Benefits / Employment / Higher Education
This is a blog devoted to information and developments in the areas of employee
benefits law (ERISA), employment law, and higher education law. The blog was created and
is maintained by the attorneys of the law firm of Ehrenberg Legal & Higher Ed Solutions PLLC.
Idaho Passes Law Banning Critical Race Theory - Thereby Limiting Academic Freedom in Higher Education
Idaho passes law banning the teaching of critical race theory on college campuses.
Student Group Seeks To End Bias Suit Against University of Texas at Austin
A group of minority students at the University of Texas at Austin have asked a Texas federal court to dismiss a Students for Fair Admissions Inc. lawsuit challenging the University’s race-conscious admissions program.
Canisius College Sued for Allowing Male Athletes to “Prey” on Female Athletes
Canisius College Sued for Allowing Male Athletes to Prey on Female Athletes
Columbia University Reaches Tentative Agreement with Striking Graduate Students
Columbia University Reaches Tentative Agreement with Striking Graduate Students
USC Escapes Major Penalties in NCAA Basketball Bribery Scandal
The NCAA’s Division I Committee on Infractions decided not to asses any new major penalties on the University of Southern California in connection with the bribery scandal uncovered by the FBI in 2017.
EEOC Settles Dollar General Harassment Lawsuit
Dollar General and the EEOC agreed this week to settle a suit accusing the discount retailer of failing to protect a former assistant manager from sexual harassment by her male boss.
DOJ Says Title IX Should Apply to LGBTQ Rights in Education
The United States Department of Justice asserted in a memo published Monday that legal protections the Supreme Court guaranteed gay and transgender employees in the landmark Bostock decision last year extend to LGBTQ students, teachers and other education professionals.
Students Sue Department of Education Over Religious Exemption to Title IX
Thirty-three current and former students at evangelical Christian colleges sued the United States Department of Education last week to get the religious exemption to antidiscrimination protections granted to the institutions declared unconstitutional.
Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Religious Bias Case
The Supreme Court refused today to review a Jehovah's Witness' unsuccessful religious bias case against a Memphis utility. Justice Neil Gorsuch lodged an inspired dissent, arguing that long-standing Supreme Court precedent on when employers may deny workplace religious accommodations should be struck down.
Columbia University To Face Live Testimony in ERISA Trial Despite Covid-19 Concerns
A federal court in Manhattan won't force Columbia University to reveal its witnesses' vaccination status ahead of an in-person trial over retirement plan claims, but said Thursday the pandemic alone doesn't warrant remote testimony.
McDonald’s Accused of Illegally Surveilling Employees’ Union Activities
A Service Employees International Union affiliated National Fast Food Workers Union filed a charge with the National Labor Relations Board yesterday alleging that McDonald’s violated the National Labor Relations Act law by surveilling employees who participated in union-backed campaigns for higher wages.
Coca-Cola Bottler's Dismissal Effort Falls Flat in ERISA 401(k) Litigation
A federal district court in North Carolina denied this past Wednesday Coca-Cola Consolidated Inc.'s bid to dismiss a proposed class action alleging the Coca-Cola bottler mismanaged the retirement portfolio of its former employees.
ERISA Doesn’t Bar Forum-Selection Clause In Wells Fargo 401(k) Plan
The Ninth Circuit affirmed on Thursday a lower court decision permitting Wells Fargo, one of the nations largest financial institutions, to transfer a proposed ERISA class action to Minnesota, finding the law does not bar forum-selection clauses.
Court Allows Quinnipiac Lawsuit Over Shift to Remote Learning to Continue
The United States District Court for the District of Connecticut ruled earlier this week that students at Quinnipiac University can move forward with their lawsuit against the University for breach of contract and unjust enrichment over the University’s decision last spring to abandon in-person instruction because of COVID-19.
Court Nixes Retaliation Claims But Allows Female Law Professor’s Equal Pay Claim to Proceed
A federal district court in Texas has for a second time dismissed retaliation claims that a female law professor brought against The University of Texas School of Law (the “University”). However, the Court allowed the professor’s equal pay and sex discrimination claims to proceed.
Quack Quack - Boston “Duck Boats” Company Sued for Failure to Pay Overtime
The company that runs Boston's "duck boats" recently was hit with a proposed class action lawsuit claiming that drivers and tour operators routinely worked more than 40 hours per week but were denied overtime.
Will Sororities Welcome Gender-Nonbinary Students?
The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that approximately two-dozen national sororities will soon vote on a policy change that would allow for more gender-nonbinary students to join sororities.
Appellate Court Allows Professor’s Free Speech Case to Move Forward
The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reinstated a free speech case lodged by an Ohio public university professor who refused to use feminine pronouns to refer to a transgender student, holding yesterday that a professor's lectures were protected by the First Amendment.
NLRB Orders Tesla to Delete Anti-Union Tweet
The NLRB ordered yesterday that Elon Musk delete a tweet suggesting that Tesla workers would lose benefits if they unionized, finding Musk and his company illegally suppressed union organizing efforts at one of Tesla’s California plants.
USC Settles Sexual Assault Lawsuit
The University of Southern California agreed to settle a lawsuit with 710 women who were former patients of gynecologist George Tyndall for $852 million. Tyndall was the only full-time gynecologist at the university’s student health clinic from 1989 to 2016, treating about 17,000 women. He was accused of touching students inappropriately and taking photos of students’ genitals.