Labor & Employment

$6.1 M Award in McDonald’s Strip Search

A Kentucky jury has awarded $6.1 million to a young McDonald’s employee who was pressured by a supervisor into cooperating with a strip search and bizarre requests made over the telephone by a male caller pretending to be a police officer investigating a theft. Louise Ogborn, who was 18 at…

Oct 5, 2007 7:55 PM CDT

Sidley to Pay $27.5 M in EEOC Partner Case

Updated: In a settlement that should send shock waves throughout many of the nation’s major law firms, Sidley Austin has agreed to pay $27.5 million to resolve a landmark federal case alleging that the law firm discriminated against 32 of its own partners. The 1,700-lawyer Chicago-based firm also agreed in…

Oct 5, 2007 5:17 PM CDT

Top NJ Judge Joins 2—Yes, 2—Family Firms

When it came time to retire from the bench and return to law practice, former New Jersey Chief Justice James Zazzali had a hard time making a choice between two family law firms. So he didn’t. Zazzali is now counsel at both a Newark, N.J., law firm started by his…

Oct 4, 2007 7:05 PM CDT

Exploding OT Claims for Many Employers

Wage-and-hour class action claims brought over unpaid overtime are a hot practice area—and, as today’s $62 million judgment against Wal-Mart illustrates, one that can be extremely costly to employers. “Multiplaintiff wage-and-hour lawsuits pose the greatest employment litigation threat to American businesses today,” says Seyfarth Shaw, a law firm known for…

Oct 3, 2007 11:54 PM CDT

Wal-Mart Workers Win $141 M in OT Case

In the latest judgment in ongoing class actions against the world’s largest retailer, a Pennsylvania judge is requiring Wal-Mart to pay $62.3 million to 125,000 workers who didn’t receive required overtime pay for overtime work. The award today by Philadelphia Common Pleas Judge Mark Bernstein supplements a previous $78.5 million…

Oct 3, 2007 11:06 PM CDT

Isiah Thomas Liable for Harassment, But Not Punitives

Updated: A federal jury has found that New York Knicks coach Isiah Thomas sexually harassed a team executive. Jurors also found that Madison Square Garden was liable for the harassment and will have to pay punitive damages, the New York Times reports. Jurors could not decide whether Thomas should pay…

Oct 2, 2007 5:50 PM CDT

Anita Hill Sees ‘Outright Smears’ in Thomas Book

It’s Anita Hill’s turn. Reports on Justice Clarence Thomas’ new book yesterday highlighted his anger at Hill, the woman who accused him of sexual harassment during confirmation hearings. Thomas called Hill his “most traitorous adversary” in his new memoir, My Grandfather’s Son. Today, Hill defended her testimony in an appearance…

Oct 2, 2007 3:29 PM CDT

Ex-Associate’s Gay-Bias Suit Partly Tossed

Sullivan & Cromwell has succeeded in narrowing a former associate’s gay-bias lawsuit against the law firm. Manhattan Judge Bernard Fried dismissed two claims by ex-associate Aaron Charney on Friday, the New York Law Journal reports. Fried ruled Charney could not pursue a claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress since…

Oct 2, 2007 12:07 PM CDT

If Getty Returns Art, Italy Drops Suit

As the J. Paul Getty Museum reconfirmed an earlier pledge to return allegedly stolen works of art, the Italian government promised to drop civil claims against a former museum antiquities curator. However, an Italian criminal case continues against Marion True, who is now on trial in Rome on charges that…

Sep 26, 2007 12:37 AM CDT

Sprint’s 30-Day Settlement Total Nears $150 M

With a $57.5 million Kansas class action settlement just announced by Sprint-Nextel Corp., the company’s settlement agreements in three cases during the past month now total nearly $150 million. If approved by the judge in the case, the latest settlement would amount to only a small fraction of the $1.3…

Sep 25, 2007 11:41 PM CDT

Feds Sue IL Over New Immigration Law

In an action that puts the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution at issue, the federal government is suing the state of Illinois over a new law that bans employer participation in a new voluntary federal program that verifies the identity of legal immigrants. Filed in federal court in Springfield,…

Sep 25, 2007 6:11 PM CDT

Bosses to Workers: Shape Up or Pay Up

Hold it right there—don’t even think about lighting that cigarette or chomping into that cholesterol-laden super-duper burger. And, if you dare to disobey this instruction, it will cost you at work. That’s what a small number of employers are now telling their employees, essentially, in a new workplace trend of…

Sep 24, 2007 11:41 PM CDT

Union: Boss Had Duty to eBay Addicts

A union representing nine United Kingdom office workers reportedly fired due to their addiction to eBay and other Internet sites says their employer should have been more vigilant. Although so-called firewall software had been installed to prevent employees from looking at pornography on their office computers, the union says the…

Sep 21, 2007 5:33 PM CDT

Bias Suit Claims Cozen Promotes ‘Compliant’ Women

A former junior female partner at Cozen O’Connor has filed a sex discrimination suit against the firm that claims three partners there “prefer and promote women who fit traditional female stereotypes.” Patricia Biswanger alleges Cozen fired her for using firm resources for political activities at the same time it permitted…

Sep 21, 2007 11:14 AM CDT

Dan Rather Sues CBS for $70 Million

Claiming that CBS News made him a “scapegoat” for the network’s flawed reporting concerning President George W. Bush’s service in the National Guard during the Vietnam War era, former 60 Minutes reporter Dan Rather sued today for $70 million. His lawsuit, which names as defendants the network, its corporate parent…

Sep 19, 2007 9:29 PM CDT