On July 16, 2025, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee convened to review the nominations of three individuals whose roles could significantly shape the future of federal labor and employment...more
On June 18, 2025, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions held a hearing to consider four key nominations for leadership roles at the U.S. Department of Labor and the Equal Employment Opportunity...more
On June 9, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issued a ruling in San Francisco AIDS Foundation v. Trump, temporarily blocking the enforcement of several provisions in executive orders issued...more
On June 5, 2025, the Supreme Court in Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services unanimously struck down the Sixth Circuit’s “background circumstances” rule, which had required majority-group plaintiffs to meet a heightened...more
INTRODUCTION -
This Annual Report on EEOC Developments—Fiscal Year 2024 (hereafter “Report”), our fourteenth annual publication, is designed as a comprehensive guide to significant Equal Employment Opportunity Commission...more
4/28/2025
/ Age Discrimination ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Retaliation ,
Title VII ,
Trump Administration
On April 23, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order instructing that federal agencies cease using the disparate impact theory of liability under federal civil rights laws, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act...more
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chair Brendan Carr recently revealed in a social media post the agency’s latest probe into various media entities’ inclusion, equity, and diversity efforts....more
On March 14, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit lifted the nationwide injunction on President Trump's executive orders targeting inclusion, equity, and diversity (IE&D) programs, allowing enforcement while...more
On February 21, a federal district court judge issued a preliminary injunction against several elements of Trump’s executive orders regarding DEI or DEIA. The reach of this preliminary injunction goes beyond the plaintiffs in...more
2/24/2025
/ Civil Rights Act ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Fifth Amendment ,
First Amendment ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Trump Administration
UPDATE: On January 31, 2025, the EEOC advised that at the present time all charges alleging discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity will be sent to national headquarters for review to ensure that...more
Since taking office on January 20, 2025, President Trump has issued several executive orders that address inclusion, equity, and diversity (IE&D) programs and policies. Although these orders are important to consider,...more
On October 4, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services (Case No. 23-1039) to decide whether plaintiffs who are members of historically majority communities asserting...more
The First Amendment traditionally offers robust protections for expressive employers, such as those in the entertainment and media industries, allowing them to control casting and messaging. In California, however, these...more
On June 3, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit granted a preliminary injunction prohibiting a venture capital fund from awarding grants based on race and gender. In reversal of the district court, the...more
Over the last two years, starting even before the Supreme Court’s decision regarding affirmative action in June 2023, there has been a noticeable uptick in bills introduced in state legislatures restricting inclusion, equity,...more
4/26/2024
/ Affirmative Action ,
Bias ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Educational Institutions ,
Employee Training ,
Legislative Agendas ,
New Legislation ,
Private Right of Action ,
State Funding ,
State Legislatures
On April 17, 2024, the Supreme Court decided that employees do not need to suffer “significant” harm to state a claim of discrimination under Title VII. In so ruling, the Court rejected a level of proof as to harm that many...more
On December 6, 2023, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) heard arguments in Muldrow v. City of St. Louis, Missouri—a potentially pivotal case concerning whether Title VII requires plaintiffs to establish a...more
12/13/2023
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Muldrow v City of St Louis ,
SCOTUS ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Title VII
On October 8, 2023, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 54 (SB 54), Fair Investment Practices by Investment Advisers, which requires venture capital firms to collect and report data on the demographic...more
On October 7, 2023, Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed proposed bill SB 403, which, as previously discussed, sought to ban discrimination based on caste under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), Unruh Civil Rights Act, and...more
On August 24, 2023, over a year after Florida’s Individual Freedom Act (IFA) (commonly referred to as the “Stop-W.O.K.E.” law) went into effect, and about one year after a Florida federal court partially enjoined the new law,...more
8/29/2023
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Bias ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employee Training ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
First Amendment ,
Florida ,
Freedom of Expression ,
New Legislation ,
Race Discrimination ,
State Labor Laws ,
Stop Woke Act
On July 5, 2023, the California Senate voted 34-1 in favor of clarifying existing law by defining “ancestry” to include “caste” as protected within the state’s anti-discrimination statutes....more
On June 29, 2023, the United States Supreme Court ruled that race-conscious admissions practices at Harvard College and the University of North Carolina, which are generally similar to how numerous other higher education...more
7/3/2023
/ Affirmative Action ,
Civil Rights Act ,
College Admissions ,
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 ,
Title VII
Executive Summary -
Widespread economic uncertainty. Evolving workforce expectations. Accelerating use of artificial intelligence (AI). A shifting patchwork of local, state and federal regulations.
Numerous headwinds...more
5/10/2023
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Leave of Absence ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Remote Working ,
State Labor Laws ,
Telecommuting ,
Wage and Hour
On February 21, 2023, the City of Seattle, Washington became the first U.S. city – or any U.S. jurisdiction for that matter – to add caste to its list of categories protected against discrimination. As described below, this...more
In the past few years, the global trend towards prioritizing inclusion, equity, and diversity (IE&D) has inspired and challenged employers in every industry. On the one hand, there is a significant business case for IE&D...more