Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
It used to be pretty well settled in Massachusetts (and many other places) that an employee couldn’t win an employment discrimination case without proving their employer’s allegedly discriminatory actions caused them to suffer meaningful harm—i.e., that the “adverse employment action” their employer took against them was “material.” That changed back in 2024, when the U.S. […]
Over the last several months, we’ve witnessed increased attacks by the federal and state governments over employers’ diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts. It seems that the National Football League (NFL) is the most recent organization to find itself in those crosshairs. The Rooney Rule In 2003, the NFL adopted the Rooney Rule at the […]
Wait, did you read that right? “What does ranch dressing have to do with employment law?” Well, quite a lot actually, as long as we’re talking about the most famous type of ranch dressing, the brand that introduced most of America to ranch dressing: Hidden Valley Ranch. Legend of the Hidden Valley The story of […]
Gen AI tools are now embedded in daily business operations—from drafting emails and summarizing documents to analyzing data and preparing internal reports—whether they’re sanctioned or not. But as companies and employees adopt these tools, courts are beginning to address an important question: Are AI prompts, uploads, and outputs safe from discovery? Two recent federal decisions […]
During tax season, some people may be excited by the prospect of receiving refund checks from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or their state’s respective Department of Revenue. For some, those expected payouts may never materialize if there are orders allowing that money to be surrendered to repay things like back taxes or owed child […]
When a party communicates with a publicly available AI platform in connection with a legal dispute, are the party’s communications protected by the attorney-client privilege or work product doctrine? In one of the earliest decisions on this issue, Judge Jed S. Rakoff—an influential judge in the Southern District of New York—held that such communications were […]
The legal framework governing worker classification in the United States has undergone significant turbulence over the past five years, leaving businesses to navigate a seemingly ever-changing regulatory environment. Most recently, on February 27, 2026, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published a notice of proposed rulemaking that would alter the analysis for determining whether a […]
In the age of artificial intelligence (AI), the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is responding consistently with its historical approach to technological advancements. Before adopting AI-related compliance frameworks, the DOL is prioritizing workforce readiness for an AI-powered world. Aligned with the current administration’s policies, the DOL’s approach promotes innovation over restriction and guidance over enforcement, […]
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)—the oldest “super agency,” created in 1935—is newly reconstituted and will be finding its way in an unprecedented setting and facing unprecedented challenges. Background President Trump, in an unprecedented move, fired Board Member Gwen Wilcox in January 2025, despite provisions in the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) bestowing tenure protections […]
Organizations and HR teams should pay close attention to the recent lawsuit filed by the U.S. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against Coca-Cola Beverages Northeast. At a high level, this case focuses on a diversity event that allegedly limited participation based on sex. But the bigger issue is not the event itself. It is what it signals about how these […]