Podcast - FTC Commissioner Dismissals: Background and Implications
The Briefing – Late Night, Early Dismissal: The Santos-Kimmel Copyright Case
(Podcast) The Briefing – Late Night, Early Dismissal: The Santos-Kimmel Copyright Case
Fifth Circuit Affirms District Court’s Striking of Class Allegations
Eighth Circuit Reverses Dismissal of Putative Class Claims
Nota Bene Episode 98: The U.S. Supreme Court’s Mark on U.S. Antitrust Law for 2020 with Thomas Dillickrath and Bevin Newman
Class Action Suit Against Instagram for New Terms of Service Dismissed
A federal court in Virginia recently granted McDonald’s USA, LLC’s motion to dismiss a former franchise employee’s Title VII and Virginia Human Rights Act claims. Edmonds v. McDonald’s USA, LLC, 2025 WL 1066193 (W.D. Va. Apr....more
This Littler Lightbulb highlights some of the more significant employment law developments at the U.S. Supreme Court and federal courts of appeal in the last month....more
Much to the dismay of many small businesses, the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed its review of a case that could have limited high-volume lawsuits against entities alleged to have violated public accommodation...more
In last term’s decision in Groff v. DeJoy, the U.S. Supreme Court significantly increased employers’ obligation to consider religious exemption requests under Title VII. Rather than the previous de minimus burden standard,...more
In September 2023, federal trial courts in Wisconsin and Kentucky issued decisions dismissing plaintiffs’ claims related to employers’ COVID-19 vaccination and testing requirements....more
We often hear claims from employees who threaten to sue their employer for creating a “hostile work environment.” When we dig into the complaints, often the employee is alleging that their manager is mean or unfair to them,...more
A federal district court in New York dismissed workplace harassment and retaliation claims against corporate affiliates of the Golden Krust Caribbean Bakery & Grill franchisor for damages as a result of workplace harassment...more
On November 7. 2022, the Supreme Court of the United States declined to review a case by a Georgia fire chief alleging she was discharged for being transgender in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the...more
The U.S. Supreme Court has made clear that federal courts will not serve as a super HR department for employees who complain about unpleasant work conditions. Every worker is expected to tolerate a certain level of obnoxious...more
Executive Summary: On March 7, 2022, a sharply divided panel of the Second Circuit (covering New York, Connecticut, and Vermont) addressed the question of what a Title VII plaintiff must claim to adequately plead the...more
In early September 2021, a group of current and former employees of St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Kentucky filed suit challenging St. Elizabeth’s vaccine mandate for its employees. In the case of Beckerich v. St. Elizabeth...more
In a new opinion from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Maner v. Dignity Health, the plaintiff was a male design engineer who was laid off due to performance and budget cut issues. He alleged that he had been discriminated...more
Under Title VII, employers are liable to an employee for incidents of co-worker harassment when they knew or should have known that the conduct was occurring, yet failed to take reasonable measures to end it. Last week, the...more
On April 1, 2021, Houston Methodist Hospital announced that all of its employees would be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by June 7, 2021, but that it would provide accommodations to any employee with disability...more
In its Oncale decision, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized that same-sex sexual harassment violates Title VII’s sex discrimination prohibition. In that case, the court said that plaintiffs can demonstrate same-sex harassment...more
On April 12, 2021, the New Jersey District Court for the District of New Jersey in Spence v. New Jersey, et al., granted in part and denied in part a motion to dismiss an employee’s sexual harassment and retaliation claims...more
In last year’s landmark Bostock decision, the U.S. Supreme Court held that discrimination due to sexual orientation or gender identity is prohibited under Title VII. In its earlier Oncale decision, the Court concluded that...more
In 2019, the United States District Court for the District of Oregon dismissed a lawsuit brought by Jennifer Freyd, professor of psychology at the University of Oregon, against the University and two University officials. In...more
On February 5, a federal court in Massachusetts entered an order dismissing Title VII claims brought against Whole Foods by a number of employees who were disciplined for wearing masks or other items supportive of the Black...more
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects employees from discrimination based on a range of protected classifications. However, Title VII only applies to employment relationships and cannot be used by contractors,...more
Religious schools expressed relief when the United States Supreme Court expanded the application of the ministerial exception in July 2020 in the combined cases of Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrisey-Berru and St. James...more
Summary of procedural history: Plaintiff, the parent of A.I., an eleven-year-old student in the Dallas Independent School District (DISD), filed suit alleging DISD subjected A.I. to intentional discrimination based upon...more
This week, this Ninth Circuit once again issued a number of opinions arising from the employment relationship. Here, we focus on two of particular interest. In the first, the Court sought to unravel whether an emergency room...more
In March of 2019, members of the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team (WNT) filed a collective and class action in federal court against the United States Soccer Federation, Inc. (USSF), asserting claims under Title VII and the...more
The U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team’s (“WNT”) battle to increase pay in line with that afforded to the U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team (“MNT”) was dealt a blow last Friday as a judge dismissed their Equal Pay Act ("EPA")...more