Corporations faced a reckoning amid the national conversation about sexual harassment. There were no shortage of discrimination cases confronting alleged biases over gender, age and gay workers. Agencies finally began to fill up with new business-friendly leaders certain to change the landscape. It's been a busy year and we did our best to keep up with what's happening in the courts, the regulatory environment and in boardrooms. Here's a roundup of some of our most-read stories about labor and employment this year. Thanks for reading. —Erin

Ari Wilkenfeld

Matt Lauer's Accuser Has a Veteran Washington Civil Rights Lawyer on Her Side

Meet Ari Wilkenfeld, the longtime civil rights and employment lawyer in Washington who is representing the woman who brought sexual misconduct claims this week against NBC “Today” show host Matt Lauer. [Read more]

Can An Employer Fire A White Supremacist?

Employment attorneys said the naming of the white nationalist protesters expose difficult legal questions about what kinds of views and speech are protected and whether workers have standing to sue. [Read more]

Trump Administration Lines Up Against EEOC in LGBT Workplace Rights Case

The U.S. Department of Justice in the Second Circuit appeals court cast aside the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission arguments that gay and lesbian employees should be protected from workplace sexual orientation discrimination under civil rights laws. [Read more]

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Jeff Sessions Memo, Reversing Transgender Protections, Further Inflames Divisions

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions reversed the U.S. Justice Department's stance that transgender employees should be protected in the workplace, a move that clashed with federal appeals court decisions and another government agency's interpretation of civil rights laws. [Read more]

US Justice Department Retreated From a Transgender Professor's Case. She Still Won.

The nearly $1.2 million jury verdict for a transgender professor in Oklahoma followed a years-long battle in which the U.S. Justice Department—once a plaintiff in the case—retreated from the dispute in the Trump administration, highlighting the increasingly complex landscape for gender identity discrimination complaints. [Read more]

Workplace Marijuana Rules Confronted in Discrimination Cases

Marijuana use in the workplace has become increasingly hazy as more states legalize the drug and employers grapple with how to adjust their policies to the complex jumble of new laws and court decisions. [Read more]

President Donald Trump. Credit: The White House

Trump Wants NFL Players Fired. It's Not That Simple.

The likelihood of potential terminations or even discipline seems remote at this point. But would the team or the National Football League itself have the power to fire or discipline these players for such a protest? [Read more]

Regulators, Lawyers Race to Respond to Thriving Gig Economy

As more people flock to opportunities in the gig economy and more companies press into this space, it's become increasingly apparent that novel workplace schemes don't fit into the existing labor structure that balances power between employers and their workers. [Read more]

Hiring, Not Firing, Is a New Focus in Age Discrimination Suits

Management tactics that weed out older workers have pushed federal regulators and anti-discrimination groups to train an eye on hiring rather than firing when it comes to protecting against age bias, an effort advocates acknowledge is a steeper hill with increasingly narrowed protections for aging workers. [Read more]

Google Engineers Viral Memo Sparks Legal Questions

A Google engineer's viral manifesto criticizing the company's diversity efforts, which in part argues women may not be biologically suited for the technology industry and leadership roles, renewed discussion about disparities among men and women in Silicon Valley—and prompted questions about the scope of workplace protections for speech. [Read more]

Biometric Hand Scanner Violated Coal Miner's 'Mark of the Beast' Belief: Court

An appeals court ruled Monday that a West Virginia coal mining company interfered with a worker's religious beliefs after the evangelical Christian likened the company's biometric hand scanners to clock in and out to the “Mark of the Beast,” as described in the Book of Revelation. [Read more]

Harvey's Destruction Will Test Employers' Pay, Leave Policies

A look at the myriad labor and employment questions that arise after a major natural disaster. [Read more]

A rally at the U.S. Supreme Court against the Trump administration's effort to ban immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries.

What Employers Should Consider After Trump's DACA Decision

Employment attorneys said companies should put a system in place now to cut down on any disruption and also seek to avoid any potentially discriminatory actions in the coming months. [Read more]

Microsoft, Nodding to '#MeToo,' Says It Won't Keep Harassment Victims Out of Court

“The easiest mistake any employer can make is to assume that 'this could never happen here,'” Brad Smith, the company's chief legal officer, said in a blog post. “While it's natural to hope and believe that's the case, one of the fundamental lessons of recent months is that people's voices need to be heard if their problems are to be addressed.” [Read more]