Labor & Employment

Ex-Trump officials target ‘woke’ companies for diversity efforts

Activision Blizzard Inc. and the Kellogg Co. are the latest companies hit by claims that their efforts to diversify their workforces constitute illegal discrimination.

Aug 22, 2023 8:14 AM CDT

Sanctioned lawyers must take classes from conservative Christian nonprofit, federal judge rules

A federal judge in Dallas has ordered three in-house lawyers for Southwest Airlines to attend classes with Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal advocacy group, to purge itself of civil contempt for "inverting" the language in a court-ordered message.

Aug 9, 2023 8:35 AM CDT

End use of prisoners for unpaid hard labor, ABA House of Delegates urges

At the 2023 ABA Annual Meeting in Denver on Monday, the ABA House of Delegates called for the end of using prisoners to conduct unpaid hard labor.

Aug 7, 2023 4:23 PM CDT

Talent wars led to record-high salaries for class of 2022 law grads, new NALP report says

Talent wars helped push the national median salary for class of 2022 law graduates to a record high of $85,000, according to figures released Wednesday by the National Association for Law Placement.

Aug 2, 2023 12:20 PM CDT

Chemerinsky: Supreme Court rulings on labor and employment law leave many unanswered questions

Although they did not receive the headlines of the most high-profile decisions of the October Term 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court decided two important cases concerning the law of the workplace. One involved the duty of employers to accommodate employees’ religious beliefs and practices. The other concerned when a union can be held liable for the economic consequences of a strike. Each is likely to engender a great deal of litigation.

Aug 1, 2023 3:00 PM CDT

Associates form union at employment law firm

Plaintiffs employment law firm Outten & Golden has recognized a union representing its 24 associates.

Aug 1, 2023 8:10 AM CDT

GOP senator informs BigLaw firms how to advise clients on race-based hiring

Republican U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas has dispatched a letter to 51 BigLaw firms advising them to warn their clients of the risks of “race-based hiring quotas and benchmarks.”

Jul 20, 2023 1:05 PM CDT

Companies must end racial preferences or face accountability ‘sooner rather than later,’ 13 state AGs say

Attorneys general from 13 states are warning Fortune 100 companies that a U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down race-conscious admissions programs at universities also implicates corporate diversity programs.

Jul 18, 2023 8:11 AM CDT

Workplace bias is theme of prof’s winning story in ABA Journal’s 2023 Ross Writing Contest

A college professor with a passion for labor and employment law is the winner of the 2023 ABA Journal/Ross Writing Contest for Legal Short Fiction. Kiren Dosanjh Zucker won the $5,000 prize for her short story, “Memory of a Braid.”

Jul 12, 2023 12:10 PM CDT

Employers not liable for spread of COVID-19 to workers’ homes, California high court says

Employers are not responsible for the spread of COVID-19 from their employees to their employees’ family members, according to a ruling from the California Supreme Court.

Jul 7, 2023 9:55 AM CDT

Postal worker who quit over Sunday hours gets new chance for religious-bias claim, thanks to Supreme Court

Workers seeking a religious accommodation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act may have an easier time in the courts as a result of a decision Thursday by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Jun 29, 2023 10:30 AM CDT

Company’s religious liberty trumps Title VII ban on discrimination against LGBTQ employees, appeals court says

The Religious Freedom Restoration Act entitles a Texas company to an exemption from a federal mandate that bars discrimination against LGBTQ employees, a federal appeals court has ruled.

Jun 22, 2023 3:03 PM CDT

How could alternative licensure alter lawyer labor supply? Law prof’s research may have answers

If jurisdictions eliminate the bar exam as an entry to attorney licensure, the labor supply of lawyers would increase by 16%, according to new research by an associate professor at the Washington University School of Law in St. Louis.

Jun 14, 2023 10:51 AM CDT

Misogynistic rap music in workplace can constitute sex discrimination, 9th Circuit says

Sexually derogatory and violent rap music played in the workplace can foster a hostile work environment that constitutes sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, a federal appeals court has ruled.

Jun 13, 2023 9:23 AM CDT

BigLaw firm was ‘caring only about its bottom line’ when it wrongly fired pregnant associate, suit says

A former intellectual property associate at DLA Piper has filed a gender bias lawsuit alleging that DLA Piper fired her because she sought maternity leave.

Jun 7, 2023 10:10 AM CDT