US federal judge blocks Florida ban on use of personal pronouns by teachers
US District Judge Mark Walker blocked the enforcement of a Florida law Wednesday that would have banned a transgender public school teacher from introducing themselves to students with their personal pronouns. The law, which went into effect in 2023, bans public school employees or contractors from providing to students a “preferred personal title or pronouns [...]
Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers vetoed a bill that requires schools to separate sports based on sex assigned at birth. The bill was seen by Evers and members of the LGBTQ+ community as being targeted against trans student-athletes. It was largely supported by Republican state legislators. In his signed veto message, Evers cited two main legal [...]
The US Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals declined Tuesday to rehear with the full Eighth Circuit panel of judges a prior appeals court decision curtailing private organizations’ ability to sue under section two of the Voting Rights Act for alleged racial gerrymandering in redistricting decisions. In the order denying the rehearing, Judge David Stras, writing [...]
In response to the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks against Israeli civilians, Israel mounted Operation Swords of Iron. Although international law allows for certain limited uses of insurgent force, including uses directed toward “self-determination,” these residual allowances do not include any rights of indiscriminate violence or of deliberate attacks on noncombatants. “Revenge,” of course, is [...]
US Supreme Court to consider whether employees can sue for bias-motivated workplace transfers
The US Supreme Court decided Friday that it would take up Muldrow v. City of St. Louis, Missouri, a case determining whether an employee can sue under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act for discrimination based on bias-motivated transfers in the workplace. In Friday’s order, the court stated, “The petition for a writ of [...]
US Supreme Court narrows employer's ability to deny religious accommodations to employees
The Supreme Court of the United States ruled Thursday in Groff v. DeJoy that challenges under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act for religious accommodation in the workplace would require employers to show substantially increased costs. The Court used this case to clarify a precedential case often relied on in Title VII cases, and [...]
DOJ announces five criminal cases over China- and Russia-led efforts to steal US technologies
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Tuesday five new criminal cases and four arrests in connection with a multi-agency US task force, known as the Disruptive Technology Strike Force, to keep sensitive technology away from “hostile nation-states.” The criminal cases focused on foreign actors connected with Russia and China who, the DOJ claims, [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled Monday that former government employees can sue the city of San Francisco, California for infringing on their religious freedom after they were denied exemptions from receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. The court found that the vaccines are remotely “derived” from aborted fetal stem cells and that [...]
Goldman Sachs $215M deal to compensate sex discrimination a potential catalyst for gender-equality
Leading Wall Street investment banking firm, Goldman Sachs (Goldman), one month before trial agreed to a settlement of a $215 million lawsuit on Friday following a lengthy gender-biased class action lawsuit, first filed in September 2010. The action was bought by female associates and vice-presidents of the firm, under Title VII of the Civil Rights [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on Friday ruled that an Indiana school district did not violate a teacher’s right to exercise his religious practices after the school terminated the teacher for refusing to use students’ preferred names or pronouns as required by school policy. US Circuit Court Judge Ilana Rovner found [...]
