Law Office of Leslie A. Farber

06/08/2026

Federal prosecutors have charged a Google information security engineer with commodities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering after alleging he used confidential internal Google search data to make more than $1 million on Polymarket. According to the complaint, he accessed nonpublic company information about Google search trends and used it to place highly profitable bets before the data became public. Prosecutors say those bets earned approximately $1.2 million.

The allegations are striking because they sit at the intersection of employment law, corporate confidentiality, and white-collar crime. Employees in positions of trust often have access to sensitive information, but that access comes with legal and ethical obligations. Using internal data for personal gain can violate company policy, confidentiality agreements, and, in some circumstances, federal criminal law. Google has said the employee has been placed on leave and that using confidential information to place bets is a serious breach of its policies.

This case is also part of a broader pattern of increased scrutiny around insider activity tied to prediction markets like Polymarket. The government has made clear that just because a wager happens on a newer platform does not mean traditional fraud principles no longer apply. If someone uses material nonpublic information to profit while others are trading without that knowledge, prosecutors are increasingly willing to treat that conduct as market fraud.

At the Law Office of Leslie A. Farber, we know that misconduct involving confidential workplace information can quickly become both an employment matter and a legal crisis. We remain committed to helping clients understand the serious consequences that can arise when workplace trust and access are abused.

A Google staffer fraudulently made more than $1 million by using inside information to place Polymarket bets on what users were searching for on Google, authorities say.

06/05/2026

June has long been recognized as Pride Month, a time to celebrate LGBTQ+ visibility, dignity, and community while remembering the history of exclusion and resistance that made that visibility necessary in the first place. This year, however, some conservative lawmakers and governors are attempting to rebrand June with alternatives like “Fidelity Month,” “Strong Families Month,” and “Nuclear Family Month” — moves that many see as deliberate counterprogramming to Pride.

Whatever language is used, the deeper issue is not really about calendars or proclamations. It is about whose families, identities, and communities are treated as worthy of public recognition. Pride Month exists because LGBTQ+ people were too often denied that recognition altogether. Efforts to frame Pride as somehow opposed to family, faith, or traditional values ignore the reality that LGBTQ+ people are parents, children, spouses, people of faith, and members of loving families themselves.

These symbolic battles also matter because symbolism shapes law and policy. When public officials choose to position LGBTQ+ visibility as something to counteract, that message can reinforce broader efforts to roll back protections, minimize discrimination, and make q***r and trans people feel less safe in public life.

At the Law Office of Leslie A. Farber, we believe that equality, dignity, and family are not competing values. We stand with LGBTQ+ individuals and families and remain committed to protecting their rights in workplaces, schools, and communities.

Lawmakers in several states have made moves to counteract LGBTQ Pride in June with Fidelity Month or Nuclear Family Month.

06/01/2026

For decades, one of the federal government’s most important tools for uncovering workplace discrimination has been data. Since the 1960s, larger employers have been required to submit demographic workforce information to the EEOC, allowing the agency to identify patterns in hiring, promotion, and representation that might otherwise stay hidden. That data has helped support investigations and settlements worth billions for workers who were denied fair opportunities because of race or s*x.

Now, according to this report, the EEOC is seeking to end its annual demographic data collection and rescind a 1979 regulation that gave employers guidance on how to lawfully address documented race and gender imbalances. Together, those changes would represent a major shift away from how the agency has historically carried out its mission. While federal anti-discrimination laws would still exist, the tools used to spot patterns and encourage lawful corrective action would be significantly weakened.

That matters because discrimination is often systemic, not always obvious. Individual workers may sense something is wrong, but demographic data can reveal the broader pattern: who is being hired, who is being promoted, and who is consistently left behind. Without that information, enforcement becomes slower, more reactive, and more dependent on individual complaints alone.

At the Law Office of Leslie A. Farber, we understand that civil rights protections are only as strong as the tools available to enforce them. We remain committed to helping employees navigate discrimination, retaliation, and unequal treatment at work, especially when the systems designed to uncover those problems are being scaled back.

The EEOC is seeking to overturn rules created decades ago to tackle discrimination in employment. The Trump administration says those rules have led to more discrimination —against white people.

05/29/2026

Save the Montclair Pride Festival (June 13)

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05/25/2026

This Memorial Day, we take a moment to honor and remember the brave servicemembers who gave their lives in defense of our country. Their sacrifice represents the highest form of service, and today we reflect with gratitude on the courage, duty, and devotion they showed.

We also hold in our thoughts the families, loved ones, and communities who continue to carry that loss. Memorial Day is not only a time of remembrance, but a time to recognize the enduring cost of freedom.

At the Law Office of Leslie A. Farber, we join in honoring the memory of those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation.

05/22/2026

Scammers target older adults every day, and unfortunately they are getting more convincing. They use fake calls from “family members,” banks, government agencies, tech support, or online romantic partners to create urgency and pressure seniors into acting quickly. Sometimes they ask for wire transfers or gift cards. Other times they try to gain access to bank accounts, Social Security numbers, or computers.

The common thread in almost all of these scams is pressure. The scammer wants the victim to panic, act fast, and avoid checking with someone they trust. That is why some of the strongest protections are also the simplest: do not share personal or financial information with unverified callers, do not send money to someone you have not confirmed is legitimate, and stop the conversation if someone is demanding immediate action.

Family members can also help by encouraging older loved ones to slow down, verify unexpected requests, use privacy settings online, and create a family password or phrase for emergencies. And if fraud is suspected, it is important to contact financial institutions immediately and report the incident as soon as possible.

