Labor & Employment

Law firm teams up with Canadian legal tech company on AI-powered case prediction tool

Labor and employment law firm Fisher Phillips has partnered with Blue J Legal Inc. to bring the Toronto legal tech company’s AI-powered technology, which predicts court outcomes in the employment law arena, to the United States.

Aug 25, 2020 8:00 AM CDT

Uber and Lyft avoid shutdown after court delays injunction

Uber and Lyft avoided a shutdown Thursday after a California appeals court paused a legal battle over the companies' refusal to comply with a law classifying drivers as employees.

Aug 21, 2020 10:25 AM CDT

Fired legal assistant at Kirkland & Ellis claims firm restructuring was motivated by age bias

A former legal assistant at Kirkland & Ellis alleges that the law firm discriminated based on age when it fired a group of older litigation support workers and made them reapply for new positions in a “sham process.”

Aug 17, 2020 11:04 AM CDT

Harvard law prof claims reporter sexually harassed him, twisted facts in ‘gullible man’ story

Bruce Hay, a professor at Harvard Law School, has filed a lawsuit alleging that he was sexually harassed by a New York Magazine reporter who gained his confidence, manipulated him and portrayed him as a gullible victim in the article that she wrote.

Aug 11, 2020 1:51 PM CDT

Legal industry gains jobs for third month in a row after a disastrous April

The legal industry gained 1,900 jobs in July, the third month of increases after losing 68,000 jobs in April.

Aug 10, 2020 9:38 AM CDT

Former Reed Smith lawyer sues law firm for alleged discrimination after receiving concussion

A lawsuit has accused Reed Smith of wrongly firing a lawyer after a “discriminatory chain of perceptions and events” stemming from a concussion that the lawyer received while on vacation.

Aug 6, 2020 3:27 PM CDT

Former Pierce Bainbridge paralegal sues firm and ex-partner over alleged sex assault

A paralegal who alleged that she was sexually assaulted by a former partner at Pierce Bainbridge Beck Price & Hecht has emerged from the shadows with a lawsuit that she filed Thursday.

Aug 6, 2020 1:52 PM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: Boston Marathon bomber wins death penalty appeal; what’s in the GOP coronavirus bill?

Appeals court overturns Boston Marathon bomber’s death sentence A federal appeals court has overturned the death sentence for convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Boston ruled Friday that the trial judge did not adequately screen jurors for potential bias. The judge “fell…

Jul 31, 2020 4:40 PM CDT

BigLaw firm and staffing company resolve claims over discrimination in hiring

Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer and Law Resources Inc. will pay a $56,500 civil penalty to resolve claims that they excluded U.S. citizens with dual citizenship and non-U.S. citizens with authorization from a document review project, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday.

Jul 24, 2020 9:46 AM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: Whole Foods sued over Black Lives Matter masks policy; NLRB makes firing activist workers easier

Whole Foods Market is sued over crackdown on workers’ Black Lives Matter masks A discrimination lawsuit filed against Whole Foods Market on Monday contends that the grocery chain selectively enforces its dress code to ban workers’ Black Lives Matter masks. One employee was fired for wearing the mask, and others…

Jul 22, 2020 4:46 PM CDT

In apparent first, teachers union sues Florida governor to stop schools from reopening during COVID-19 crisis

A teachers union sued Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state education commissioner on Monday in a bid to block the reopening of schools.

Jul 21, 2020 1:39 PM CDT

Prosecutor in critical condition with COVID-19 had filed an OSHA complaint

A hospitalized prosecutor in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, told colleagues he filed a complaint with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration after becoming ill with COVID-19.

Jul 14, 2020 1:25 PM CDT

SCOTUS bars bias suits by teachers with faith duties at religious schools

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7-2 Wednesday that courts cannot hear job bias claims by two Catholic schoolteachers who sued for alleged job discrimination.

Jul 8, 2020 9:20 AM CDT

How effective are liability waivers in the age of the novel coronavirus?

As businesses reopen, the practice of asking customers to sign COVID-19 liability waivers is increasing throughout the United States, but it is uncertain how much weight those waivers will carry in court. And if the businesses aren’t complying with safety guidelines concerning COVID-19, they may still be found liable.

Jul 2, 2020 9:33 AM CDT

Chemerinsky: Gorsuch wrote his ‘most important opinion’ in SCOTUS ruling protecting LGBTQ workers

There are many important implications to the U.S. Supreme Court’s stunning decision June 15. “It certainly is the most important opinion” written by Justice Neil M. Gorsuch since coming on to the court three years ago, writes law dean Erwin Chemerinsky.

Jul 1, 2020 8:00 AM CDT