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  • LITIGATION NEWS, TRENDS—Lockheed Martin to pay $29.5M to settle DEI-related discrimination allegations

    LITIGATION NEWS, TRENDS—Lockheed Martin to pay $29.5M to settle DEI-related discrimination allegations

    LITIGATION NEWS, TRENDS—Lockheed Martin to pay $29.5M to settle DEI-related discrimination allegations
    November 4, 2026 | By Patricia K. Ruiz, J.D.
    According to the Justice Department, this is the “largest class of workers to publicly recover under an EEOC settlement on account of alleged Title VII violations arising from or relating to a DEI program or practices.” Lockheed Martin Corp. has agreed to pay $29.5 million to resolve allegations that it discriminated against employees and job applicants based on race and sex through compensation, hiring, promotion, and career-development practices, federal...
GENERAL HEALTH CARE NEWS—9th Cir.: Panel majority stays injunction against Idaho enforcing abortion bans in medical judgment situations

GENERAL HEALTH CARE NEWS—9th Cir.: Panel majority stays injunction against Idaho enforcing abortion bans in medical judgment ...

November 3, 2026 | By Justin Marcus Smith, J.D.
The dissenting judge diverged on whether Dobbs overruled “secondary” or separate holdings in Roe and Casey for abortions preserving the life or health of the mother. A panel majority of the U.S. Court...
SUPREME COURT DOCKET—High Court weighs limits on raising late-stage defenses in employment cases

SUPREME COURT DOCKET—High Court weighs limits on raising late-stage defenses in ...

November 3, 2026 | By Brandi O. Brown, J.D.
Supreme Court Justices explored whether existing federal rules governing amendments to pleadings provide the answer to a growing circuit split over late-raised affirmative defenses. The U.S. Supreme Court wrestled Monday with whether employers and other civil defendants may wait until summary judgment to raise affirmative defenses that were not included in their original pleadings. The case, Younge v. Fulton Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office, Georgia , arises from a pregnancy…
FEDERAL PREEMPTION—Illinois enjoined from enforcing wagering laws against swap trading

FEDERAL PREEMPTION—Illinois enjoined from enforcing wagering laws against swap trading

November 3, 2026 | By Rebecca E. Hoffman, J.D.
The October 30 preliminary injunction extends the earlier relief to fees and taxes, issues the court had reserved for further briefing, and also bars compulsory investigative process. The Northern District of Illinois preliminarily barred Illinois from enforcing several state gambling laws against the trading of swaps, including sports event contracts, listed on or available through CFTC-regulated designated contract markets and futures commission merchants. Judge Martha M. Pacold's October 30…
AI-Enabled Hacking Fuels Need to Renew Cyber Info-Sharing Law, Business Groups Say

AI-Enabled Hacking Fuels Need to Renew Cyber Info-Sharing Law, Business Groups Say

November 3, 2026 | By Tom Leithauser
The increase in cyber attacks enabled by AI (artificial intelligence) has made it more urgent for Congress to reauthorize a 2015 law at the core of U.S. cyber defenses, according to 35 business groups representing telecom, technology, financial services, health care, and other critical infrastructure sectors. In a letter sent Sunday, the business coalition asked the chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate Armed Services committees to retain a provision in the House version of the…
DRUGS AND BIOLOGICS—D.D.C.: BOTOX as a biological product should have been excluded from price negotiations

DRUGS AND BIOLOGICS—D.D.C.: BOTOX as a biological product should have been excluded ...

November 2, 2026 | By Jeffrey H. Brochin, J.D.
CMS misinterpreted the Inflation Reduction Act’s exclusion for plasma-derived products when it failed to exclude BOTOX from its published list of selected drugs for drug pricing negotiations. A federal district court for the District of Columbia has granted in part the motion for summary judgment filed by AbbVie Inc. in a lawsuit brought by the drug manufacturer challenging CMS’s selection of BOTOX in its list of selected drugs for drug pricing negotiations. AbbVie contended that the agency…
ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS—Warren report says CFPB case dismissals cost consumers recovery opportunities

ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS—Warren report says CFPB case dismissals cost consumers recovery ...

