Welcome to Labor of Law, our weekly summary of news and trends affecting the L&E community. On the clock this week:

• Ex-Winston & Strawn partner's new anti-arbitration brief at SCOTUS • All the Eugene Scalia stories: Catch up on what everyone's saying • Headlines: Scabby the Rat; LSU is sued for alleged gender discrimination • Moves & Announcements: Akerman grows Atlanta office

I'm Mike Scarcella in Washington, and you can reach me at [email protected]and on Twitter @MikeScarcella. Thanks for reading!

Ex-Winston Partner's Anti-Arbitration Bid Lawyers for former Winston & Strawn partner Constance Ramos are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold a California state ruling that said her claims could be pressed in court, not arbitration.

Winston & Strawn's team at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe want to push Ramos's gender-bias claims out of court. The Orrick lawyers, led by E. Joshua Rosenkranz, argue California courts are thumbing their nose at Supreme Court rulings on arbitration. Ramos, represented by Public Citizen's Karla Gilbride, filed her brief in opposition this week. A few highlights:

• “Despite Winston & Strawn's desire to change the subject, the 'overly harsh' terms of its own partnership agreement drove the lower court's opinion—and California is far from an outlier in finding terms like these unconscionable,” Gilbride told the justices. The brief said: “This court should not step in to rescue Winston from the consequences of the contract it drafted.”

• “The California Court of Appeal concluded that this 'firm always wins' clause would make it impossible for the arbitrators to award Ramos back pay, front pay, reinstatement or punitive damages—essentially every form of relief she sought in her complaint for employment discrimination and retaliation.”

• “The supreme courts of numerous states have invalidated, on public policy or unconscionability grounds, agreements that purported to eliminate even one statutory remedy—clauses far less restrictive of the arbitrators' authority than Winston & Strawn's 'firm always wins' clause.”

Eugene Scalia's Nomination: Coverage Roundup

Eugene Scalia, the Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher partner who's the Trump pick for labor secretary, will face continued scrutiny in the coming weeks. Trump hasn't yet formally sent Scalia's nomination to the Senate, so don't expect any quick action this summer on a confirmation hearing. Here are a few of the latest news stories:

>> Chris Spear, president and CEO of the American Trucking Association, toldPBS NewsHour: “People should be really careful not to quickly condemn.” Scalia “understands the dynamic between the employer and employee relationship. He's respectful of the law and adherent to it.”

>> Robin Shea of Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete posted a blog titled “My preemptive strike for Eugene Scalia.” Shea writes: “That article he wrote on sexual harassment was fine.” The article in question—the focus of a recent Politico story—was a law review from 1998 that argued, as Politico put it, “quid pro quo harassment, the illegal practice of soliciting sexual favors in return for professional advancement, shouldn't be distinguished from generalized harassment in the workplace.”

Shea writes: Mr. Scalia's 1998 article argued that the distinction between quid pro quo and hostile work environment harassment was artificial and not analytically helpful. He did not argue that sexual harassment should not be illegal.”

She adds at one point: “There is one statement Mr. Scalia made that gave me pause: He said that calling a woman an 'incompetent female b**ch'—one time, without more—would not be actionable sexual harassment. Applying today's standards, I would disagree—especially if the person who said it was the woman's supervisor. But in 1998, I suspect most courts would have agreed with Mr. Scalia.”

>> As part of the confirmation process, Scalia would necessarily need to sign an ethics agreement outlining his recusal plans. His brother John is a labor and employment shareholder at Greenberg Traurig, and that could raise some issues.

Wilma Liebman, a former Obama-era chair of the National Labor Relations Board, told the Washington Examiner: “Surely Eugene's involvement as secretary in any matter in which his brother John is involved would scream conflict of interest, or at least appearance of conflict—equally critical. I would think that he would have to recuse himself from any involvement in such a case,” Liebman said.

Bloomberg Law has more here: Labor Chief Nominee Scalia Faces Recusal on Worker Safety Issues.

Around the Water Cooler

>> Labor Department Makes Public 401(k) Rule Change. ”The Labor Department released a final rule to make it easier for small businesses to band together to create joint 401(k) retirement plans for workers. The rule, which takes effect Sept. 30, broadens the ways companies could join together to offer retirement accounts, according to a department official.” [WSJ]

>> Scabby, the Giant Inflatable Union Protest Rat, Faces Extermination. “In documents filed in various cases around the country, the board has argued that the labor movement's deployment of inflatable balloons like Scabby was unlawful. The positions taken in the documents, which depict Scabby and others of that ilk as a disruptive form of illegal picketing, threaten the use of a powerful symbol that has helped union organizers draw attention to their campaigns against employers, labor leaders said.” [NYT]

>> Jenner & Block Latest Firm to Roll Out Preferred Pronoun Policy. “Jenner & Block has joined a small but growing number of top law firms giving employees the option of using their preferred pronouns in email signatures and other law firm communications.” [Bloomberg Law]

>> 2 Former In-House Counsel Sue Louisiana State University for Gender Discrimination. “Two former female lawyers at Louisiana State University's Health Sciences Center in New Orleans have sued the school and three administrators, including the general counsel, over gender discrimination and retaliation claims. The plaintiffs include Katherine Muslow, who worked as university in-house counsel for 16 years and served as the Health Science Center's general counsel until last year; and Meredith Cunningham, who worked as a part-time in-house counsel under Muslow.” [Law.com] Read the complaint.

>> NJ Gov. Signs Bill Stopping Employers From Asking About Prior Salary. “An employer may still consider salary history in determining salary, benefits and other compensation for the applicant, and may verify the applicant's salary history, if an applicant voluntarily, without coercion, provides the employer with that history.” [New Jersey Law Journal]