Labor & Employment Law

As we previously discussed here , artificial intelligence ("AI") continues to transform the workplace, prompting lawmakers, regulators, and employers to grapple with the risks and opportunities associated with automated decision-making. More recently...

At a Glance New Jersey legislation signed on September 9, 2026, adds qualification requirements for journeyperson craftworkers performing public work and related certification and documentation requirements for contractors using such workers. The ame...

The documents in question stated conclusions that were the province of the jury. On motions in limine filed in a race discrimination case, a federal district court in Michigan granted the defendant’s motion regarding a letter from the National Associ...

A facially neutral veteran-status requirement draws only rational-basis review absent discriminatory intent. The District of Massachusetts dismissed a self-represented gay police officer's constitutional challenge to the denial of retirement service ...

The labor contract provided that any questions or disputes concerning retiree benefit programs would be resolved in accordance with the applicable insurance policies or plan documents. The Kraft Heinz Company is entitled to an injunction barring a Te...

The court rejected the company’s position that whenever a plaintiff establishes a likelihood of success on the merits of a trade secret misappropriation claim, irreparable harm is to be presumed. Affirming a lower court’s denial of a motion for a pre...

Congressional spending restrictions likely prohibited USDA’s reorganization, and the court could not sever unconstitutional committee-approval provisions to give the agency unrestricted authority to proceed. A California federal court has temporarily...

The three former employees were also enjoined from performing services for competing companies, soliciting any Guidepoint clients or Advisors, or adversely affecting Guidepoint’s business relationships. Guidepoint Global, LLC, a company that operates...

Workers at a sprawling New York construction project faced cave-in and struck-by dangers from an excavation reaching as deep as 75 feet, according to OSHA. Six construction employers working on a large mixed-use development in Monroe, New York, face ...

“Female workers continue to face discriminatory barriers to their participation in various occupations and industries, and EEOC will act forcefully to ensure they have fair access to such employment.” The EEOC announced several new lawsuits filed at ...

“Armed only with false statements, high-ranking government officials undertook a premeditated campaign to impugn the personal and professional integrity of Ms. Comans, a non-partisan, career public servant.” A federal magistrate judge has issued an e...

AI-powered customer communication technology reduced delivery delays and improved customer ratings for deaf or hard-of-hearing workers. Workers with disabilities continue to face barriers in the labor market, including lower employment rates, wage di...

Businesses often assume if customer names are publicly visible on LinkedIn or industry directories, those client relationships cannot be legally protected. However, a major ruling from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington tu...

Governor Gavin Newsom has signed Assembly Bill (AB) 2495 , expanding California's protections against retaliation and other workplace conduct involving a person's perceived immigration status. The new law amends Labor Code section 1019 and will take ...

The employee’s claims of retaliation for making internal complaints about race discrimination and other matters also failed on summary judgment. A discharged grocery store employee who was recorded on the employer’s security camera regularly leaving ...

The certified nursing assistant alleged that throughout her employment, her colleagues made inappropriate comments to her, including about her transgender status. Although a skilled nursing, rehabilitation, and senior care services network will not f...

The employee pointed to no evidence suggesting that his disability prevented him from complying with the attendance policy’s notice requirement without accommodation. An employee’s ADA and FMLA discrimination and retaliation claims failed to survive ...

The employee alleged that the utility continued investigating her FMLA leave despite finding no misuse and later terminated her for allegedly abusing dependent care leave. A longtime gas utility employee who was investigated and placed under surveill...

His duties required travel throughout the city and employees did not have fixed lunch or break times. A longtime municipal crew leader was entitled to reinstatement following his termination for alleged misuse of a city vehicle, time theft, outside e...

Opening managers regularly did not arrive until the listed start time of Lidl’s store-opening shifts. Lidl US, LLC, was not entitled to dismissal of putative class and collective FLSA and New York Labor Law “time-shaving” claims brought by an employe...

Conventional de-identification safeguards may not be sufficient to protect employee privacy in the context of modern artificial intelligence. Google LLC’s proposed $10 million purchase of the assets of bankrupt Spirit Airlines—mainly to obtain data t...

According to the agency, female employees, including teenagers, were repeatedly subjected to sexual harassment, including groping and grabbing. Italian restaurant chain Il Fornaio (America) LLC will pay $3 million and implement measures aimed at prev...

Both restorative rules were issued without a new round of notice-and-comment rulemaking. The Federal Labor Relations Authority is restoring a broad range of regulations governing federal-sector union representation proceedings and related labor relat...

According to OPM, the rule makes a series of technical revisions to federal FMLA regulations in light of 2021 and 2023 statutory changes and codifies guidance found in related memoranda. The Office of Personnel Management is issuing a direct final ru...

California has enacted three new laws governing employer use of artificial intelligence and automated tools in layoffs, workplace monitoring, discipline, and termination. These laws are separate from the California Consumer Privacy Act's automated de...

On October 7, 2026, the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published a notice withdrawing its July 2025 proposal to strip nine parts of longstanding Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) interpretive guidance out of the Code...

The bank eliminated her position for reasons unrelated to her leave or its underlying causes. A bank director, who was terminated while on leave pursuant to a reorganization, cannot proceed to trial with any of her four state or federal disability an...

While the employee’s prostate cancer had been in remission, it returned five years later and he had informed the company that he would require a series of radiation treatments. Although a custom thermoplastics manufacturer informed a sales manager of...

She had let it be known that she had planned to retire and did not argue that the investigation itself or that its findings were “calculated” by the university “to encourage” her to resign. Summary judgment was appropriate against a former University...

The worker is accused of downloading more than 12,000 files before potentially seeking employment with a competitor. The U.S. District Court for the Federal District of Hawai’i preliminarily enjoined a former employee of an electrical supply company ...

