Labor & Employment

Court Declines Civil Rights Case Against NCAA

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal in a lawsuit that claims the NCAA colluded with a state university to defame a basketball coach. The coach’s lawsuit seeks to hold the private organization liable for civil rights violations because of its involvement with a state agency, SCOTUSblog…

Nov 13, 2007 5:08 PM CST

Lawyer’s Poems Nix Discrimination Case

An in-house intellectual property lawyer in the Worcester, Mass., office of a Pennsylvania company apparently wrote his way out of a job by sending four anonymous “sexually tinged” poems to a co-worker. Although David Bennett denied that he did so, company officials hired a private investigator to look into the…

Nov 12, 2007 5:17 PM CST

Ex-Partner Drops Freshfields Age Bias Claim

A former partner with London-based Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has dropped her age bias case following a ruling for the law firm on similar claim. Lois Moore had alleged that changes to the firm’s pension plan discriminated against older partners. Now she is unconditionally dropping all of her claims, Legal Week…

Nov 9, 2007 1:09 PM CST

House Approves Bill to Protect Gay Workers

The House has approved a bill to protect gay men and lesbians from employment discrimination. Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., said he would introduce similar legislation in the Senate, the New York Times reports. Many Democrats expected President Bush to veto the bill, although a White House spokesman said no final…

Nov 8, 2007 11:37 AM CST

Former Freddie Mac CEO Settles for $16.4M

A few weeks into what was expected to be a lengthy trial before an administrative law judge, a former chairman and chief executive of Freddie Mac has agreed to settle his case for $16.4 million, without admitting liability. While a stunning sum, the $16.4 million is a fraction of the…

Nov 8, 2007 1:33 AM CST

Ex-Prosecutor Claims DA Fired Him for Being White

A former prosecutor in the Dallas County district attorney’s office has filed a suit that contends he was fired because he was white. Rick Jackson, who headed the organized crime unit, says he was one of 10 senior prosecutors fired in a shakeup by DA Craig Watkins, the Dallas Morning…

Nov 7, 2007 7:10 PM CST

BigLaw Firms End Mandatory Retirement

Another BigLaw firm has just announced that it will end its mandatory retirement program for lawyers, following a high-profile $27.5 million settlement in a law firm partner age discrimination case and an ABA recommendation against such policies. Effective immediately, Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates Ellis will no longer require its…

Nov 7, 2007 6:13 PM CST

Big Interest in Form Employment Case

Interest in a U.S. Supreme Court employment case that focuses on an obscure issue is high after a decision last term that restricted the time frame for filing pay discrimination suits. The seats reserved for lawyers were nearly full when the Supreme Court heard oral arguments yesterday in the case,…

Nov 7, 2007 12:29 PM CST

Eager Job Hoppers May Face Suit for Taking Clients, Co-Workers

Those who switch jobs are increasingly facing lawsuits for trying to poach co-workers or clients before moving to a new employer. And sometimes the plaintiff is a law firm. The suits typically allege breach of fiduciary duty and do not necessarily rely on noncompete agreements, the Wall Street Journal reports…

Nov 6, 2007 3:47 PM CST

Wal-Mart and Fired Exec Drop Dueling Lawsuits

The mudslinging and the litigation that stemmed from a lawsuit by fired Wal-Mart marketing executive Julie Roehm appear to be drawing to a conclusion. Roehm has agreed to drop her suit and is admitting that some of her allegations concerning the store’s CEO and a Minnesota businessman turned out to…

Nov 5, 2007 2:15 PM CST

It’s Only Fair

ABA urges Congress to clarify filing rules for wage discrimination claims

Nov 1, 2007 9:06 PM CDT

Taking On the Job

The court weighs worker rights in age bias, benefits suits

Nov 1, 2007 9:02 PM CDT

Scary Halloween Story to Employers: Retaliation Case Award of $5.5M

In a wake-up call to employers in California who haven’t yet familiarized themselves with the legal requirements concerning discrimination complaints, a federal jury in San Francisco has awarded $5.5 million in compensatory and punitive damages to the plaintiff in a retaliation case. Kiran Pande, a former Chevron Corp. engineer, had…

Oct 31, 2007 12:32 AM CDT

E-Mail to Lawyer Not Privileged Because of Employer Policy

A New York judge has ruled that a hospital’s e-mail policy means messages sent by a physician to his lawyers are not protected by attorney-client privilege. The policy at Beth Israel Medical Center specified that employees had no personal property right in their messages and the hospital had the right…

Oct 30, 2007 1:26 PM CDT

Staff Lawyer Claims Bosses Whitewashed Ethics Complaints

A former staff lawyer for a New York disciplinary committee has filed a lawsuit that claims her bosses whitewashed and dismissed complaints against select lawyers. Christine Anderson claims in her federal suit that she was fired in retaliation for complaining in violation of the First Amendment, the New York Law…

Oct 30, 2007 10:49 AM CDT