If a black manager uses the N-word in speaking with another black employee, does that create a hostile work environment?  Yes, according to a federal jury in New York. Jurors awarded Brandi Johnson $250,000 in compensatory damages and $30,000 in punitive damages...

   Gov. Christie signed a bill today banning employers from forcing workers to disclose user names or passwords to their social media accounts.  The new law fines employers $1,000 for requesting access to a current or potential worker's accounts on websites like Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.  Workers also have...

A racial discrimination class action filed by 1,200 black stock brokers against Merrill Lynch is set to settle for $160 million.  If approved by the federal court in Chicago, the settlement would be one of the largest ever in a racial discrimination case. The class action alleged a pattern of discrimination that resulted in the...

Workplace discrimination due to weight is not illegal.  Last week, Superior Court Judge Nelson Johnson granted summary judgment for the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa and dismissed a weight discrimination case brought by 22 cocktail waitresses known as the “Borgata Babes.” The waitresses argued that the casino viewed them as sex objects who were forced...

A federal jury in Ohio ruled in favor of a teacher who said that the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati discriminated against her after becoming pregnant through artificial insemination.  The jury awarded her $171,000.  The Archdiocese argued that it was legally allowed to fire her for violating church doctrine against artificial insemination.  The teacher...

Swiss banking giant UBS lost its motion to dismiss a whistleblower lawsuit by a former mortgage securities strategist who said UBS fired him for refusing to publish misleading research.  A federal judge in Manhattan found that  the whistleblower could go forward with his case under the federal whistleblower law known as Dodd-Frank. UBS argued that...