November 3, 2026 | By Patricia K. Ruiz, J.D.
The report argues that dismissals of several CFPB’s enforcement actions reduced consumers' opportunities to obtain refunds and other monetary relief. Consumers lost opportunities to recover billions of dollars because of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau enforcement actions dismissed during President Donald Trump's administration, according to a report released November 2 by the minority staff of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs led by Ranking Member Elizabeth…
COPYRIGHT NEWS—Newspaper publishers sue Brave alleging scraping of content for AI companies

COPYRIGHT NEWS—Newspaper publishers sue Brave alleging scraping of content for AI ...

November 3, 2026 | By Brian Craig, J.D.
The publishers for the New York Daily News , Chicago Tribune , and Orlando Sentinel bring claims for direct copyright infringement, vicarious copyright infringement, and related claims. Newspaper publishers for the New York Daily News , Chicago Tribune , and Orlando Sentinel have filed a copyright infringement case in the federal district court in New York City against Brave Software, Inc. alleging that the technology company has unlawfully acquired and distributed material for building…
ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS—S.D.N.Y.: Epogee acquisition challenge dismissed with prejudice for market definition and harm to competition implausibilities

ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS—S.D.N.Y.: Epogee acquisition challenge dismissed with prejudice ...

November 3, 2026 | By Kenneth H. Ryesky, M.B.A., J.D.
Third Amended Complaint was an unsuccessful reprise of "repeated failure to cure deficiencies by amendments previously allowed” and warranted dismissal with prejudice. The federal district court in New York City has dismissed the Third Amended Complaint in a challenge to the acquisition of a protein manufacturer by a food manufacturer. The complaint did not plausibly plead a relevant product market or harm to competition, thereby foreclosing the Sherman Act and Clayton Act allegations. For the…
SETTLEMENT AGREEMENTS—CHEMICAL PRODUCTS—3M agrees to $7.35 billion AFFF personal injury settlement

SETTLEMENT AGREEMENTS—CHEMICAL PRODUCTS—3M agrees to $7.35 billion AFFF personal ...

November 4, 2026 | By WK Editorial Staff
The agreement covers approximately 99% of current personal injury claims inside and outside the Aqueous Film-Forming Foam Multi-District Litigation in South Carolina. 3M has reached an agreement to resolve most PFAS-related personal injury claims connected to aqueous film-forming foam litigation, making a pre-tax nominal commitment of $7.35 billion over nine years, which the company values at $5.8 billion on a present-value basis. About 115,000 to 120,000 plaintiffs are eligible to…
WAGE-HOUR—EXEMPTIONS—W.D. Pa.: Third-party employer regulation pertaining to live-in domestic workers conflicted with FLSA

WAGE-HOUR—EXEMPTIONS—W.D. Pa.: Third-party employer regulation pertaining to live-in ...

November 2, 2026 | By Ronald Miller, J.D.
The Live-In Exemption exempts from the FLSA’s overtime pay requirements “any employee” meeting its other expressly stated requirements, namely, those employees who are employed in “domestic service in a household” and “who resides in such household.” The Department of Labor exceeded its authority when it promulgated its 2015 Third-Party Employer Regulation, ruled a federal district court in Pennsylvania. That part of the regulation pertaining to employees engaged in live-in domestic service…

EXPERT INSIGHTS—EEOC rescinds criminal records guidance, but “Fair Chance” laws still apply: 5 steps for employers
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November 4, 2026 | By Sheila M. Abron & Jennifer B. Sandberg & Melissa A. Dials
The Commissioners voted 2-1 on October 28 to rescind Obama-era guidance that explained how the agency viewed criminal record screening under Title VII. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) voted last week to immediat...

EXPERT INSIGHTS—EntertainHR: Iced coffees and interviews
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November 4, 2026 | By Erin M. Shrum
Is whole milk okay? This month's biggest internet debate asks whether bringing an iced coffee to an interview is unprofessional. Corporate recruiter Caitlin Wehniainen thinks so. In a one-minute viral TikTok, she opines that bring...

CFTC NEWS AND SPEECHES—Selig says equity perpetual futures can begin trading on CFTC-registered exchanges
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November 3, 2026 | By Suzanne Cosgrove
The equity perps were “deemed approved” under Regulation 40.3 as security futures products, the CFTC chairman said. CFTC Chairman Michael Selig said Tuesday that perpetual futures contracts on individual equity securities can begi...

INVESTOR EDUCATION—FINRA, SIFMA partner to improve financial education
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November 3, 2026 | By Anne Sherry, J.D.
The partnership will broaden access to unbiased investing information. FINRA and the SIFMA Foundation announced a strategic alliance to expand access to financial education for young people and families. The five-year initiative s...

