Court Doesn’t Buy Employer’s Defense for Not Complying with Race Bias Settlement
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Echols County School District could not invoke qualified immunity after allegedly failing to implement the hiring‑policy changes required by a 2020 race‑discrimination settlement. The district had submitted an outdated 2013 hiring plan and a 2022 revision that did not satisfy the settlement’s recruitment and disclosure obligations. The court emphasized that qualified immunity hinges on whether officials had notice that their conduct was unlawful, not on uncertainty about personal liability. This decision clarifies that public employers must honor settlement terms or face liability despite immunity defenses.
ZipRecruiter Is the Latest Job Platform to Release ChatGPT App
ZipRecruiter announced a native ChatGPT app that lets job seekers search listings by typing “@ziprecruiter” with a title and location. The app returns results and routes users back to ZipRecruiter’s site, mirroring a similar launch by Indeed earlier this year....
This Week in 5 Numbers: AI Trainer Jobs Are Surging
AI trainer positions exploded by 283% in 2025, making them the fastest‑growing cross‑border roles on Deel’s platform. At the same time, CHROs climbed to 55% of the top‑paid executives in Russell 3000 firms, while 44% of workers say AI does more...
New Minnesota Bill Would Require 90-Day Notice for AI that Could Displace Workers
Minnesota lawmakers introduced the Safeguarding Human Intelligence and Employment in Labor Displacement Act, requiring employers to give a 90‑day notice before deploying AI that could displace workers and to provide a transitional upskilling period. The bill also mandates notification to...
NAMI: 1 in 4 Workers Considered Quitting over Their Job’s Toll on Their Mental Health
A NAMI poll finds a quarter of U.S. workers have thought about quitting because their jobs damage mental health. More than half report burnout and 38% say work demands negatively affect their well‑being. Yet less than one‑third have received any...
A PIP Is Not Always Discriminatory Under SCOTUS’ Relaxed Bias Test, Court Says
The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a performance improvement plan (PIP) does not automatically constitute age discrimination under the Supreme Court’s relaxed bias test from Muldrow v. City of St. Louis. In Walsh v. HNTB, the plaintiff, a...
Chinese Engineer Can’t Pursue Age, Racial Bias Lawsuit, 10th Circuit Affirms
The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a district court’s summary judgment for the City of Tulsa, ending a senior Chinese engineer’s age and race discrimination lawsuit. The engineer claimed the city bypassed him for a superintendent role in...
Disney Executive Alleges HR Combed His Private Coaching Sessions for ‘Dirt’
Disney’s executive vice‑president of games sued the company, alleging that a senior HR leader secretly contacted his confidential executive coach to gather personal details. He claims HR berated him as a poor cultural fit, and after filing an internal complaint...
Same-Race Bias, Unbalanced DEI Training: 4 Lessons From Recent Title VII Cases
Recent Title VII rulings highlight evolving standards for same‑race harassment, DEI training, religious accommodation, and comparator analysis. The Sixth Circuit reversed a dismissal, holding that Black supervisors can still use racial slurs against Black employees, while the Second Circuit found...
Feds Keep Marijuana Tests for Workers Despite Trump Reclassification Order
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services confirmed that federal workplace drug‑testing panels will continue to screen for marijuana metabolites, despite President Trump’s December executive order directing the rescheduling of cannabis to Schedule III. The rule makes no changes to...
Meet the Former Feds Operating a ‘Shadow’ EEOC
Former EEOC officials formed the volunteer group EEO Leaders after the agency dismissed gender‑identity discrimination lawsuits under the Trump administration. The coalition of ex‑commissioners and senior staff provides private counsel, issues public statements, and counters EEOC guidance that threatens DEI...
‘Monitoring’ During Meal Breaks Did Not Need Compensation, 6th Circuit Says
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal of a Fair Labor Standards Act claim by a security guard at East Tennessee Children’s Hospital who argued that monitoring his radio during lunch breaks made the time compensable. The...
Lush Agrees to Settle Gender Identity Bias Lawsuit Dropped by EEOC
Lush Handmade Cosmetics agreed to settle a sex‑discrimination lawsuit after the EEOC, which had filed a complaint in 2024 alleging bias against a pansexual, nonbinary employee, withdrew its support in 2025 following a Trump administration executive order. The settlement required...
