Labor & Employment Law: Vermont and Federal Legislative Update
#WorkforceWednesday: SCOTUS Decision on LGBTQ Employees, EEOC on Older Workers Returning to Work - Employment Law This Week®
Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming recently passed laws aligning with recent executive orders issued by President Donald Trump defining sex as binary and immutable....more
In a move with potentially significant implications for entities subject to the Affordable Care Act, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has reversed course and now contends that Section 1557 of the Affordable...more
On his first day in office, Jan. 20, 2025, President Donald Trump issued an executive order (EO), "Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government," that is reshaping...more
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
In the last several weeks, three seismic events have altered the Title IX compliance landscape for colleges and universities around the country: A federal district court’s vacation of the Biden administration’s 2024 Title IX...more
On February 5, 2025, President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14201, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” which aims to prohibit transgender women and girls from participating in female sports across all educational...more
President Trump's orders targeting "woke gender ideology" do not change existing employment protections for LGBTQ employees, though threats to federal funding remain ambiguous. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and many...more
Within the last month, three developments have rocked the Title IX world: the Eastern District of Kentucky’s decision in State of Tennessee v. Cardona, President Trump’s Executive Order restricting the federal definition of...more
As we have noted in recent days, upon returning to the Oval Office, the Trump Administration swiftly: Sent the message that it will pursue an agenda of aggressive enforcement related to immigration and preventing...more
Visitors to the Georgia State Capitol were delighted by the rhythm and artistry of a lion dance in the South Wing on Wednesday as the Asian American Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus hosted its second annual Lunar New Year...more
Inauguration week yielded a flurry of presidential executive orders, including 26 on Monday, January 20, 2025, alone. Many of those orders seem to be creating buzz, if not serious and understandable confusion, about possible...more
Within hours of taking office for a second term, President Trump issued a flurry of executive orders and actions on topics ranging from immigration and climate change to revoking DEI mandates. While many of these actions are...more
Whoa, Nelly! It's a stampede! After President Trump took office on Monday, he lost no time in undoing as much as he could from not only the Biden Administration, but also going all the way back to the days of President...more
On Monday, January 20, 2025, President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order entitled “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth To The Federal Government” (the “Order”). The Order...more
On January 9, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky vacated the Biden administration’s 2024 Title IX regulations. The vacatur applies nationwide, meaning the 2020 Title IX final rule and Title IX...more
The Biden Administration’s April 2024 changes to Title IX regulations were struck down in a court ruling that applies nationwide. State of Tennessee v. Cardona, No. 2: 24-072-DCR (E.D. Ky. Jan. 9, 2025). The Kentucky federal...more
Last year was a turbulent one for Title IX, and although we are just a few days into 2025, this turbulence has persisted into the new year. Yesterday, January 9, 2025, a federal district court in Kentucky issued a ruling that...more
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued its long-awaited final guidance on harassment claims, which went into immediate effect....more
Access to quality healthcare services has long been a priority of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and through its Office for Civil Rights (OCR) this agency has, since at least 2001, sought to provide...more
The bathroom battle (among others) continues. The State of Texas and the Heritage Foundation, on behalf of employers, have challenged the EEOC's recent Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace. The lawsuit alleges...more
We are pleased to present our annual End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists. This year, we present our “To Do” Lists in four separate SW Benefits Updates. This Part 1 covers year-end health and welfare plan issues. Parts 2,...more
Last week, the Supreme Court accepted review of Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services. The court will address a circuit split regarding the standard courts apply in discrimination claims brought by majority group...more
In its 2020 decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, the United States Supreme Court ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits covered employers from discriminating against employees based on their...more
On July 22, 2024, Solicitor General of the United States Elizabeth B. Prelogar submitted applications to the Supreme Court of the United States for a partial stay of two preliminary injunctions issued, respectively, by the...more
On July 17, 2024, the U.S. District for the Northern District of Texas rejected the State of Texas’s request that it vacate recent guidance from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on harassment and...more