On June 5, 2025—in the midst of heightened scrutiny of diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”) initiatives triggered by executive orders issued by President Trump as well as various federal agency guidance—the Supreme Court...more
6/24/2025
/ Ames v Ohio Department of Youth Services ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Judicial Authority ,
Reverse Discrimination ,
SCOTUS ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Title VII
On May 19, 2025, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche issued a memorandum announcing the creation of the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Civil Rights Fraud Initiative (the Initiative), which directs DOJ attorneys to utilize the...more
6/12/2025
/ Civil Rights Act ,
Colleges ,
Compliance ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Discrimination ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Educational Institutions ,
Executive Orders ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Funding ,
HUD ,
Qui Tam ,
Reverse Discrimination ,
Title IX ,
Title VI ,
Trump Administration ,
Universities ,
Whistleblowers
We have seen, a mere few months into President Trump’s second term, a remarkably transformational set of priorities across the federal government, which have had dramatic impacts on the private sector generally and public...more
6/10/2025
/ Affirmative Action ,
Board of Directors ,
Corporate Governance ,
Diversity ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Funding ,
Greenwashing ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
International Trade ,
Investors ,
Judicial Authority ,
Proxy Advisors ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Risk Management ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Tortious Interference ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies
On February 26, 2025, the Supreme Court and all three counsel appearing before it in Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services, appeared to walk away in “radical agreement” — as noted by Justice Neil Gorsuch — that a...more
On February 21, 2025, a federal judge issued a nationwide preliminary injunction that partially prevents the Trump administration from enforcing its executive orders on diversity, equity and inclusion (“DEI”). At issue were...more
Companies with forthcoming annual report and proxy statement filings should consult with counsel regarding recent regulatory and legal developments related to diversity, equity and inclusion (“DEI”) initiatives and the...more
1/31/2025
/ Affirmative Action ,
Board of Directors ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Diversity ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Executive Orders ,
Nasdaq ,
Proxy Season ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Trump Administration
On January 21, 2025, President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order titled “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity” (the “Executive Order” which significantly impacts not only requirements...more
On December 11, 2024, in a 9-8 ruling along party lines, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (the “Fifth Circuit”) struck down the Nasdaq board diversity rules issued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission...more
The first half of 2024 was eventful in the world of environmental, social and governance (“ESG”). Although ESG continued to lose the market tailwinds that have pushed it forward in recent years, regulatory pressures both...more
10/18/2024
/ Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Greenwashing ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Proxy Season ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholders ,
Sustainability
Please join us for our quarterly Technology Series webinar where the Vinson & Elkins team will be discussing employment law developments affecting technology companies....more
On October 25, a panel of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals (the “Fifth Circuit”) upheld the Nasdaq board diversity rule in the face of challenges that (among other things) the rule attempted to improperly and...more
11/7/2023
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Affirmative Action ,
Board of Directors ,
Diversity ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Investors ,
Minorities ,
Nasdaq ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard College
Welcome to Vinson & Elkins’ Securities and ESG Updates. Our aim is to provide insights into notable developments in securities reporting and the environmental, social and governance space over the quarter and, where...more
10/13/2023
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
BlackRock ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Clawbacks ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Transparency Act ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Greenwashing ,
Insider Trading ,
NYSE ,
Private Funds ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Quarterly Report ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Rule 10b-5 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)
Welcome to Vinson & Elkins’ Securities and ESG Updates. Our aim is to provide insights into notable developments in securities reporting and the environmental, social and governance space over the quarter and, where...more
7/13/2023
/ C&DIs ,
Climate Change ,
COSO ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Diversity ,
Divestment ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Greenwashing ,
Nasdaq ,
No-Action Letters ,
NYSE ,
Proxy Season ,
Repurchases ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholders ,
Universal Proxy Cards
In the aftermath of the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down the race-conscious admissions systems of two universities in a six-to-three decision (the “SFFA Decision”), commentators are asking about the impact of...more
7/6/2023
/ Affirmative Action ,
Civil Rights Act ,
College Admissions ,
Diversity ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Equal Protection ,
Fourteenth Amendment ,
SCOTUS ,
Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard College ,
Students for Fair Admissions v University of North Carolina ,
Title VII
Welcome to Vinson & Elkins’ Securities and ESG Updates. Our aim is to provide insights into notable developments in securities reporting and the environmental, social and governance space over the quarter and, where...more
4/4/2023
/ 10b5-1 Plans ,
Brokers ,
Climate Change ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Diversity ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Insider Trading ,
Investors ,
Nasdaq ,
Non-Voting Shares ,
Proxy Season ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)
The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit recently held that a plaintiff had standing to sue her former employer for a data breach that exposed her personal information to the “Dark Web” because she...more
Any employer required to collect EEO-1 workforce demographic data should be thinking about the issue of whether to publicly disclose that data, and consider what might happen to it once it’s disclosed....more
Vinson & Elkins ESG lawyers will discuss social and human rights issues that impact energy companies both in the U.S. and abroad, including supply chain diligence, disclosure and reporting obligations, DEI in the workforce...more
8/24/2022
/ Board of Directors ,
Continuing Legal Education ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Diversity ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Human Rights ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Supply Chain ,
Webinars
Social media is a relatively new character in the classic tale of a unionizing workforce. Newer still is the impact that environmental, social and governance, or ESG, factors have on that same workforce.
Originally...more
Social media has likely had a role in fueling the malaise of unionizing employees who believe that the company they work for has a bad reputation. Employees and pro-union groups take to forums like Twitter to voice complaints...more
On January 1, 2023, absent intervention from the California legislature, the nation’s first comprehensive data privacy law, the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act...more
Even as supply chains face increased pressure due to COVID-19, the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, sanctions imposed upon Russia, and extreme weather, businesses continue to implement and develop Supplier Codes of Conduct in...more
In 2021, the District of Columbia passed a “Ban on Non-Compete Agreements” (the “Ban”) purporting to ban most non-compete agreements, except in connection with the sale of a business. We previously reported on some of the...more
President Biden is imminently expected to sign into law the “Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act” (the “Act”), which will have significant, immediate ramifications for employers who have...more
Last month, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a $35,000 fine against an employer whose foreman, despite explicit instructions by a company manager to fix an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”)...more