On June 1, 2025, New Jersey officially joined 13 other states participating in the wage transparency trend. Governor Phil Murphy signed the New Jersey Pay and Benefit Transparency Act (NJPBTA or the Act) this past November, requiring employers with 10 or more employees in the state to disclose compensation and benefits information on postings for
Employment Law Watch
Analysis and commentary by Reed Smith attorneys on developments in employment and labor law
Justices reject higher standard for majority-group plaintiffs asserting Title VII claims
On Thursday, June 5, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously vacated a Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals decision, which held that plaintiffs claiming anti-heterosexual workplace discrimination must provide extra evidence related to “background circumstances,” because it improperly imposed higher standards on majority-group plaintiffs alleging violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of…
BREAKING: New York amends labor law to stymie flood of frequency-of-pay lawsuits
Employment law, whether shaped by legislation or litigation, is often driven by trends. For instance, in the mid-to-late 2010’s, lawmakers across the U.S. enacted numerous bills concerning paid time off for employees, such as for sick and family leave. A more recent trend involves regulatory and legislative efforts to limit or even outright ban non-compete…
California Civil Rights Council makes final revisions to regulations that address use of AI systems in employment-related decision-making
California is one step closer to becoming one of the first states to adopt anti-discrimination regulations regarding employer use of automated-decision technology to make employment-related decisions.
Since May 2024 the California Civil Rights Council (CRC), a branch of the Civil Rights Department, has made multiple revisions to California’s employment discrimination regulations to address employers’ use…
New York Federal Appeals Court shifts standard for assessing workplace accommodations
The workplace accommodation process associated with employee health conditions can be one of the trickiest HR issues for U.S. businesses to navigate. For employers in New York, Connecticut, and Vermont, a federal appeals court may have just added a further layer of complexity.
On March 25, 2025, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals joined a…
Spring into action: Key hiring and onboarding tips for a successful summer season
As the calendar turns to April 1, employers have a firm grasp of their hiring budgets to prepare for what is expected to be a sizzling summer season. Many employers, large and small, will need to ramp up hiring (e.g., hotels and hospitality, restaurants, travel, recreation) to have the extra help in place to support…
Disciplinary dismissal for sending insulting messages via a company-provided cell phone: a shift in case law?
On December 11, 2024 (Cass. soc., Dec. 11, 2024, No. 23-20.716), the French Supreme Court upheld the dismissal of an employee who had sent insulting messages about the company and its executives via a company-provided cell phone. This decision appears to contrast with a previous ruling from March 6, 2024 (Cass. soc., Mar. 6, 2024,…
UPDATE: Fourth Circuit reinstates DEI executive orders pending appeal
In our prior post, we reported that on February 21, 2025, a Maryland federal judge had issued a nationwide preliminary injunction temporarily blocking the key provisions of President Trump’s DEI-related Executive Orders (EOs). That judge later refused to stay the preliminary injunction, despite the Trump administration’s request, and clarified that the preliminary injunction applied…
Court clarifies that DEI executive orders are temporarily blocked for all federal agencies
In the early days of his second term, President Trump issued a series of executive orders (EO) that were aimed at reshaping the landscape of both federal and private sector policies. Two specifically targeted diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives:
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Court rejects use of the “headless” PAGA action strategy to avoid arbitration
In a recent published decision, the California Court of Appeal delivered a blow to plaintiffs seeking to avoid arbitration of claims under the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) by concluding that all PAGA actions, however framed, necessarily include individual and representative claims. Leeper v. Shipt, Inc., 107 Cal. App. 5th 1001 (2024). Accordingly, a plaintiff…