‘Why Was My Raise only 3%?’ and Other Pay Questions Managers Must Be Able to Answer
HR leaders are urged to equip managers with concrete training and documentation for merit‑raise conversations, according to Salary.com’s Sean Luitjens. By providing office‑hour style sessions, one‑page compensation philosophies, and FAQ sheets, managers can answer why raises are modest, how budgets...
US Companies Say They Plan to Accelerate Global Hiring Despite Hurdles
Business leaders across North America and Europe intend to speed up global hiring, even as nearly half report severe difficulty attracting and retaining international talent. Employee engagement is a growing pain point, with 69% citing challenges such as turnover, cultural...
Bravo, Warner Bros. Can’t Compel Arbitration in Former Real Housewives Cast Member Lawsuit, Judge Orders
Former Real Housewives of New York star Leah McSweeney won a procedural victory when U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman ruled that Warner Bros. Discovery, NBCUniversal, Bravo Media and related defendants waived their right to compel arbitration in her disability‑discrimination lawsuit....
EEOC: Restaurant Fired Worker Who Had Seizure to Allow Her to ‘Focus on’ Her Health
An EEOC lawsuit alleges that Diamond Jim’s and Mrs. Donna’s Ole Farm Beef LLC, a Mississippi steakhouse, illegally terminated a worker after she suffered a seizure. The employee had informed the employer of her seizure disorder, which the ADA classifies...
EEOC Staffer Agrees to Settle Bias Lawsuit Against Agency
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission settled the discrimination lawsuit brought by enforcement manager Shweta Kandan after a jury trial ended in a mistrial. Kandan claimed the agency denied her a promotion to field director because of her sex, race...
If the Freedom of Conscience in the Workplace Act Passes, What Does that Mean for Florida Employers?
The Florida House has reintroduced the Freedom of Conscience in the Workplace Act (HB 641), which would prohibit public employers, nonprofits and state‑funded private firms from providing nonbinary gender options, requiring correct pronoun usage, or mandating LGBTQ‑related training. The bill also...
5 Stories on the Skills Evolution
A recent HR Dive roundup highlights five emerging trends in workplace skill evolution. Leaders now view AI competence as fundamental as basic writing, and ManpowerGroup reports AI talent is harder to find than traditional IT or engineering expertise. Meanwhile, training...
Snelling: Decades of Recruiting Show Today’s Labor Market Isn’t ‘Unprecedented’
Snelling’s 75‑year anniversary survey of more than 100 U.S. markets reveals that soft‑skill attributes—adaptability, reliability, work ethic, emotional intelligence—are now the primary predictors of long‑term employee performance, with 50 %‑75 % of recent hires driven by attitude and growth potential rather than...
Unprofessional Conduct, Not FMLA Retaliation, Led to Doctor’s Suspension, 6th Circuit Says
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a resident physician’s suspension at Meharry Medical College was not retaliation for taking Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave. The doctor had taken leave after his child’s birth, then missed...
Workday Takes Partial Loss as Judge Refuses to Dismiss Claims in AI Bias Lawsuit
A federal judge denied Workday's request to toss disparate‑impact age discrimination claims, allowing plaintiffs to pursue ADEA relief against the company's AI‑driven recruiting tools. The court dismissed a disability claim and some California state law allegations, but left the core...
Honda Agrees to $2.3M Settlement in Lawsuits Tied to Kronos Outage
Honda Development and Manufacturing of America agreed to a $2.3 million settlement to resolve wage‑and‑hour lawsuits stemming from a Kronos time‑keeping outage caused by a 2021 ransomware attack. Employees claimed the company failed to accurately track hours, resulting in unpaid overtime...
The Key to Companywide AI Adoption? Empowering Managers, Gartner Says.
Gartner’s latest analysis warns that HR must shift AI‑adoption responsibility to managers, who are already experimenting with the technology at higher rates than rank‑and‑file employees. While nearly 50% of managers reported AI trials, only 26% of employees did, and 14%...
Week in Review: Why Pay for Performance Matters
A new McLean & Co. report finds employees who expect fair pay for exceeding performance are 2.7 times more likely to be engaged, underscoring the strategic value of pay‑for‑performance systems. However, many firms still struggle to design and implement such compensation...
