WASHINGTON, D.C. - A District of Columbia federal judge on June 11 granted a motion to certify for interlocutory appeal a March order to allow the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to rule on whether the jurisdictional limits outlined in Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. v. Superior Court of...

OWENSBORO, Ky. - Bias based on a worker's sexual orientation is not barred under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 or Kentucky state law, a Kentucky federal judge ruled June 12, citing a 2009 decision by the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals (Terry Lindsey v. Management & Training Corporation...

NEW ORLEANS - A Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on June 12 partially reinstated a hospital's claims for unpaid or underpaid benefits, ruling that claims for benefits under 29 U.S.C. Section 1132(a)(1)(B) don't need to identify the specific language of every plan provision to survive...

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - A West Virginia federal judge on June 12 signed off on a $3.2 million settlement to be paid by CSX Transportation Inc. to end a lawsuit by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging that required strength tests for certain jobs was discriminatory against women (U.S. Equal...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Supreme Court on June 18 declined to review a ruling by Oklahoma's top court finding an insured's class action challenging a health care provider's billing practices outside of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act's preemptive powers (INTEGRIS Health...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Supreme Court on June 18 denied a petition for writ of certiorari filed by a gentleman's club after an appeals court declined to enforce arbitration agreements given to the club's exotic dancers after a wage-and-hour complaint was already filed and also denied petitions...

NEW ORLEANS - The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on June 14 determined that a life insurer abused its discretion in denying a beneficiary's claim for life insurance benefits because the beneficiary was denied a full and fair review under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and the denial...

CHICAGO - A denial of pension benefits sought by the daughter of a plan participant who died three days after retirement and three days before the start of her pension was neither arbitrary nor capricious, a unanimous Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled June 13 (Estate of Linda Faye Jones...

SAN FRANCISCO - The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on June 15 remanded a disability benefits dispute to the district court to determine whether the claimant is entitled to equitable relief based on the disability plan's failure to properly offset the claimant's disability benefits (Petar...

INDIANAOLIS - In light of a defendant's showing of relevance and the plaintiffs' failure to establish privilege, an Indiana federal magistrate judge on June 14 concluded that a Facebook instant message string between two named plaintiffs was not covered by a protective order in a putative class...

MINNEAPOLIS - A Minnesota federal judge on June 15 dismissed a complaint alleging that Target Corp. and its 401(k) plan failed to protect its 401(k) plan participants despite allegedly knowing that the company's stock was artificially inflated after determining that the plaintiffs failed to sufficiently...

NEW ORLEANS - A Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on June 18 rejected an appeal by a former veterans home worker who challenged a verdict in her former employer's favor and the jury instructions in her disability bias suit filed after she was terminated while placed on light-duty tasks following...

CINCINNATI - The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on June 18 denied a petition for rehearing en banc filed by former employees of Norton Healthcare Inc. challenging lump-sum pension payments after an appellate panel on May 10 vacated a district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Because the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) does not provide for a private cause of action, a District of Columbia federal judge on June 15 granted a diagnostic laboratory's motion to dismiss a complaint alleging that the lab violated the act by not...

SAN FRANCISCO - A group of restaurant workers on June 18 sued the restaurant and its owner in a California state court, asserting claims for violation of California's unfair competition law (UCL) and labor code (Pedro Mejia Garcia v. Nass Enterprise Inc., No. 567366, Calif. Super., San Francisco...

SAN FRANCISCO - A former Jones Day partner filed a Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) representative action complaint on June 19 in a California state court on behalf of herself and other female attorneys employed by the firm in California, alleging that it operates as a "fraternity" where...

PHILADELPHIA - The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on June 19 affirmed a district court's ruling that an employer is required to reimburse its employees' retirement funds for delinquent contributions because the collective bargaining agreement requires the employer to make contributions on...

PORTLAND, Maine - A Maine federal judge on June 19 granted final approval of a $5 million settlement to be paid by a Maine dairy company to end a wage-and-hour class lawsuit stemming from the lack of a serial comma in a list of activities exempted from Maine's overtime law (Christopher O'Connor...

PHILADELPHIA - Because an ex-employee of The Coca-Cola Co. (Coke) failed to establish a causal connection between credit card fraud and the theft of company-owned laptops containing employees' personally identifiable information (PII), a Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on June 20 affirmed...

CINCINNATI - The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on June 20 reversed and remanded a district court's ruling on a plaintiff's reformation claim after determining that the lower court's conclusion that the plaintiff failed to establish that the plan had an intent to deceive was based on...

TAMPA, Fla. - A Florida federal judge on June 20 decertified a collective of food delivery drivers who allege that they were misclassified and denied minimum and overtime wages, ruling that the drivers failed to show that they are similarly situated (David Roberson, et al. v. Restaurant Delivery Developers...

CINCINNATI - A receptionist who requested a longer lunch period to allow her more time to exercise and then quit while her request, supported by a note from her doctor, was being considered failed to show disability bias, retaliation or constructive discharge, a Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel...

DENVER - A Wal-Mart Stores Inc. worker who was fired after requesting that she not be required to clean the men's restrooms failed to establish a prima facie case of disability discrimination despite being exempted from that task for several years because cleaning restrooms was an essential function...

SANTA ANA, Calif. - A California federal judge on June 19 granted final approval of a nonreversionary $750,000 class settlement that will be paid by Pier 1 Imports U.S. Inc. to end a complaint alleging that workers of the home furnishings and accessories chain were denied rest breaks (Jennifer Pedraza...

SAN FRANCSICO - The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on June 21 affirmed a district court's award of own-occupation long-term disability (LTD) benefits in favor of a disability claimant but vacated and remanded the lower court's award of attorney fees in favor of the claimant for recalculation...