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This situation highlights the urgency of building federal infrastructure to support working parents, but the outlook is "bleak," said Menaka Fernando, a partner with worker-side firm Outten & Golden LLP.

"There's going to be a significant number of these individuals in these states that will be forced to have children and carry their pregnancy to term. … These are the same states that are woefully lacking in protections for working mothers," Fernando said. "I think that working mothers are all but guaranteed to not have the support that they need by their employers, particularly when they're forced into this situation."

Pooja Shethji of Outten & Golden LLP, who is representing White, said Monday that she is hopeful the court would grant certification to the classes.

"That outcome would be in line with decisions from other courts in recent USERRA actions against airlines companies," Shethji said.

A U.S. Supreme Court case claiming asbestos caused a railroad employee's cancer might not seem crucial for wage and hour attorneys to follow, but its potential to shape where plaintiffs can sue makes it one to watch, observers told Law360.

"This case is potentially going to impact how wage and hour cases are litigated," said Christopher McNerney, an Outten & Golden LLP partner who represents workers.

The litigation push by military reservists seeking expanded paid leave benefits from their employers caught the attention of the Labor Department, which said it’s considering filing a brief in a Ninth Circuit appeal against Alaska Airlines Inc. and Horizon Air.

"Understanding those biases, the stereotypes that have always existed; training on how they manifest themselves in the new remote working situation; and then [using] systems of evaluation and compensation decisions that are structured to avoid those biases" are ways to avoid discrimination, said Cara Greene, a partner at Outten & Golden LLP.

"A real slide back, for working moms in particular," said Outten & Golden LLP partner Wendi S. Lazar.

…the plaintiffs’ bar must stay vigilant in finding creative ways to support employees – utilizing the local tools and legislation available to us must remain part of the path forward.” says Kendall Onyendu.