Takeaway: A company can potentially avoid being subject to federal employment laws by having contractors supply staff for events. However, the company should avoid dictating contractor staffing decisions or else the company may still face employment law scrutiny and possible liability.
An employee of a security guard company who was denied credentials to work at the U.S. Open by the United States Tennis Association (USTA), allegedly based on his prior discrimination lawsuit, can renew his retaliation claim against the USTA, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled.
The USTA contracts with security firms that employ and assign security guards to work at USTA events, most notably the U.S. Open Tennis Championships. From 2002 to 2009, the plaintiff, a Black man residing in New York City, worked as a security guard for CSC Security Services (CSC), a USTA contractor, to provide seasonal security work for the USTA.
In 2012, the plaintiff filed a lawsuit against CSC for refusal to hire under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C §1981 and the New York City Human Rights Law. He alleged that CSC refused to hire him in 2010 after he complained during his employment at the 2009 U.S. Open that white security personnel were given better assignments than Black security personnel. The parties reached a settlement of the lawsuit in 2015.
In August 2016, AJ Squared Security (AJ Security), a contractor to CSC, hired the plaintiff as a security guard. The plaintiff's...
In October 2026, a rumor spread that U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico, a Texas Democrat, had received treatment at a mental health care facility in Ohio. The claim erupted after Talarico, a s...