Yesterday the U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion Wal-Mart v. Dukes, an important case addressing issues involving both employment law and class actions. There has been an 
incredible amount of coverage and analysis of this opinion in both regular and legal media outlets and blogs (including our own summary in the DRI Publication
Employment Law Myths
Robin Shea at Employment and Labor Insider had a great post a couple of days ago on common misconceptions about employment laws that trip up employers.
It is surprising how often employers think the law allows freedom to act without risk of bad consequences when precisely the opposite is true. I call them “employment law myths”.
Supreme Court Expands (Again) the Universe of Employees Protected From Retaliation
In a unanimous decision yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court expanded the universe of employees who might be protected from retaliation under Title VII and other federal 
employment laws.
A retaliation claim is based upon an employer’s adverse action taken in response to an employee’s “protected activity”. Typically, protected activity includes things such as making a complaint
Should the Decision to Terminate an Employee Who Uses the “N-word” Depend Upon the Employee’s Race?
A federal judge in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania recently waded into this thorny subject. The case is Burlington v. News Corp., in which a white television reporter for the Fox affiliate in Philadelphia alleges he was terminated for using the “n-word”. The suit claims black employees who also had uttered the word were not even disciplined.
It all
Recent 8th Circuit Case Likely to Encourage Continued Migration of Age Discrimination Claims to State Court
We have discussed in this blog before the migration of discrimination claims to Iowa state courts rather than federal courts. The trend is driven by a number of factors, including the recognition in 2005 of the right to a jury trial under the Iowa Civil Rights Act (ICRA) and the greater propensity of federal courts
Whatever Happened to…Jack Gross?
Remember Jack Gross? Back in 2003 he claimed a demotion from his management job at West Des Moines based FBL Financial Services constituted age discrimination. A federal jury in the Southern District of Iowa agreed and awarded him $47,000 in damages. From there his case had a remarkable journey: first stopping in St. Louis at the Eighth Circuit
What’s Ahead in Discrimination Litigation for 2011?
One of the best ways to predict this year’s trends in discrimination litigation is to examine last year’s charge statistics from the EEOC and the Iowa Civil Rights Commission. Any person who claims a violation of the state or federal anti-discrimination laws must first file an administrative charge with one or the other of these agencies.
The DOL’s Lawyer Referral Arrangement with ABA Not Likely to Help Employers or Employees
On the Friday before Thanksgiving, Vice-President Biden announced at a Middle Class Task Force event the creation of a collaboration between the U.S. Department of Labor and the American Bar Association. According to the press release associated with the event, the purpose the collaboration is to “help workers resolve complaints received by DOL’s wage
Iowa Jury Finds for Plaintiff in Gender Sterotyping Case
A jury in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Iowa recently returned a verdict in excess of $50,000 to a female plaintiff alleging sex discrimination based upon gender stereotypes. The plaintiff, who was a night auditor at a hotel, claimed she was terminated because she was more masculine than a typical female employee. She
Supreme Court to Hear Three Employment Cases This Term.
Last week the U.S. Supreme Court kicked off its 2010-2011 term. There are at least three cases this term of interest to employment lawyers. The Delaware Employment Law Blog had three excellent postings (here, here, and here) analyzing the cases in some detail. All three cases address important questions concerning the scope