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...

Get Confidential Help From A NJ Whistleblower Lawyer Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. settled fraud allegations made in a whistleblower’s lawsuit that the company sold unsafe drugs while lying about it to U.S. regulators. Ranbaxy admitted in federal court in Baltimore yesterday that it sold batches of...

The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently won a $240 million award for disability discrimination against 32 employees with cognitive handicaps. An Iowa jury found that Hill Country Farms violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) through verbal abuse and...

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie conditionally vetoed a bill that prohibits employers from employees and job applicants from providing social media website account information.  The governor said that privacy concerns must be balanced with "an employer's need to hire appropriate personnel, manage...