The Third Circuit just predicted that New Jersey’s “reverse discrimination” rule is incompatible with the NJLAD. Federal courts in New Jersey are no longer applying it. TL;DR: The Third Circuit predicted that the New Jersey Supreme Court would abolish the “Background Circumstances Rule,” the heightened burden imposed on majority-group plaintiffs…
She signed a severance release, collected her benefits, and then sued anyway. The Sixth Circuit just explained why that didn’t work – and why the employer’s paperwork made all the difference. TL;DR: The Sixth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for an employer after finding that a former employee’s severance release was…
Some employment cases turn on close calls, messy comparators, or shaky documentation. This one turned on something simpler: an employee who admitted to a string of workplace misconduct and still tried to turn the termination into a discrimination, retaliation, and hostile-work-environment case. TL;DR: An Illinois federal court granted summary judgment…
That escalated quickly. A university fired its HR director and asked him to return his work laptop. He refused for months. Campus police eventually obtained a felony arrest warrant. When the former employee finally showed up with the laptop, officers arrested him. He then sued for retaliation. TL;DR: The U.S.…
Some employers try. The Fourth Circuit just explained why that trick doesn’t work for these federal discrimination claims. TL;DR: The Fourth Circuit held that employers cannot contractually shorten the time employees have to file discrimination lawsuits under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) or the…
A manager allegedly makes racially inappropriate jokes. Months later, the company eliminates a position in a nationwide cost-cutting initiative and reduces an employee’s hours. So she sues for race discrimination, retaliation, and hostile work environment. But she loses. TL;DR: The Eleventh Circuit affirmed summary judgment after a nationwide restructuring…
A single slur can sink an employer. It can also survive summary judgment. Two recent federal decisions show why context — especially who said it and how — still controls. TL;DR: Two federal courts held that a single use of a slur was not enough to get a hostile work…
Two arguments show up in almost every termination lawsuit: that the employer’s reason changed, and that it didn’t follow its own policy. The Eleventh Circuit recently explained why neither argument, without more, is enough to get a case to a jury. TL;DR: In a recent Eleventh Circuit decision, the…
Not every workplace conflict that creates turbulence makes it to a jury. This one didn’t. The employer’s investigation held up under the honest-belief doctrine. TL;DR: The Sixth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for an airline after a flight attendant received a Final Corrective Action Notice for allegedly violating its Workplace…
Most employment cases fall apart because the evidence is thin or the comparators don’t line up. This one fell apart because of what the employee herself admitted – under oath. TL;DR: A Sixth Circuit panel affirmed summary judgment for an urgent care clinic after a front-desk employee was terminated…