Entry-Level Jobs Should Be Entry Level
Employers increasingly label positions as “entry level” while demanding three or more years of experience, a trend highlighted by SHRM’s finding that 61% of such postings exceed true entry‑level criteria. This mismatch discourages recent graduates, creates confusion, and narrows talent...
Why Pay-for-Performance Programs Don’t Always Work
A new McLean & Co. study finds that while 69% of HR leaders view total compensation as critical, only a quarter feel truly effective at designing pay‑for‑performance programs. Employees who are satisfied with their overall pay are 1.8 times more...
AI Literacy and Change Management Among Most-Needed HR Skills
LinkedIn’s February 2026 Skills on the Rise report shows AI literacy has become the second‑fastest‑growing skill among HR professionals, trailing only employment law and compliance. The metric combines skill acquisition on LinkedIn profiles with hiring success, indicating both training demand...
Using Percentages to Manage Raises May Perpetuate Gender Pay Gaps
New research from the University of Texas shows that framing raise budgets as dollar amounts, rather than percentages, can narrow the gender pay gap. In an experiment, dollar‑based raises reduced the gap by $91, while percentage‑based raises widened it by...
AI Isn’t Replacing that Many Jobs — Yet
Recent analysis shows AI has not yet displaced large numbers of workers. Companies that have laid off staff cite reallocating resources toward AI investments rather than AI replacing roles. While automation tools are expanding, most firms view AI as a...
Cemetery Locked Black Employees Out of Restroom Open to White Workers, EEOC Alleges
The EEOC filed a complaint against StoneMor GP, LLC alleging the funeral‑services firm locked a restroom and break room, allowing only White employees to use them while Black staff were forced to use a neighboring gas station’s facilities for ten...
SHRM: Year-Round Upskilling Opportunities Tied to ‘Significantly’ Higher Engagement
SHRM’s latest survey of over 1,500 employees finds that organizations that promote upskilling opportunities year‑round see engagement rates of 59%, compared with 31% at firms that do not. Respondents also reported higher job satisfaction and stronger commitment when access to...
Black Women Employment Sees One of Its Sharpest Annual Declines in Past 25 Years
New Economic Policy Institute analysis shows Black women’s employment rate fell to 55.7% in 2025, a 1.4‑point drop and one of the steepest annual declines in the past 25 years. The decline was most pronounced among college‑educated Black women, whose...
Resistance to Management Style Didn’t Create Hostile Work Environment, Court Finds
A federal district court in Pennsylvania ruled that a White internal audit head’s resistance to a Black compliance executive’s supervision was based on management style, not race or gender. The court found Drexel University had not adequately communicated expectations, but...
Human-Led Training May Be More Effective than Digital Learning
A new report from Insights Learning and Development and the Association for Talent Development reveals that only 32% of U.S. digital learning is personalized, despite 94% of learners demanding it. Human‑led training outperforms digital formats, with 84% of participants reporting...
Employees Need a Real Say in How Things Work to Flourish, Study Finds
A February 2026 survey of 2,000 U.S. workers found that 68% of employees flourish when they belong to high‑autonomy, high‑support "empowered squads," while only 10% thrive in low‑autonomy, low‑support settings. The study, conducted by the University of Illinois’ Gies College...
EEOC Warns Agencies Against ‘Blanket Approach’ to Telework Denial
The EEOC and OPM released new technical assistance urging federal agencies not to apply a blanket denial of telework accommodations for employees with disabilities. The guidance stresses that telework decisions must be fact‑specific and comply with the Rehabilitation Act and...
This Week in 5 Numbers: Nearly One-Third of Workers Want to Break up with Their Jobs
A new Glassdoor survey shows 63% of employees describe their job relationship as “complicated” or ready to break up, highlighting rising disengagement. Demand for HR professionals has fallen more than 20% from pre‑pandemic levels, according to SHRM. Meanwhile, Target announced...
When Leaders Misbehave, What Is HR’s Responsibility?
The article examines HR’s responsibility when senior leaders engage in misconduct, from romantic entanglements to financial fraud. It stresses that HR must launch disciplined investigations, document every detail, and follow established policies rather than improvise. When violations are severe, escalation...