Larkin Hoffman Daly & Lindgren Ltd.

Supreme Court Denies Review on the Scope of the “Continuing Violation” Doctrine in Racial Bias Cases
On April 1, 2013, the United States Supreme Court declined to resolve a purported circuit split on the applicability of the “continuing violation” doctrine to allegations of systemic violations of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. In denying the petition filed by several Asian American police officers employed by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the Court left intact a Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that “failure-to-promote” claims for discrete acts occurring outside of the limitations period were time barred and could not be saved by the continuing violation doctrine.

Update on the Family and Medical Leave Act
In February of 2013, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued updated Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) regulations and forms. The FMLA and its regulations were amended in January of 2009, and many employers updated their policies and forms at that time. In October of 2009, the FMLA was amended once again, but updated regulations and forms were not issued until last month. The new regulations took effect on March 8, 2013, and are summarized in this article.

Former Faculty Member Seeks New Trial in Political Discrimination Suit
A closely-watched discrimination suit in Iowa may have ended in a mistrial, but may lead to an expansion of employer liability based on political viewpoint discrimination. Teresa Wagner, a University of Iowa faculty member, sued Carolyn Jones, the former dean of the University of Iowa College of Law. Wagner’s lawsuit, filed in 2009, alleged that she was the victim of political discrimination and was denied equal protection under the law when the university denied her a full-time teaching position because of her conservative political views and her work with certain conservative groups that oppose same sex marriage rights and abortion