HHS Office for Civil Rights Director Melanie Fontes Rainer on Progress and News at OCR
ERISA Blog | Changes to the HIPAA Privacy Rules A Primer for Self-Insured Group Health Plans
Podcast - Data Privacy and Tracking Technology Compliance
Patient Data and Privacy
HIPAA Tips With Williams Mullen - Telehealth After the Pandemic
Relaxed HIPAA Restrictions For Providers Using Telehealth
Webinar: Investigating and Resolving Sexual Assaults on Campus
As a quick update for our education clients, the Biden administration purportedly plans to delay the release date of the Title IX final rule on transgender athletes until after the presidential election. While the Department...more
Late last week the Connecticut State Department of Education (“CSDE” or “Department”) issued new guidance addressing the rights of transgender students in Connecticut schools. Entitled Guidance on Civil Rights Protections...more
In a July 28, 2023 ruling, the Seventh Circuit has signaled that Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) seeking to enforce pronoun policies can expect to face increased scrutiny. Specifically, the Seventh Circuit vacated its...more
The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) published on April 6, 2023, a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) about sex-related criteria used to limit or deny a student's ability to participate in...more
The federal Department of Education released a notice of proposed rulemaking earlier this month addressing gender identity and participation in athletics. ...more
On April 6, 2023, the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking relating to Title IX, a federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in federally funded programs. 20 U.S.C....more
On April 6, the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) released its much-anticipated proposed Title IX rule on the eligibility of students for participation in athletic programs based on their gender identity....more
The participation of transgender athletes in youth, interscholastic, and elite sport has long been a highly charged political issue domestically and internationally, with a vast range of different approaches to regulating...more
Athletics is poised to be a major topic in Title IX this year. The participation of transgender athletes in school sports continues to dominate headlines, as we reported earlier on this blog, while gender inequity remains a...more
In neighboring states last week, the federal courts issued two decisions affirming the rights of transgender students and athletes. In Connecticut, the Second Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of a...more
Recent court and OCR decisions regarding transgender students and employees reflect widely varying responses to the Biden administration’s efforts to expand protections for LGBTQ+ individuals under federal law, including...more
The 50th anniversary of Title IX provides elementary, secondary, and postsecondary institutions an opportunity to reflect on the impact of and future developments stemming from the law....more
On June 22, 2021, the United States Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights (“OCR”) and the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division (“DOJ) issued a joint Fact Sheet addressed to elementary and secondary...more
In a somewhat unsurprising development, the United States Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights [OCR] has issued a new interpretation of Title IX, recognizing that it prohibits discrimination on the basis of...more
Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, or OCR, issued a Notice of Interpretation stating that Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits discrimination against LGBTQ+ students and...more
Yesterday, President Joe Biden issued an executive order addressing Title IX, entitled Executive Order on Guaranteeing an Educational Environment Free from Discrimination on the Basis of Sex, Including Sexual Orientation or...more
At the beginning of last week, Donald Trump was President of the United States and we were being flooded with last minute Title IX and civil rights guidance from the outgoing Department of Education. As we near the end of the...more
On January 8, 2021, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights issued a memorandum containing its interpretation of Bostock v. Clayton and its lack of effect on OCR’s interpretation of Title IX. The U.S....more
A local news source from New Haven, Connecticut, reported that the New Haven Public Schools and the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights have reached a tentative agreement on their current transgender...more
On September 8, 2020, an Education Dive article quoted me about two recent letters from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) on the impact on Title IX of this year’s landmark U.S. Supreme Court...more
Late last week, with no apparent public discussion, the Department of Education (the “Department”) withdrew a number of Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) guidance documents relating to Title IX in the wake of the new Title IX...more
In a seismic decision that could wreak havoc with Connecticut school districts, OCR has determined that the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference [CIAC] policy on transgender athletes violates Title IX of the...more
It seems like all we talk about these days in the Title IX world is sexual harassment, as we scramble to implement new Title IX regulations that go into effect in August. Yet, this week brought significant news with respect...more
When the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion several weeks ago upholding a public school district’s policy allowing transgender students to use facilities that match their gender identity, it was just the latest...more