On Wednesday, April 23, 2025, President Trump issued several Executive Orders targeting various elements of his policy agenda. Below, we discuss orders that aim to eliminate the use of disparate-impact liability under Title...more
We reported last week that the pace of executive orders coming from the new presidential administration had begun to slow. While, overall, the rate does still appear to be slowing, this week has been a notable one....more
3/11/2025
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Dear Colleague Letter ,
Department of Education ,
Discrimination ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Harassment ,
NLRB ,
OCR ,
Title IX ,
Title VI ,
Trump Administration
Last week was another busy week for the White House, with several notable Executive Orders and more agency leadership changes. As we reported in our previous Week in Review, these sweeping changes are expected given the new...more
2/11/2025
/ Department of Education ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Executive Orders ,
Illinois ,
Immigration ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Labor Reform ,
NLRB ,
Transgender ,
Trump Administration
Some of us measure our year in weeks, months, or, for the readers of this article, likely by the school calendar. The Supreme Court, however, has its own measurement. The Court operates, hears cases, and issues rulings each...more
2/6/2025
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Charter Schools ,
Colleges ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Equal Protection ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
First Amendment ,
Fourteenth Amendment ,
LGBTQ ,
SCOTUS ,
Students ,
Transgender ,
Universities
The PAC recently issued a non-binding opinion, finding a school district Board President and Vice President did not violate the OMA when they regularly met with the Superintendent, members of the school district’s...more
Happy New Year! Several Illinois laws related to schools became effective January 1, 2025, and our team at Franczek P.C. has compiled them in its new School Law Legislative Update, focused on new laws in effect in 2025. A PDF...more
1/6/2025
/ Disabled Children ,
Educational Institutions ,
Illinois ,
New Legislation ,
Paid Leave ,
Pay Transparency ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Safety Standards ,
School Boards ,
School Districts ,
Special Education ,
State and Local Government ,
Student Athletes ,
Students
The Illinois Public Access Counselor (PAC) issued its tenth binding opinion of the year, finding the Village of Dolton Board of Trustees violated the Open Meetings Act (OMA) by failing to make two Board meetings convenient...more
The Illinois Public Access Counselor (PAC) issued its seventh binding opinion of the year, finding a Village Board of Trustees violated the Open Meetings Act (OMA) by taking improper action to authorize the purchase of a...more
In recent months, OCR has reached resolution agreements with a school district and two universities after investigating complaints of discrimination and harassment based on ancestry or ethnicity, including allegations...more
7/12/2024
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Colleges ,
Compliance ,
Discrimination ,
Educational Institutions ,
Employees ,
Ethnicity ,
Harassment ,
Hostile Environment ,
OCR ,
Race Discrimination ,
School Districts ,
Students ,
Title VI ,
Universities
In a recent decision, Muldrow v. City of St. Louis, the U.S. Supreme Court clarified the standard for determining whether an adverse employment action is a sufficient basis for a discrimination claim under Title VII of the...more
6/10/2024
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Employee Transfers ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Lateral Transfers ,
Muldrow v City of St Louis ,
SCOTUS ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Title VII
The Illinois Public Access Counselor (PAC) issued a binding opinion, finding a school board violated the Open Meetings Act (OMA) when it improperly discussed school curriculum during closed session....more
Early this year, the Illinois Appellate Court issued an opinion responding to challenges asserted under the Open Meetings Act (OMA) and the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The Appellate Court held that the Village of Oak...more
1/23/2024
/ Attorney-Client Privilege ,
Budgets ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Employees ,
Firemen ,
FOIA ,
Open Meetings Act ,
Public Access Laws ,
Public Hearing ,
Public Meetings ,
State and Local Government ,
Statutory Violations
On November 7, 2023, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) released a “Dear Colleague Letter” (DCL) that reminds schools of their Title VI obligations to provide all students with a learning environment...more