Disputes Uber and Lyft defeat male drivers’ reverse discrimination class action Drivers mount “not all men” argument against female-preference settings introduced amid litany of ride-hailing sexual assaults Activism Federal agencies weigh limits on Gaza-related workplace activism Cisco faces potential EEOC action over alleged Islamophobic harassment, while Microsoft prevails in a dispute over pro-Palestine protest dismissals Health & Safety Chinese sales worker hospitalised after being ordered to complete 200 squats Manager implemented physical punishment after team member missed daily targets Community Google loses senior APAC counsel to Salesforce Carl Xu replaces Lori Middlehurst in Sydney, who retires following a 42-year career Community Former Unily chief people officer joins Anthropic Jenny Shiers moves to AI giant after three years at employee experience platform Health & Safety French court rules flight attendant’s breast cancer an occupational disease Landmark decision recognises cosmic radiation, night flights, and second-hand smoke as contributors to diagnosis Culture Is your drug and alcohol policy making things worse? Employers are quick to treat substance misuse as misconduct, driving addiction underground until it is too late to treat Harassment FCA’s misconduct crackdown leaves firms weighing where to draw the line Sector faces tougher obligations from September but lawyers warn uncertainty remains over how serious behaviour must be to trigger regulatory action Benefits Rising healthcare costs force Disney to squeeze spousal coverage Entertainment giant joins growing list of employers tightening benefits as medical premiums soar Events Global Employment Summit International Employment Lawyer is delighted to announce that the third Global Employment Summit will take place on Thursday 15th October at Convene 117 W 46th Street, New York.The full-day event will bring together leading in-house counsel, HR and ER professionals, and private practitioners from across the world to take a deep dive into the key issues impacting the management of global workforces from the vantage point of US-headquartered multinationals. Research IEL Monitor IEL Monitor is a forward-looking, fully searchable database of upcoming and prospective employment and labour legislation from around the world, designed to alert in-house teams of new laws and regulations, and support timely compliance. Private Practice Leaders Natural justice and the high cost of getting it wrong Private Practice Leaders We’re living in an uncertain and troubling world In-house interview I was overwhelmed by what I didn’t know after moving in-house