AI-Powered Hacks Exploit ‘Cheap’ Tech, U.K. Cyber Chief Says
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November 3, 2026 | By Tom Leithauser
Cyber attacks powered by AI (artificial intelligence) have exposed weaknesses that result from “tech on the cheap,” according to Richard Horne, chief executive officer of the United Kingdom’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC)....

Defense Contractor to Pay $13M to Settle Cyber False Claims Act Case
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November 3, 2026 | By Tom Leithauser
A Delaware defense and aerospace contractor has agreed to pay $13 million to resolve False Claims Act allegations that the company failed to adopt adequate cyber defenses to protect federal data, the Department of Justice announce...

DISPROPORTIONATE SHARE HOSPITALS—D.D.C.: HRSA’s prospective-only registration regime likely a reasonable procedural mechanism implied by ...
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November 3, 2026 | By Jeffrey H. Brochin, J.D.
Although the hospital had standing to challenge HRSA’s three-month delay imposed for covered-entity status change, it nevertheless failed to show irreparable harm, a necessary element for obtaining preliminary injunctive relief. A...

FALSE CLAIMS ACT—D. Kan.: Relator’s third amendment motion denied for prejudicial attempt to replead abandoned theory
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November 3, 2026 | By Justin Marcus Smith, J.D.
The relator should have pursued the discovery needed to support the “false unbundling” theory from the outset, and she later abandoned it without reserving the possibility of repleading it. A qui tam relator did not establish good...

CAPITAL AND BASEL ACCORDS—Amended Old Glory Bank PCA directive reflects adequate capitalization
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November 3, 2026 | By John M. Pachkowski, J.D.
The FDIC has amended its supervisory prompt corrective action (PCA) directive requiring Old Glory Bank to maintain adequate capitalization, but some previous restrictions remain. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation has issue...

CHECKS AND ELECTRONIC TRANSFERS—ICBA urges UCC check-fraud drafting focused on interbank remedies
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November 3, 2026 | By Lauren Bikoff, MLS
The group seeks attorney fees for payor banks when depositary banks fail to timely pay valid warranty claims, while opposing expanded customer remedies. The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) has urged the formation o...

PATENT—Fed. Cir.: District court’s attorney fees award reversed on appeal in dietary supplements case
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November 3, 2026 | By Carolin Dennis, B.Sc., LL.B., LL.M.
The district court erred in finding that the patent infringement lawsuit was an “exceptional” case warranting an award of attorney fees. In a nonprecedential disposition, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed ...

PATENT—Fed. Cir.: Semiconductor memory device IPRs affirmed after appeals by Micron, Intel
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November 3, 2026 | By Jonathan Anderson
Micron and Intel alleged that the subject claims would have been obvious over prior art at the time of the invention. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed two inter partes review (IPR) final written decisions...

ANTITRUST—9th Cir.: Ninth Circuit upholds attorney fees sanctions in Axon antitrust suit
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November 3, 2026 | By Martin A. Steinberg, J.D.
Axon allegedly monopolized the body-worn camera and digital evidence management markets through anticompetitive acquisitions and agreements with Microsoft, while concealing purported security vulnerabilities in its cameras. The Ni...

ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS NEWS: Justice Department offers comments on Vistra’s acquisition of Cogentrix
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November 3, 2026 | By Donielle Tigay Stutland, J.D.
The deal will expand Vistra's presence in key power markets including PJM, ISO New England, and ERCOT. The U.S. Department of Justice released a press release in connection with the Antitrust Division’s investigation into the acqu...

DESIGN AND MANUFACTURING DEFECTS—MEDICAL DEVICES—D. Ariz.: Claims against Bard proceed to bellwether trial in patient’s implant injury case
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November 4, 2026 | By Pankhuri Bhatnagar, B.A. LL.B.
Allegations of design and warning defects coupled with evidence of the device maker’s longstanding knowledge of the device’s risks allowed the patient’s claims to move forward. In a bellwether case within a multidistrict litigatio...

EXPERT EVIDENCE—INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL EQUIPMENT—D.N.J.: With expert testimony excluded, injured man has no claim against saw manufacturer
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November 4, 2026 | By Molly Platnick
The court excluded the injured man’s only expert, foreclosing his products liability claims and chance for summary judgment. The federal district court for the District of New Jersey excluded expert testimony and granted a manufac...
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