Welcome to Labor of Law. The U.S. Supreme Court will soon decide whether it will consider cases with major workplace ramifications, including gender equity and LGBT rights. CBS has hired two law firms amid the Leslie Moonves fallout. Meanwhile, the NLRB is asking for comments about employees' use of email. Scroll down for some big headlines and client engagements.

➤➤ I'm Erin Mulvaney in Washington, D.C., covering labor and employment from the Swamp to Silicon Valley. Follow this weekly newsletter for the latest analysis and happenings. If you have a story idea, feedback or just want to say hi, I'm at [email protected] and on Twitter @erinmulvaney. Thanks for reading.

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Watching SCOTUS: Here's What's In Play

The U.S. Supreme Court term is filling out—there's already one big workplace arbitration case on the argument docket. Many other cases are in the wings. Here's a snapshot of what we're watching.

➤➤ R.G. & G.R. HARRIS FUNERAL HOMES INC., v. EEOC This case from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit focuses on whether Title VII protections extend to gender identity and the scope of religious protection. The appeals court sided with Aimee Stephens, a transgender woman, who was fired by her employer when she began dressing in feminine attire. The Alliance Defending Freedom petitioned the court to take up the case and decide whether employers can find some shield to anti-discrimination provisions in religious statutes. The clash between the EEOC, which has pushed for LGBT protections under Title VII, and Trump's Justice Department may come to a head in this case. An open question in this case—and others—is whether the U.S. Justice Department backs the employer and perhaps lines up against any position the EEOC might want to take. The EEOC has an Aug. 23 deadline to respond to the cert petition. The ACLU, representing Stephens, has asked for a September deadline to file a response opposing cert. James Campbell is counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom. Bloomberg Law has more on that clash here.

➤➤ Zarda v. Altitude Express & Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia. Two cert petitions before the court, out of the Second Circuit and Eleventh Circuit, confront sexual orientation protections under Title VII. The issue divided the DOJ and the EEOC in the Second Circuit in the Zarda case last year. The full court ruled for the late worker, saying Title VII protects sexual orientation. The New York-based skydiving company Altitude Express is represented by Saul Zabell of Zabell & Associates. New York attorney Gregory Antollino represents the Zarda family. A response is due from Antollino on August 16. An Eleventh Circuit panel conflicts with the Second Circuit's decision in Zarda, and the Georgia-based appeals court declined to take up the dispute en banc. The response to the cert petition is due August 13; the case was distributed for conference September 24. Brian Sutherland of Buckley Bealrepresents Bostock and Jack Hancock of Freeman Mathis & Gary represents the county.

➤➤ New Prime, Inc v. Oliveira The court agreed to hear arguments in this case in October. The dispute is the latest to deal with the power of the Federal Arbitration Act. It also deals with the contentious misclassification debate. The question presented here is whether arbitration can be enforced against independent contractors. The petitioner's reply brief is due August 24 and oral arguments are scheduled on Oct. 3. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher partner Theodore Boutrous represents New Prime. Jennifer Bennett of Public Justice represents Dominic Oliveira. In case you missed it, we highlighted a senator's amicus brief filed in the case here.

➤➤ Yovino v Rizo The Ninth Circuit en banc in April said the use of salary history to justify paying women less than their male counterparts violated equal pay laws. The case revolves around a math consultant in Fresno County, Aileen Rizo, who discovered she made as much as $10,000 less than men in similar positions. The county justified the discrepancy because of the salary she held in her previous job and she sued. The case grapples with a central issue in the debate over the gender wage gap, where on average women make 80 cents on the dollar to men in similar jobs, because advocates argue the systemic disparities are essentially baked in. Shay Dvoretzky of Jones Day represents Fresno County. Fresno County asked for an extension to Aug. 23 to file any petition for review.

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NLRB Wants to Hear From You About Email

The NLRB is wading into a review of employee email policies, opening up an invitation for briefing on whether to adhere to, modify or overrule the 2014 Purple Communications Inc decision. In that case, the board held that employers who have been given access to their employer's email system for work-related purposes have the right to use that system, on non-working time, to organize under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act.

The board wants to hear comments from interested parties on this topic beyond just corporate email systems, and dig into whether the use of any employer-owned computer resources can be used for union activity.

