Labor & Employment

‘Boys Clubs’ can be a source of workplace gender bias, partner says

Business leaders often criticize gender discrimination at other companies without realizing they’ve also created a corporate culture that marginalizes women, Duane Morris employment partner Jonathan Segal recently wrote in a column for CNN Money. The piece mentions a $100 million sex-discrimination case filed May 9 against pharmaceutical giant Merck. Besides…

May 24, 2013 8:15 PM CDT

Drug testing as a condition for unemployment benefits supported by some lawmakers

Should unemployment benefits be contingent on consenting to a drug test? Yes, in certain circumstances, say Texas lawmakers. The state house passed Bill 21 Wednesday, Reuters reports. The bill had already passed in the Texas senate. If it becomes law, it will apply to unemployed Texans who worked in designated…

May 23, 2013 5:00 PM CDT

Frequent ADA plaintiff to face usual legal rival—but this time in sex harassment case by ex-workers

Catherine Corfee has opposed Scott Johnson in many a disabled-access case. But Corfee, who has represented hundreds of small businesses sued by the paraplegic California attorney under the Americans with Disabilities Act, never anticipated that she would be representing plaintiffs in a workplace harassment suit against her longtime legal adversary,…

May 22, 2013 11:30 AM CDT

Never mind employees on Facebook—look out for the work videos they post on Vine

While some businesses still have problems with employee Facebook policies, along comes Vine, a video-sharing app introduced by Twitter. It allows users to post 6-second-long videos from their smartphones, and a growing amount of content comes from workers on the job, employment lawyer Daniel A. Schwartz tells the Wall Street…

May 21, 2013 7:01 PM CDT

Sending female intern’s horror-film clip to local law firms gets ex-partner suspended for 3 years

Updated: A former partner of a well-known Indiana law firm has been suspended from practice for three years for persuading his paralegal to impersonate that firm’s managing partner and send an email attaching a horror-film clip in which a new hire seemingly was onscreen in a state of undress. Arthur…

May 20, 2013 4:49 PM CDT

Fired female patent partner settles Ropes & Gray age and gender discrimination case

A fired female intellectual property partner has settled her federal employment discrimination suit against Ropes & Gray on undisclosed terms. Patricia Martone, who was 63 when she was fired by the firm in 2010, lost out on lucrative retirement benefits to which she would have been entitled at age 65…

May 17, 2013 6:20 PM CDT

Holder spars with Issa over email release, says the lawmaker’s behavior is ‘shameful’

Attorney General Eric Holder clashed with a Republican lawmaker from California on Wednesday during questioning about a purported deal to drop a lawsuit against the city of St. Paul, Minn. Holder told U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa that his behavior was “unacceptable” and “shameful,” report ABC News, the Hill and the…

May 16, 2013 1:54 PM CDT

Would-be law prof, a former state AG, loses age bias suit against Georgetown

A federal judge has dismissed an age bias suit filed against Georgetown University Law Center by former North Dakota Attorney General Nicholas Spaeth. U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle dismissed the case last week, according to The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times. Spaeth had sued six schools after he…

May 14, 2013 11:35 AM CDT

Retired Salomon Bros chief’s suit says secretary assigned in Citigroup consulting pact stole $3M

The 99-year-old son of a founder of Salomon Brothers has sued Citigroup, contending that the bank breached a retirement contract by assigning him and failing to supervise adequately a personal secretary who allegedly stole $3 million of his personal funds. William Salomon, who began working for the famed investment bank…

May 13, 2013 3:45 PM CDT

Lawyer’s suit claims law firm wrongly fired her, then misappropriated her likeness

A former lawyer with a construction law firm based in Philadelphia has filed a lawsuit accusing her one-time employer of improperly firing her and then misappropriating her likeness by keeping her photo on its website. The suit by Melissa Angeline also accuses law firm Cohen Seglias Pallas Greenhall & Furman…

May 13, 2013 1:15 PM CDT

Cahill steps down in Rutgers probe due to local counsel conflict, is replaced by Skadden

Last month, Cahill Gordon & Reindel was hired by Rutgers University to conduct an independent review of the school’s handling of the suspension and firing of former men’s basketball coach Mike Rice. But on Friday, after discovering a conflict, Cahill stepped down from the representation and has been replaced by…

May 9, 2013 4:50 PM CDT

New NLRB rulings back bus driver fired over Web comments, limit hospital’s social media policy

In a new ruling in a hot area of employment law, the National Labor Relations Board has backed a tour bus driver fired for making comments critical of his employer in Facebook and email comments that also suggested fellow workers should unionize. The NLRB agreed with an administrative judge that…

May 8, 2013 5:15 PM CDT

Poster rule requiring notice of union rights is struck down by DC Circuit

A federal appeals court has struck down a rule requiring employers to post a notice advising workers of their rights, including the right to form or join a union. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit struck down the rule in an opinion (PDF) issued on…

May 8, 2013 4:30 PM CDT

6 more lawyers to exit Ogletree for Littler, join ex-partner who sent ‘scathing’ email to Ogletree

After an unusual high-profile dispute between a former partner of Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart and the firm, another six lawyers are expected to leave the international labor and employment boutique Monday to join competitor Littler Mendelson, their new firm has announced. Within the last two weeks, another seven…

May 6, 2013 4:15 PM CDT

EEOC obtains record verdict for mentally disabled workers who claimed mistreatment at turkey plant

A federal jury in Iowa has awarded $240 million to compensate 32 mentally disabled men who claimed mistreatment while working at a turkey processing plant. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued on behalf of the men who worked at Henry’s Turkey Service in Atalissa and lived in a plant bunkhouse.…

May 2, 2013 3:17 PM CDT