At the Law Office of Leslie A. Farber, we believe protecting seniors means helping them recognize fraud before it becomes financial harm, and making sure older adults and their families understand the warning signs of exploitation.

Millions of seniors fall victim to scams every year. Scammers are sophisticated, targeting victims through phone calls, texts, emails, and malicious links on websites.

05/21/2026

A federal appeals court has refused to let the Department of Veterans Affairs sidestep a lower court order restoring its union contract with AFGE for more than 300,000 VA employees. The case stems from executive orders that sought to eliminate collective bargaining rights across more than 20 federal agencies, including the VA. While the broader litigation continues, the court made clear that the government had not shown it was likely to succeed in overturning the injunction that put the contract back in place.

This matters because collective bargaining agreements are not symbolic documents. They govern real workplace protections, including grievance procedures, representation rights, and rules around discipline, working conditions, and dispute resolution. When those agreements are stripped away overnight, workers lose more than a contract on paper. They lose a framework that protects them from arbitrary treatment and gives them a voice in the workplace.

The court also made clear that the VA could not treat reinstatement as a meaningless formality. In other words, the government cannot claim to have restored a contract while continuing to deny the rights and protections that contract is supposed to provide. That distinction is important, especially in a moment when federal labor protections are under growing pressure.

At the Law Office of Leslie A. Farber, we believe workplace rights mean little if employers, including government employers, can ignore them in practice. We remain committed to standing with workers whose rights to collective bargaining, fair treatment, and legal protection are being challenged.

This legal battle focuses on a March 2025 executive order that eliminated collective bargaining at more than 20 agencies — including the VA.

05/16/2026

The American Bar Association council that oversees law school accreditation has voted to eliminate a longstanding rule requiring law schools to show a commitment to diversity and inclusion in areas like recruitment, admissions, and student programming. Although the change is not final yet, it marks a significant turning point in legal education and comes after months of political pressure from the Trump administration and several Republican-led states.

For decades, accreditation standards around diversity have been one of the few structural tools available to push the legal profession toward broader representation. That matters because the legal field still does not reflect the diversity of the public it serves. Weakening those standards does not simply change the language of accreditation. It affects who feels welcome in law school, who gets support once they arrive, and what kind of profession the law becomes in the years ahead.

The justification offered by some supporters is that removing the rule protects the ABA’s status as the federally recognized accreditor for law schools. But that reality itself says a great deal about the moment we are in. Institutions are increasingly being forced to choose between defending inclusion openly and preserving their own authority in the face of political attack.

At the Law Office of Leslie A. Farber, we understand that legal education shapes the future of civil rights, employment law, and access to justice. The values encouraged in law schools today will influence who becomes a lawyer tomorrow, and who feels empowered to seek justice at all.

A longstanding diversity and inclusion requirement for U.S. law schools is teetering amid mounting pressure from the Trump administration and Republican states.

05/12/2026

A new study from Catalyst and NYU Law’s Meltzer Center suggests that the recent rollback of corporate DEI efforts is being driven primarily by political pressure from the Trump administration, not by growing legal scrutiny alone. According to the report, 51% of federal contractors pulled back on DEI commitments over the last three years, while 52% of organizations without federal contracts actually increased their commitments. That gap points to a simple reality: companies that depend on federal business are responding to political risk as much as legal risk.

This matters because many employers are changing policies, language, and public messaging very quickly, often leaving workers unsure what remains protected. A company may reduce or rebrand mentorship programs, training, recruiting efforts, or internal support initiatives, but that does not eliminate its legal duty to avoid discrimination, harassment, and retaliation. Anti-discrimination law still applies, even when the political climate shifts.

The article also notes that many companies are not abandoning inclusion work entirely, but are quietly reshaping it into broader, more “identity-neutral” programs. That may reduce public controversy, but the real legal question is always what happens in practice. If a rollback in DEI efforts results in fewer opportunities for certain workers, unequal treatment, or a hostile workplace, employees may still have rights under federal, state, and local law.

At the Law Office of Leslie A. Farber, we help employees navigate discrimination, retaliation, and workplace policy changes when employers respond to political pressure in ways that affect people’s jobs, opportunities, and protections.

Trump took credit for the large-scale retreat from DEI initiatives. A new study suggests the White House crackdown is driving the corporate rollback.

05/09/2026

The Vatican is sending a complicated but important message to LGBTQ+ Catholics under Pope Leo XIV. Recent developments suggest a continued willingness to listen to LGBTQ+ Catholics and acknowledge the real harm caused by exclusion, insensitive pastoral treatment, and so-called “conversion therapy.” At the same time, the Vatican is also making clear that it does not intend to move beyond Pope Francis on the issue of same-s*x blessings, and it continues to place limits on how far local churches can go in affirming same-s*x couples.

For many LGBTQ+ Catholics, that creates both hope and frustration. On one hand, there is meaningful progress in simply recognizing their testimony, their faith, and the pain caused by decades of rejection. On the other hand, recognition without full equality can still leave people feeling as though they are welcome only on restricted terms.

This matters beyond the Catholic Church itself. Religious institutions play a major role in shaping how LGBTQ+ people are treated in families, schools, communities, and public life. When leaders choose language of openness and dignity, that can help reduce stigma. When they stop short of full affirmation, the legal and cultural consequences can still be significant for LGBTQ+ people seeking equal treatment and basic respect.

At the Law Office of Leslie A. Farber, we remain committed to protecting the dignity and rights of LGBTQ+ individuals and families, and to standing with those navigating exclusion, discrimination, and unequal treatment in any institution.

The Vatican is sending new signals about how it intends to minister to LGBTQ+ Catholics in the Pope Leo XIV era. There are signs of openness and limitations.