News & Analysis as of

Retaliation Employment Litigation Title VII

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Sixth Circuit Takes Restricted View of Employer Liability for Third-Party Harassment

For years, both the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and multiple federal appellate circuits have agreed on the legal standard for proving liability for sexual or other harassment by a third party such as a vendor or...more

Phelps Dunbar

Sixth Circuit Redefines Employer Liability for Client-Based Harassment

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In an explicit departure from EEOC guidance and other federal court caselaw, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit recently held that an employer can only be liable for a client/customer’s harassment of its...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Fourth Circuit Holds That Intervening Events Do Not Erase Retaliation Claims

On July 25, 2025, a three-judge panel of the Fourth Circuit issued its opinion in Finley v. Kraft Heinz Inc. upending the grant of summary judgment to an employer in a retaliation case. ...more

Poyner Spruill LLP

Why Comparator Analysis Matters: A Key Fourth Circuit Ruling

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Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 generally prohibits covered employers from taking adverse actions against employees on the basis of race, sex, and other protected categories. Employee discipline is often the subject...more

Harris Beach Murtha PLLC

How Courts are Applying the “Some Harm” Standard Since Muldrow

More than a year has passed since the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held in its April 2024 decision in Muldrow v. City of St. Louis, Missouri, 601 U.S. 346, 144 S. Ct. 967, 218 L. Ed. 2d 322 (2024) that employees need only...more

Littler

Littler Lightbulb – May Employment Appellate Roundup

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Fourth Circuit Dismisses White Employee’s Race, Gender, and Retaliation Claims - Barnhill v. Pamela Bondi, __ F.4th __ (4th Cir. May 15, 2025) involved claims by a white Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Administration...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Title VII Lawsuit in Utah Federal District Court Challenges Employee’s Firing After Making Online Posts

An in-house attorney recently sued his former employer in a Utah federal district court for discrimination and retaliation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, alleging he was unlawfully fired after posting social...more

Littler

Littler Lightbulb – April Employment Appellate Roundup - May 2025

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Fifth Circuit Affirms Judgment for Employer on Title IX and Title VII Retaliation Claims - In Lewis v. Board of Supervisors of LSU, __ F.4th __ (5th Cir. Apr. 8, 2025), a former employee of a university football department...more

Perkins Coie

Employers See Wins in Title VII Suits Over DEI Trainings

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Key Takeaways - - Employers have recently prevailed in several cases across the country in which plaintiffs attacked diversity training and other DEI-related initiatives in the workplace. Decisions have indicated that many...more

Poyner Spruill LLP

Third Circuit Finds “Modicum” of Control Insufficient to Create Employment Relationship

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In order to state a claim for discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), a plaintiff must first demonstrate that he or she had an employment relationship with the defendant.  Although various...more

Littler

Annual Report on EEOC Developments: Fiscal Year 2024 - An Annual Report on EEOC Charges, Litigation, Regulatory Developments and...

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INTRODUCTION - This Annual Report on EEOC Developments—Fiscal Year 2024 (hereafter “Report”), our fourteenth annual publication, is designed as a comprehensive guide to significant Equal Employment Opportunity Commission...more

Holland & Hart - Employers' Lawyers

A Shoddy Investigation Is Not Retaliatory

When an employee complains of discrimination or harassment, companies often investigate the matter. Doing so allows a company to address alleged improper behavior and it may allow the company to avoid potential liability –...more

Mandelbaum Barrett PC

Blake Lively vs. Justin Baldoni: Hollywood’s Legal Battle — A Landmark Employment Law Case

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A high-profile legal dispute is unfolding between actors Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni over workplace misconduct allegations tied to their 2024 film It Ends With Us. This case, filed in the United States District Court for...more

Littler

Littler Lightbulb – March 2025 Employment Appellate Roundup

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Fourth Circuit Stays Injunction Barring Enforcement of DEI Executive Orders On March 14, 2025, the Fourth Circuit issued an order in National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education v. Donald Trump, No. 25-1189...more

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission...

EEOC Sues Taco Bell Franchisees for Sexual Harassment and Retaliation

Federal Agency Alleges Fast Food Companies Created Hostile Work Environment for Female Workers, Including Teens, and Fired Manager When She Reported Misconduct - DETROIT – Six related entities operating Taco Bell...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Time Was Not on Her Side: 5th Circuit Rules Unpaid Mentor’s Claim of Discrimination Is Untimely

In Title VII actions, plaintiffs have a limited amount of time to file a charge of discrimination (or a court can dismiss the case as untimely). In the case of Wells v. Texas Tech University, the timeliness dynamic was...more

CDF Labor Law LLP

Employee Replaced by White Male Coupled With Employer’s Poor Investigation Fuels Disparate Treatment Claim

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In Lui v. DeJoy, the Ninth Circuit held that a woman of Chinese ethnicity’s demotion, when coupled with a white male replacing her position, gave rise to an inference of discrimination. The employer’s investigation into the...more

Proskauer - California Employment Law

Another Arbitration Agreement Bites the Dust!

The California Court of Appeal dealt another blow to arbitration, just months after we reported the last such decision here. This time, the Court ruled that the federal Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and...more

Maynard Nexsen

SCOTUS to Review the “Background Circumstances” Heightened Pleading Standard in Reverse Discrimination Cases

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On October 4, 2024, the Supreme Court of the United States granted a writ of certiorari,[1] agreeing to hear arguments in Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services, a Sixth Circuit case that seeks to determine whether the...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

When Documentation Backfires: A Case Study From the Tenth Circuit

Part of our standard advice to nearly every client is "document, document, document." Typically, robust and timely documentation ensures that an employer has strong evidence of its legitimate rationale for making employment...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Tenth Circuit Clarifies When the Door for Individual Liability Under the FMLA Is Opened

On January 14, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit ruled in Walkingstick Dixon v. Oklahoma Regional University System Board of Regents that the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) permits actions against...more

Littler

Littler Lightbulb: December Employment Appellate Roundup

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This Littler Lightbulb highlights some recent labor and employment law developments at the U.S. Supreme Court and federal courts of appeal. At the Supreme Court...more

Maynard Nexsen

Sexual Harassment Claims Strike Hollywood Again: Key Takeaways for HR Professionals

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The entertainment industry, often credited for sparking the cultural “#MeToo” movement, is yet again faced with allegations of sexual harassment, this time from “It Ends With Us” star Blake Lively. On December 31, 2024,...more

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission...

Wyoming Trucking Company to Pay $124,000 in EEOC Sexual Harassment Lawsuit

Resolves Federal Agency’s Charge of Sexual Harassment by Owner - CASPER, Wyo. – Waller’s Trucking Company, Inc., a family-owned Wyoming trucking company, will pay $124,000 and provide other relief to settle a sexual...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

‘Motive’ or ‘Animus’? Lessons From Appellate Practice

The term “animus” is often used interchangeably with “motive” by lawyers and courts, but the two words have different meanings and connotations, and confusion between them can become an unnecessary complication. None of us...more

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