by Tyla A. Swinton Oftentimes, discrimination and harassment cases boil down to documentation. Does the employer have an anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policy? A complaint procedure? Did the employer document the employee’s complaint? The investigative process? Did the employer document its decision and outcome for the matter? Was the decision based...
By Alice K. Jump and Lucia Mead Nearly a year after the Second Circuit issued its significant ruling in Flores v. N.Y. Football Giants, the litigation involving former NFL coach Brian Flores and the league’s arbitration procedures has taken another turn. On May 26, 2026, the United States Supreme Court...
by Alice K. Jump and Lucia Mead On May 14, 2026, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision further clarifying the scope of federal jurisdiction under the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”). In an opinion authored by Justice Sotomayor, the Supreme Court in Jules v. Andre Balazs Properties clarified that federal...
By Gregory Feit Litigation can often hinge on which legal standard a plaintiff must satisfy – one imposing a relatively low threshold or one setting a more stringent bar. When a new standard is announced in one context, it can frequently be unclear whether that standard applies beyond the particular...
By Gregory Feit On January 13, 2025, oral argument in the U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to be held in Stanley v. City of Sanford, Florida. The question presented is principally one of statutory interpretation, focusing on whether, pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a former employee –...
Recently, in Rajaram v. Meta Platforms, Inc., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that 42 U.S.C. § 1981 bars discrimination against U.S. citizens in hiring decisions when such decisions are made on the basis of their U.S. citizenship. The holding directly conflicts with a prior federal...
Earlier this month, in Smith v. Spizzirri, the U.S. Supreme Court held that Section 3 of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) requires district courts to stay a lawsuit pending arbitration when asked by a party to do so, and that district courts lack the inherent authority to instead dismiss such...
In Morgan v. Sundance, Inc., No. 21-328, 2022 WL 1611788 (U.S. May 23, 2022), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that federal courts, in analyzing a claim that a party has waived the right to arbitrate a dispute under the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”), should not impose a requirement of prejudice....
On April 28, 2022, the Supreme Court decided the case of Cummins v. Premier Rehab Keller, concerning an individual who requested that her physical therapist obtain an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter to communicate with her. The plaintiff in this case was both deaf and visually impaired. The physical therapist,...
Following up on the Supreme Court decision in Epic Systems Corp v. Lewis, handed down on Monday, May 21 (discussed by RPJ Partner Lawrence Brocchini in his article here), Refinery29 reached out to RPJ Partner Deena R. Merlen on May 22 for comment on the potential impact of the SCOTUS decision...