The agency announced a plan to reduce its workforce of 57,000 employees by 7,000, or 12 percent. The Social Security administration is entitled to dismissal of Rehabilitation Act and APA claims brought by a group of individuals with disabilities rece...

The ceremonial swearing-in ceremony was held one week after his official swearing in. Keith Sonderling was ceremonially sworn in as the 31st U.S. Secretary of Labor during a ceremony at the Oval Office last Friday. Sonderling was confirmed by the Sen...

Workers seek voluntary recognition for a bargaining unit of more than 250 employees. Employees of the Barack Obama Foundation and Obama Presidential Center have begun organizing a union with AFSCME Council 31 . The effort was announced October 7 in a...

The 20-state coalition, led by Montana’s AG, has urged the Court to reverse a Tenth Circuit decision affirming dismissal of a white employee’s claim the racial sensitivity training he had to attend violated Title VII. In September, a white former emp...

The inquiry is the latest action by Trump to remove Cook from the Fed following a rebuke by the Supreme Court. President Donald Trump has issued a Presidential Memorandum establishing a committee of inquiry to determine whether cause exists to remove...

The U.S. Census Bureau reported that import-export data for August showed the trade deficit in goods and services growing to $105.6 billion for the month, $12.7 billion higher than the $92.8 billion reported in July. In this edition of Tariff Insight...

Since the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (PUMP Act) became fully enforceable in 2023, employers have been navigating federal requirements to provide nursing employees with reasonable break time and a private, non-bathro...

Sonderling is no stranger to the world of labor and employment policy. Keith Sonderling is now officially the US Secretary of Labor, and employers, naturally, might have questions for what that means for the workplace. The Senate confirmed him on Sep...

Employed at Remington’s Lonoke, Arkansas facility, the employee worked primarily with white male colleagues whom she alleged engaged in discriminatory conduct. A former Body Form Technician on the night shift at a Remington Arms Company factory in Ar...

An applicant for a correctional officer position could not show that varying explanations for withdrawing his conditional job offer concealed disability discrimination when his criminal history and negative employment reference supported the decision...

The employee was demoted a week after he returned from leave to care for his wife, who had been diagnosed with breast cancer, and was fired several months later. A Tesla employee who alleged that he was urged to return early from his baby-bonding lea...

The employers failed to explain how the employees’ purported disclosures were tactically incomplete or misleading. A federal district court in New York has denied an employers’ motion to compel production of privileged documents between two employees...

Although the Board found no abuse of discretion, “…we stress that the General Counsel should strive to provide respondents with as much notice as possible of the allegations against them.” A commercial industrial painting company violated Section 8(a...

However, the court found that the employer will likely succeed on the merits of its trade secret claims. The Federal District Court in Lansing, Michigan, declined to issue a preliminary injunction sought by an insurance company against a former emplo...

A roundup of recent sexual harassment decisions of interest to the labor and employment law community. W.D.N.Y.: Executive director of police board alleged sexual harassment by chair. An executive director hired by the city to lead its police account...

Employers allegedly denied accommodations or made hiring and termination decisions based on medical restrictions, prescription medications, or disabilities. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed five lawsuits accusing employers in Okl...

The proposal would require schools to pay up to $70,000 for student participation in Optional Practical Training. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has proposed new fees for participation in the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program,...

The federal government is urging a D.C. federal court to reject challenges brought by Public Citizen and legal academics, arguing that the EEOC properly withheld records related to its investigation of law firms' diversity, equity, and inclusion prog...

In the first major decision under the new Republican majority, the National Labor Relations Board (Board) confirmed that its 2020 General Motors decision governs discipline for abusive conduct that occurs during union or other activity protected by S...

Few areas of employment law present as persistent a compliance challenge as disability accommodation. Despite decades of federal and state anti-discrimination statutes, employers continue to struggle with the interactive process—balancing legitimate ...

No court in the Third Circuit has held that pregnancy-based discrimination claims are covered by the EFAA; nevertheless, whether the employee’s claims were subject to the arbitration agreement required additional discovery. The need for limited disco...

The executive alleged that he was fired several months after he requested accommodations for his conditions. Allowing an executive VP with The Better Business Bureau, who suffers from ADHD, major depressive disorder, and anxiety disorder, to take his...

To show pretext, said the court, a plaintiff must do more than simply allege that an employer’s stated reasons are inaccurate.. Employment discrimination claims brought by a 63-year-old Black warehouse employee arising from her failure to be promoted...

After filing competing lawsuits, the parties dismissed those actions and entered into a memorandum of understanding, which Starbucks argued had eliminated a case of actual controversy. Rejecting a motion to dismiss three counts of declaratory judgmen...

Court dismissed false claims action against pharmaceutical company as relator signed a valid release agreement and any claims not barred by release agreement were time-barred. A district court in New Jersey has granted the motion to dismiss of a phar...

The Labor Department has cited an excavation contractor for willful and serious safety violations after a young worker was killed as the result of a trench collapse. OSHA opened an investigation into J.D. Wagoner Excavating in April and determined th...

Agency lawsuits allege pregnancy and religious discrimination, sexual harassment, age discrimination in hiring, and antisemitic workplace treatment. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed a series of lawsuits challenging employment pra...

The agency alleges a supermarket chain, medical call center, and disability-services nonprofit failed to accommodate pregnant workers, forced leave, or terminated employees who sought pregnancy-related job modifications. The Equal Employment Opportun...

California regulators are being asked to investigate hiring assessment provider Criteria Corp. after the ACLU alleged its emotional intelligence screening tool unlawfully disadvantages autistic and other neurodiverse job applicants. The American Civi...