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Ogletree Faces New Claims That It Discriminated Against Female Shareholders

Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart on Wednesday was hit with a new lawsuit claiming that it discriminates against female shareholders in pay and promotions, as an earlier case making similar allegations could be headed to arbitration. Tracy Warren, a former Ogletree shareholder in California, claims the 850-lawyer labor and employment law firm allocated “credits” that determine shareholders’ pay and…

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Is It A Hostile Work Environment or Evidence of Other Workplace Discrimination?

Although many employees describe what they face at work as a “hostile work environment,” frequently what they are experiencing or observing is evidence of another type of workplace discrimination. It is therefore important for employees who believe they are experiencing discrimination in the workplace—and the lawyers who represent them—to look closely and carefully at all of the facts. Such careful…

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Justice Delayed: The Federal Shutdown’s Effect on Employment Discrimination

The longest federal shutdown in U.S. history is having devastating effects, placing hundreds of thousands of federal workers in economic peril and potentially crippling the delivery of basic services for Native American tribes. It has also shut down the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), delaying Americans from receiving justice where their employers have illegally discriminated or retaliated against them.  Eighty-four percent of EEOC employees…

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Job Hunting in the Digital Age: Fighting Unseen Discrimination Against Older Workers

How did you find your current job?  Was it through an advertisement in the newspaper or another print periodical? And how about if you’re an employer looking to recruit and hire new employees?  Chances are, the answer to all of the above is: the internet.  So, if the employment advertisements that employers/employees use and view are located primarily on the…

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Broad Scope of Standing Available for California Employees in PAGA Suits

California’s Private Attorney General Act of 2004 (“PAGA”) has provided employees injured by their employer’s Labor Code violations with an opportunity to seek statutory penalties on behalf of him or herself and on behalf of other aggrieved employees.  This law famously allows an individual employee to stand in the shoes of the government agency that enforces the Labor Code and assert the…

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Filing A Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Under A Pseudonym

The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure generally require that a publicly filed lawsuit name all the parties involved.  However, under certain circumstances, plaintiffs can avoid disclosing their name by filing a lawsuit using a pseudonym (such as “Jane Doe” or “John Doe”).  Although the use of a pseudonym commonly arises in sexual harassment cases, some courts are reluctant to allow…

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Virginia Supreme Court Appoints Panel at Request of Martinsville, VA to Consider Consolidation of Opioid Lawsuits in State Court

On November 20, 2018, the Virginia Supreme Court appointed a panel of three Circuit Court judges to consider the consolidation of lawsuits previously filed in Virginia state courts against opioid manufacturers, distributors, and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) for their role in creating the public health emergency caused by prescription opioids. The panel was appointed in direct response to the request…

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Montgomery County Sues Opioid Industry Giants For Role In Nationwide ‘Epidemic’

Montgomery County filed suit against dozens of people and companies in the opioid industry Thursday, accusing them of contributing to a crisis that’s ravaged the county and country. The county is seeking $100 million, plus $350,000 in punitive damages from each of the more than three dozen named defendants and 100 anonymous defendants — plus a possible tripling of damages.…

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The Legal Profession has a Uniquely Disturbing Gender Disparity in Job Satisfaction

Researchers at Vanderbilt Law School have found an alarming disparity in the job satisfaction rates between recent male and female law graduates, as detailed in a forthcoming research paper in the Marquette Law Review. The researchers discovered that “recently graduated female lawyers are 19 percentage points less likely to state that they are very satisfied with their current job compared to their…

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Dartmouth Lawsuit Says School Allowed ‘Animal House’ Culture Among Professors, Students

By Douglas Belkin Seven current and former Dartmouth College students filed a lawsuit in federal court against the Ivy League school on Thursday, alleging it ignored an “Animal House” atmosphere created by three professors in the school’s department of psychology and brain sciences. The lawsuit, which seeks $70 million in damages, claims the professors “leered at, groped, sexted, intoxicated and raped…

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Navigating The Mutual Fund Maze

For many investors, the mutual fund is a mainstay of their investment portfolios, whether it be in an individual account, an IRA or a 401k. Mutual funds come in all shapes and sizes and offer a virtual alphabet soup of share classes. Trying to understand the many nuances of mutual funds can be a bewildering task.

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