Labor & Employment

IRS workers get taxpayer-funded private counsel in nonprofit scandal

The claims that Internal Revenue Service workers displayed bias against conservative political groups’ applications for tax-exempt status have brought good news for two law firms. The IRS has retained Squire Sanders and Taft Stettinius & Hollister to represent the employees in ongoing federal litigation, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports. “No one…

Oct 29, 2013 9:30 PM CDT

Was ‘satanic’ pay raise for law profs intended as retaliation for union activities?

Law professors at Cleveland-Marshall who received a $666 pay raise were allegedly penalized for their union activities, according to an unfair labor practice charge filed with the state of Ohio. TaxProf Blog links to the complaint (PDF). The document alleges that Cleveland-Marshall law dean Craig Boise was retaliating against members…

Oct 29, 2013 1:34 PM CDT

Can biometric hand screening amount to religious bias? Mark-of-the-devil worry leads to EEOC suit

Religious bias complaints are a small percentage of workplace discrimination claims made at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, but the numbers are increasing. Some conflicts involve working on the Sabbath, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports. Others protest workplace uniform requirements that don’t allow for religious dress such as…

Oct 29, 2013 10:44 AM CDT

Former BigLaw secretary’s pregnancy bias suit allowed to proceed on some claims

A former secretary at Latham & Watkins who alleges pregnancy discrimination by the law firm will be allowed to proceed with some of her claims. A federal judge in Washington, D.C., allowed the former employee, Demetria Peart, to continue with claims alleging violations of Title VII and the District of…

Oct 25, 2013 2:40 PM CDT

Tips from two serious women rainmakers | Should students not be law review editors?

In posts Tuesday and Thursday at the Careerist, Vivia Chen shared the insights of Sheila L. Birnbaum and Nina M. Gussack about women and business development. “As we know, Gussack (a partner at Pepper Hamilton) has $65 million in business, while Birnbaum (a Skadden Arps legend who joined Quinn Emanuel…

Oct 25, 2013 1:30 PM CDT

Conde Nast ends internship program; two former interns claimed labor violations in pending suit

Condé Nast has decided to end its internship program about four months after the filing of a lawsuit claiming the publisher violated labor laws by paying them less than $1 an hour. Condé Nast’s decision to end its program beginning in 2014 was first reported by Women’s Wear Daily. The…

Oct 24, 2013 3:59 PM CDT

Law prof claims dean retaliated after he reported ‘creepy’ back rub, sexual flirting at party

A law professor who wrote a casebook on cyberspace law has sued his university and its law dean, claiming that he was subjected to retaliation after he reported the dean’s “creepy” back rub of a colleague and “sexual flirting” during a party. The suit, filed by Case Western Reserve law…

Oct 24, 2013 2:00 PM CDT

No class certification in job stats suit against Thomas Jefferson Law School, judge rules

A judge has denied a motion for class certification by a group of Thomas Jefferson School of Law graduates who claimed they were tricked into attending the school by misleading post-graduate job statistics. San Diego County Superior Court Judge Joel M. Pressman, in an order (PDF) Monday, said the predominance…

Oct 23, 2013 7:58 PM CDT

500 law profs urge ABA legal ed council to keep faculty tenure as an accreditation requirement

The ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar hasn’t received much in the way of a response to its latest proposed changes in the law school accreditation standards. Only one person showed up to speak at a pair of hearings on the proposed changes in three chapters…

Oct 22, 2013 6:41 PM CDT

Fired worker loses smartphone privileges for 3 years for hacking into law firm’s server

A former law firm employee and her husband will be on probation for the next three years after taking a misdemeanor plea in a federal criminal case over unauthorized intrusion into a Pennsylvania law firm’s computer system. But likely much worse for Alyson L. Cunningham, and her husband, Jonathan A.…

Oct 18, 2013 9:55 PM CDT

Email backlog waiting for furloughed workers; could they have been prosecuted for keeping up?

Furloughed federal workers returning to work have to wade through their email inboxes, a formidable challenge for some. Sophia Casey, a federal analyst, had more than 1,500 emails waiting for her, the Washington Post reports. Looking at them, she began to develop “a little headache over my right eyeball,” she…

Oct 18, 2013 12:50 PM CDT

As laws are passed allowing guns in parked cars at work, attorneys advise employers on safety rules

Last year, 375 people were killed in workplace shootings, according to U.S. Department of Labor statistics. Those at workplaces where employers allow guns and other weapons were five times as likely to be victims, according to a North Carolina study published in 2005. Nonetheless, lawmakers throughout the country have enacted…

Oct 17, 2013 3:15 PM CDT

Did Ropes & Gray retaliate by giving info to Above the Law about ex-associate’s discrimination case?

A discrimination case brought by a former associate against Ropes & Gray is headed to trial next month. Among the questions to be answered by a federal court in Boston, the National Law Journal reports: Did the law firm retaliate against John Ray III by providing information about his Equal…

Oct 16, 2013 9:05 PM CDT

Appeals court rules for Abercrombie in headscarf case

A federal appeals court has vacated a lower court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on its claim that Abercrombie & Fitch failed to provide a reasonable religious accommodation for a prospective employee who wears a hijab, or headscarf, for religious reasons. The…

Oct 4, 2013 9:57 PM CDT

Embattled judge takes conspiracy plea, resigns from bench and agrees to disbarment

A now-former West Virginia judge accused of two unusual crimes has pleaded guilty to conspiracy in one case in exchange for having charges dropped in another. Mingo Circuit Judge Michael Thornsbury resigned from the bench Wednesday, then entered his plea later in the day in federal court in Charleston, the…

Oct 3, 2013 5:30 PM CDT