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 February 28, 2025, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed legislation making the state the first to remove antidiscrimination protections for gender identity from its civil rights code....more
3/4/2025
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Discrimination ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Protection ,
Gender Identity ,
Governor Reynolds ,
LGBTQ ,
State Labor Laws ,
Title VII ,
Transgender
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
The Trump administration is facing a new legal challenge to President Donald Trump’s executive orders (EOs) to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and initiatives after a group of diversity officers,...more
2/11/2025
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Executive Orders ,
First Amendment ,
Pending Litigation
President Donald Trump removed Democratic U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity (EEOC) commissioners Charlotte A. Burrows and Jocelyn Samuels, upending the Democratic voting majority on the EEOC. ...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 April 17, 2024, the Supreme Court of the United States held that an employee challenging a job transfer in an unlawful employment discrimination claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 must show that the...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
The National Football League’s (NFL) “Rooney Rule,” which requires teams to consider minority candidates when filling certain coaching vacancies, has been considered a model for diverse slate hiring policies, but it is now in...more
3/1/2024
/ Athletes ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Coaches ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Football ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Minorities ,
NFL ,
Recruitment Policies ,
SCOTUS ,
Sports ,
Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard College ,
Title VII
With high-profile challenges to employer diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and “reverse discrimination” claims on the rise, a case reinforcing the circuit split over whether plaintiffs from a “majority” group...more
1/4/2024
/ Appellate Courts ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Evidence ,
Evidentiary Standards ,
Reverse Discrimination ,
Sexual Orientation ,
Title VII
During recent oral arguments in a case that could shift the balance in employment discrimination cases and impact employer diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives,...more
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently released proposed guidance seeking to clarify that harassment and discrimination based on LGBTQ+ status—including intentional misgendering, repeated use of...more
10/11/2023
/ Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Biden Administration ,
Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Comment Period ,
Enforcement ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Gender Identity ,
Harassment ,
Proposed Guidance ,
Sexual Orientation ,
Title VII ,
Workplace Harassment Guidance
On August 18, 2023, in Hamilton v. Dallas County, the full Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upended a longstanding precedent, significantly broadening the types of adverse employment actions that could give rise to an...more
8/23/2023
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Appeals ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Commission on Human Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
En Banc Review ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Precedential Opinion ,
Public Employees ,
Remand ,
Reversal ,
Terms and Conditions ,
Title VII ,
Wage and Hour ,
Work Schedules
On July 31, 2023, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals revived a Christian teacher’s religious discrimination lawsuit over his refusal to refer to transgender students by their names and pronouns with which they identified. ...more
8/11/2023
/ Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Education ,
Educational Institutions ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Gender Identity ,
Groff v DeJoy ,
Public Schools ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Title IX ,
Title VII ,
Transgender ,
Undue Hardship
The Supreme Court of the United States’ recent decision to strike down affirmative action admissions policies in higher education is having significant indirect consequences for private employers and their diversity, equity,...more
8/10/2023
/ Affirmative Action ,
Civil Rights Act ,
College Admissions ,
Department of Education ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Equal Protection ,
Fourteenth Amendment ,
Hiring & Firing ,
SCOTUS ,
State Attorneys General ,
Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard College ,
Title VII
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently ruled that prohibitions against discriminatory employment practices against the LGTBQ+ community under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 are inapplicable to...more
7/24/2023
/ Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Gender Identity ,
LGBTQ ,
Religious Beliefs ,
Religious Exemption ,
Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) ,
Religious Institutions ,
Sexual Orientation ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Standing ,
Substantial Burden ,
Title VII
Rhode Island Governor Daniel McKee has signed a bill that prohibits the use of nondisclosure or non-disparagement agreements regarding civil rights abuses “as a condition of employment.” According to a recent update to the...more
On June 29, 2023, the Supreme Court of the United States held that certain race-conscious college admissions policies violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which prohibits discrimination based on...more
6/30/2023
/ Affirmative Action ,
Civil Rights Act ,
College Admissions ,
Colleges ,
Diversity ,
Educational Institutions ,
Equal Protection ,
Fourteenth Amendment ,
Race Discrimination ,
SCOTUS ,
Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard College ,
Students for Fair Admissions v University of North Carolina ,
Title VI ,
Universities
On June 29, 2023, the Supreme Court of the United States revived an employee’s religious discrimination lawsuit, unanimously holding that to deny a sincere religious accommodation request under Title VII of the 1964 Civil...more
During recent oral arguments, justices for the Supreme Court of the United States seemed conflicted on whether to upend the existing standard that allows an employer to refuse religious accommodations to its employees if the...more
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is examining potential discriminatory implications of the use of automated systems and artificial intelligence (AI) to make employment decisions beyond the Americans...more
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has expressed a renewed intention to enforce federal laws prohibiting discrimination in pay amid a reported persistent “pay gap” between women and men in the United...more
3/15/2023
/ Audits ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Corrective Actions ,
Data Collection ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Equal Pay ,
Equal Pay Act ,
Pay Data ,
Pay Discrimination ,
Pay Gap ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Title VII ,
Transparency ,
Wage and Hour