On April 23, 2025, President Donald Trump issued an executive order (EO) calling for an end to disparate impact liability for discrimination and ordering federal enforcement agencies to stop enforcement of antidiscrimination...more
On April 15, 2025, a group of former U.S. Department of Labor officials issued an “open letter” urging federal contractors to continue voluntary diversity practices, including conducting self-assessments, despite the Trump...more
4/16/2025
/ Affirmative Action ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Non-Discrimination Rules ,
OFCCP ,
Title VII ,
Trump Administration
On April 3, 2025, a group of former U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) officials issued a statement defending specific employer diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in response to technical...more
Enacted as part of the recent National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the U.S. Congress established a significant new fraud enforcement mechanism, called the Administrative False Claims Act (AFCA), which empowers federal...more
On March 27, 2025, a federal judge for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois temporarily blocked the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) from enforcing portions of two provisions in President Donald Trump’s...more
On March 24, 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor announced the appointment of Catherine Eschbach as director of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), signaling a new chapter for the agency following the...more
On March 14, 2025, President Donald Trump issued Executive Order (EO) 14236—“Additional Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions”—revoking eighteen executive orders and actions issued by former president Joe Biden....more
3/25/2025
/ Appeals ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Davis-Bacon Act ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Minimum Wage ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
Prevailing Wages ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Rescission ,
Split of Authority ,
Trump Administration ,
Wage and Hour
On March 14, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit granted the government’s request to stay a Maryland federal judge’s nationwide preliminary injunction that had blocked key portions of the president’s...more
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has been granted judicial leave to intervene in the American Alliance for Equal Rights’ (AAER) suit against the State of Illinois challenging the state’s diversity, equity, and inclusion...more
3/13/2025
/ Affirmative Action ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Diversity ,
Equal Protection ,
First Amendment ,
Fourteenth Amendment ,
Nonprofits ,
Race Discrimination ,
Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard College
On March 10, 2025, a federal judge in Maryland clarified the scope of the nationwide preliminary injunction that enjoins key portions of two of President Donald Trump’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)–related executive...more
On March 3, 2025, a federal judge in Maryland refused to halt a preliminary injunction blocking key parts of two of President Donald Trump’s executive orders (EO) seeking to eliminate “illegal” diversity, equity, and...more
3/4/2025
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Due Process ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Executive Orders ,
Fifth Amendment ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Motion To Stay ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Trump Administration
While the Trump administration appeals a recent federal court ruling that blocked enforcement of key parts of two executive orders (EO) to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and initiatives, the...more
A federal judge in Maryland has preliminarily blocked the Trump administration from enforcing key provisions of the recent executive orders (EO) to eliminate “illegal” diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and...more
2/24/2025
/ Civil Rights Act ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Private Sector ,
Trump Administration
Executive Order (EO) 14173 “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity” creates new obligations that could carry significant risks for any organization doing business with the United States federal...more
2/13/2025
/ Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
OFCCP ,
Subcontractors ,
Whistleblowers
In a significant move, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has announced that Michael Schloss will be the new acting director and deputy director of policy....more
On November 15, 2024, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) published its Corporate Scheduling Announcement List (CSAL), identifying 2,000 establishments of federal supply and service contractors and...more
On July 26, 2024, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) published Directive (DIR) 2024-01, containing a mechanism for conciliating issues found by OFCCP during compliance evaluations through expedited...more
The U.S. Census Bureau is seeking feedback on its plan to implement the White House’s newly adopted statistical standards for race and ethnicity data collection for federal agencies in 2027. Federal agencies must implement...more
On June 28, 2024, the Supreme Court of the United States upended the 40-year-old doctrine whereby federal courts gave deference to administrative agencies’ reasonable interpretations of federal statutes. The ruling stands to...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit blocked a contest by a venture capital fund that provided grants and other benefits to black women-owned businesses, finding the contest is likely to unlawfully discriminate...more
6/10/2024
/ Article III ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
First Amendment ,
Grants ,
Minority-Owned Businesses ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Race Discrimination ,
Standing ,
Title VII ,
Venture Capital ,
Women-Owned Businesses
On June 7, 2024, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) published its Corporate Scheduling Announcement List (CSAL), identifying 500 establishments of federal supply and service contractors and...more
The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) recently released new guidance warning federal contractors they must routinely monitor their use of artificial intelligence (AI) and...more
On March 28, 2024, the White House unveiled revisions to the federal statistical standards for race and ethnicity data collection for federal agencies, adding a new category and requiring a combined race and ethnicity...more
4/1/2024
/ Biden Administration ,
Comment Period ,
Compliance ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Ethnicity ,
Native American Issues ,
OFCCP ,
OMB ,
Public Agencies ,
Public Employees ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard College ,
Tribal Employees
Alabama has joined the growing list of states passing laws banning diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in public institutions. On March 20, 2024, Governor Kay Ivey signed into law Senate Bill (SB) No. 129, a...more
On March 4, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit struck down a part of a politically charged Florida law known as the “Stop WOKE Act” that sought to restrict workplace training on certain diversity,...more
3/15/2024
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Free Speech ,
New Legislation ,
Racial Bias ,
Stop Woke Act ,
Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard College ,
Title VII