The new case before the board is Caesars Entertainment Corporation. The Republican majority—Chairman John Ring and members William Emanuel and Marvin Kaplan—voted to solicit briefs in the case. Democratic members Mark Gaston Pearce and Lauren McFerran dissented. The comments must be submitted before September 5.

For context: Management-side lawyers loathed the Obama-era decision in the Purple Communications case. When the decision was issued in 2014, Littler Mendelsonattorneys said the “practical impact of the decision is far-reaching.” Littler shareholdersNoah Lipschultz and Philip Gordon wrote in a blog post: “The board made it clear that employers will be required to meet a heavy burden to justify a total ban on non-business use of corporate e-mail and that regulations on non-business use short of a total ban will be closely scrutinized.”

Have some thoughts on the NLRB's invitation for briefs? Send me a note at [email protected].

Who Got the Work

>> The CBS board of directors has hired teams from Covington & Burling and Debevoise Plimpton ”to conduct a full investigation of the allegations in recent press reports about Chairman and CEO Leslie Moonves, CBS News and cultural issues at all levels of CBS.” The board said in its statement: “At Covington & Burling the investigation will be led by Nancy Kestenbaum, and at Debevoise & Plimpton it will be led by Mary Jo White.” Covington, recall, put together a report about workplace culture at Uber.

>> An ex-partner hit Stoel Rives LLP with age bias suit. Roger Rosendahl, who was 73 when he joined Stoel Rives as a partner, accused the firm of pushing him out because of his age and thwarting him from doing substantive work for a client he helped land. Morgan Lewis partner Grace Speights on defense for Stoel Rives. They filed a motion to dismiss on Wednesday. Rosendahl told Law360 that he planned to drop his $30 million claim, my colleague Ryan Lovelace reports.

>> Lawyers from Keller Lenkner LLC and Sacks Weston Diamond LLC represent plaintiff Uber drivers in a classification dispute in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. “Uber so dominates UberBLACK drivers that they cannot even earn more by employing their specialized knowledge of driving for Uber,” the plaintiffs lawyers said in their opening brief in the appeal. Littler Mendelson represents Uber. Reuters has more.

>> A former Tesla employee who's being sued for allegedly leaking proprietary information has filed a counterclaim against the automotive company that claims defamation. The ex-employee, Martin Tripp, is represented by Phoenix's Tiffany & Bosco.

New & Notable Moves

>> Perkins Coie hired Andrew Moriarty for the firm's labor and employment group in the Seattle office. Moriarty joins from Amazon, where he was senior corporate counsel. He previously worked at Perkins Coie from 1998 to 2013. For the firm, he will focus on a range of issues including contractor classification, labor relations and class action claims.

>> Amy Shulman joined Outten & Golden as counsel in its individual practice area in New York. She previously was a partner at Broach & Stulberg. Her specialties include whistleblower, discrimination and wage-and-hour cases.

Around the Water Cooler

>> Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, facing a $300 million gender bias suit, has seen several women partners head for the doors this year. The firm, however, is taking steps to address diversity and inclusion issues. [The American Lawyer] Read more: here's how law firms are ranked based on the number of equity female partners.

>> Estée Lauder settled a dispute with the EEOC for $1.1 million and agreed to change its parental leave policy. The first-ever lawsuit signaled to companies that the EEOC will hone in on paid-leave practices. Estée Lauder was represented by the firm Jackson Lewis. [National Law Journal]

>> Businesses are responding to the #MeToo movement with what Wall Street calls the “Weinstein clause.” These are guarantees in merger agreements that vouch for the behavior of a company's leadership. [Bloomberg]

>> Civil rights advocates are pressing the Ninth Circuit to revive a class action of more than 8,000 women who claim gender bias against Microsoft Corp. [The Recorder]

>> Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh was part of a panel decision in the D.C. Circuit that sided with a Trump-owned casino in 2012 to thwart a union drive. It's one of his many pro-employer decisions. [Bloomberg]

>> A California wage-and-hour ruling involving Starbucks could be influential. The court said state law doesn't recognize a rule that federal courts often apply when dismissing wage claims for small amounts of time that are difficult to track. [The Recorder]

>> The New Yorker investigation into Les Moonves and CBS News that detailed allegations of sexual misconduct sparked the board of directors to hire an outside law firm to investigate the claims. In this #MeToo moment, we have seen more companies turn to third party investigators to tackle allegations or review company policies. Read The New Yorker article here.