The employer approved light duty. Seventeen days later, it fired the pregnant employee over an alleged policy violation from two months earlier. TL;DR: A warehouse associate plausibly alleged pregnancy discrimination and retaliation after her employer allegedly reduced her overtime, approved light duty, and then fired her. The court allowed her
A job applicant told a polygraph examiner that she consumed ayahuasca as part of her religion. An agency adjudicator labeled it “recent illegal drug use,” and the tentative job offer disappeared. TL;DR: A federal applicant plausibly alleged religious discrimination after an agency withdrew her tentative offer based on her sacramental
The employer thought it had caught an employee lying in an EEOC charge. Then it put that conclusion in the termination notice. That second decision cost considerably more than the first. TL;DR: An employer fired a detention deputy after concluding that he made false statements in an EEOC charge. A
Lizzo’s touring company swept every remaining claim from a former wardrobe assistant’s lawsuit off the stage. The celebrity headline masks an evidence lesson. TL;DR: A federal court granted summary judgment to Lizzo’s touring company on seven employment claims. Some alleged conduct was inappropriate, but the evidence did not establish unlawful
The employee left the termination call. Unfortunately for the company, its AI note-taker apparently did not. And it allegedly emailed her what the company representatives said next. TL;DR: A former environmental scientist alleges that her employer fired her during a recorded video call, then discussed replacing her with “hopefully a
An arbitration agreement usually decides where an employment dispute will be heard. In this case, evidence uncovered during arbitration opened the door to court instead. TL;DR: A former executive began arbitrating national-origin and domestic-violence-victim claims. After withdrawing over allegedly late arbitration fees, she filed in court and relied on evidence
A no-remote rule sounds straightforward. It became much less so when a professor with an autoimmune condition requested an accommodation. TL;DR: An associate professor diagnosed with an incurable autoimmune condition requested permission to move her scheduled in-person courses online for four semesters while taking immunosuppressive medication. A federal appeals court
Protected leave can be approved on paper and penalized in a spreadsheet. A federal judge just allowed fourteen employment claims to proceed over an allegedly leave-blind performance system. TL;DR: An employee alleged that her employer’s utilization formula, staffing practices, and peer comparisons depressed the performance ratings of employees who took
He claimed that when he told his employer he had cancer, his boss reacted by saying, “Are you f*****g kidding me? Your obligations are here.” As it turned out, the diagnosis was wrong. That did not spare his employer from facing an ADA trial. TL;DR: An employee told his employer
Her job was tracking employee attendance. Unfortunately, someone was tracking hers, too. TL;DR: A federal appeals court upheld summary judgment for an employer after an HR employee alleged discrimination, retaliation, and a hostile work environment. Documented attendance problems, incomplete work, and internal investigations helped defeat her claims. 📄 Read the
She had six Emmy Awards. The male colleague earning more than she did had none. TL;DR: A Michigan appeals court upheld summary disposition for a television station after an award-winning reporter claimed sex discrimination based on a male colleague’s higher salary. The employer traced the pay gap to his major-market
Keeping disinfectant in the office during the pandemic was understandable. Following coworkers around and spraying it on their clothes and sometimes in their mouths was not. TL;DR: A federal appeals court upheld summary judgment for an employer on disability discrimination and retaliation claims after an employee was fired for directing
An employee requested a religious exemption from a vaccine mandate but initially refused to answer most of her employer’s follow-up questions. By the time she completed the form, the employer said its decision was final. TL;DR: A federal appeals court vacated an employee’s summary judgment victory in a Title VII
The employee asked his manager about less physically demanding jobs. The manager offered to contact the risk department, then could not remember whether he ever did. TL;DR: The Fourth Circuit revived an employee’s ADA accommodation claim after his employer kept him on unpaid leave while filling customer service and sales
The employer offered him $400,000 to stay. He still claimed that workplace stress, microaggressions, and an abrasive executive amounted to race discrimination. TL;DR: A federal appeals court affirmed summary judgment for an employer, holding that an extra safety audit, continued safety monitoring, and workplace stress did not harm an identifiable
His doctors cleared him to return to work. The railroad kept him away from moving trains for five years. TL;DR: A federal appeals court upheld summary judgment for an employer that barred a railroad conductor from returning after a stroke because of the risk of a future seizure. Although the