In OT Suit
By Emmy Freedman
A T-Mobile technician cannot keep his unpaid overtime lawsuit in court, a Washington federal judge ruled Tuesday, saying he failed to show that he was duped into signing a delegation clause that mandated issues surrounding the arbitrability of his claims be decided outside court.
Order attached |
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Amazon Worker Says Military Class Ruling Needs Reopening
By Emmy Freedman
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to weigh in on a case that would have had an impact on a former Amazon employee's request for class status in her military leave suit, the worker told a New York federal court, saying it should reopen her suit and approve class treatment.
Letter attached |
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Campbell's Hit With Wage-Hour Suit Over Donning Time
By Irene Spezzamonte
Renowned soup producer Campbell's failed to pay production workers for the time they spent putting on personal protective equipment before their shifts, a former company's filler operator said in a proposed collective action in New Jersey federal court.
Complaint attached |
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Drivers Say FedEx Is Employer, Liable For Unpaid OT
By Emmy Freedman
FedEx exercised substantial control over drivers' jobs, two former workers told a Pennsylvania federal court, urging it to find that the delivery company acted as their joint employer and is therefore on the hook for what they said are unpaid overtime wages.
Brief attached |
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Brief
Atlanta Drag Bar Agrees To $50K Deal In Wage Suit
By Irene Spezzamonte
An Atlanta bar that provides drag show entertainment has agreed to pay $50,000 to end a performer's proposed collective action alleging it failed to pay minimum wage and overtime, and both parties urged a Georgia federal court to greenlight the deal.
2 documents attached |
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LABOR
Union, Philharmonic Fight Suits From Suspended Musicians
By Emily Brill
A musicians union has asked a New York federal judge to toss two suspended New York Philharmonic players' allegations that the union illegally dropped its fight for their reinstatement, saying it had good reason to abandon the mission after the full extent of their alleged sexual violence was revealed.
4 documents attached |
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TRADE SECRETS
Ex-GC Accused Of Stealing IP Amid Ownership Stake Dispute
By Dorothy Atkins
E-commerce company Storehouse In A Box sued its former general counsel and chief operating officer in Michigan federal court Monday, alleging he misappropriated trade secrets and confidential information, while also engaging in outside ventures that conflicted with his duties, after a dispute arose over his ownership claim in the business.
Complaint attached |
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PEOPLE
Longtime Reed Smith Employment Pro Joins Fisher Phillips
By James Boyle
An attorney who has focused his career on advising clients on employment and labor matters recently moved his practice to Fisher Phillips' Pittsburgh office after 13 years with Reed Smith LLP.
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Ex-Fidelity Associate GC Returns To Mayer Brown In Chicago
By Jack Rodgers
Mayer Brown LLP has rehired the former co-chair of its practice focused on retirement benefit matters, who returns to the firm after helping to lead a team of attorneys at Fidelity Investments responsible for health and retirement plan litigation.
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EXPERT ANALYSIS
Calif. Bar Exam Fiasco Shows Why Attys Must Disclose AI Use
The recent revelation that a handful of questions from the controversial California bar exam administered in February were drafted using generative artificial intelligence demonstrates the continued importance of disclosure for attorneys who use AI tools, say attorneys at Troutman.
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LEGAL INDUSTRY
ABA 'Surprised And Disappointed' By DOJ Shunning
By Courtney Bublé
The American Bar Association on Tuesday defended its long-standing process for reviewing judicial nominees and said Attorney General Pam Bondi was wrong to call the group an "activist organization."
Letter attached |
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Analysis
Feds Reboot FCPA Agenda With Narrower Enforcement Focus
By Sarah Jarvis
The U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday released new and tightened guidelines for enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act after a four-month pause on such prosecutions, centering prospective investigations on situations that affect U.S. competitiveness and national security as well as transnational cartels.
Memorandum attached |
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Top CFPB Enforcer Quits Over 'Devastating' Agency Pullback
By Jon Hill
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's top enforcement official resigned Tuesday, saying she can no longer effectively do her job under leadership that "has no intention to enforce the law in any meaningful way."
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Judiciary Panel Advances New Rules On Amici, AI, Subpoenas
By Jeff Overley
The federal judiciary's top policy panel Tuesday propelled revamped rules regarding numerous hot legal topics, including artificial intelligence, "dark money" groups bankrolling amicus briefs and the subpoena powers of courts and defense counsel.
1 document attached |
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NJ Rep. LaMonica McIver Indicted Over ICE Facility Incident
By Hailey Konnath
U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver has been charged with forcibly impeding and interfering with federal officers during her inspection of a Newark, New Jersey, immigration detention facility last month, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday.
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Wis. Judge Can't Wield Immunity For Obstructing ICE, DOJ Says
By Lynn LaRowe
The U.S. Department of Justice has urged a Wisconsin federal judge to reject a state court judge's argument that judicial immunity blocks her prosecution for allegedly obstructing an ICE arrest at a Milwaukee courthouse, saying that while judges may be immune from civil liability for official acts, they are not shielded from prosecution for supposedly criminal conduct.
2 documents attached |
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State Chief Justices Blast Plans To Cut Legal Services Corp.
By Hailey Konnath
A coalition of 37 state Supreme Court chief justices have asked federal lawmakers to reject President Donald Trump's plans to eliminate the Legal Services Corp., arguing that the "justice system is hobbled when citizens are deprived of legal counsel."
Letter attached |
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House Conservatives Push Senate To 'Rein In' Judges
By Courtney Bublé
House conservatives are imploring their Senate counterparts to do more to "rein in" federal judges with the budget reconciliation package.
Memorandum attached |
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SEC's Investment Management Chief Greiner To Leave Agency
By Tom Zanki
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission veteran Natasha Vij Greiner is stepping down as the director of the agency's investment management division, ending a nearly 24-year career serving the SEC in multiple roles, regulators announced Tuesday.
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Analysis
Key Insights On Looming Fair Use Rulings In AI Cases
By Ivan Moreno
Two California federal judges have indicated they are inclined to find that using copyrighted material to train artificial intelligence systems is transformative, which usually means that copying a work is fair, but that may not let Meta Platforms and Anthropic off the hook in separate lawsuits.
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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court
By Katryna Perera and Jeff Montgomery
Delaware's Court of Chancery showed new resistance to suits alleging corporate weaponizing of advance notice bylaws, and a new report highlighted the high fees that attorneys are cashing in on in Delaware courts compared to the federal court system. Several new suits were also filed concerning allegedly under- or overvalued sales and acquisitions being pushed through.
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