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 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 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 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
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
This article is the first part of Ogletree Deakins’ series, “DEI Under Scrutiny,” which examines the evolving employment law landscape for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in the United States....more
12/1/2023
/ Affirmative Action ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Discrimination ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employment Policies ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Contractors ,
OFCCP ,
Risk Assessment ,
Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard College ,
Students for Fair Admissions v University of North Carolina ,
Title VII
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
On June 29, 2023, the Supreme Court of the United States struck down affirmative action in college admissions, leaving employers to wrestle with the implications of the decision for various diversity, equity, and inclusion...more
7/21/2023
/ Affirmative Action ,
Civil Rights Act ,
College Admissions ,
Comment Period ,
Disparate Impact ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
EEO-1 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Policies ,
Ethnicity ,
Hiring & Firing ,
OMB ,
Race Discrimination ,
SCOTUS ,
Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard College ,
Students for Fair Admissions v University of North Carolina ,
Working Groups
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
Alabama became the forty-ninth state to adopt equal pay legislation on June 11, 2019, with the enactment of the Clarke-Figures Equal Pay Act (CFEPA). The CFEPA, effective September 1, 2019, substantially tracks...more
On March 21, 2022, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) announced that it would publish a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM), entitled “Pre-enforcement Notice and Conciliation Procedures,” in the...more
On August 15, 2019, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) added a question and answer to its list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) addressing, among other things, a growing concern for many employers: how to...more
Federal law already prohibits employers from paying an employee less than employees of another sex for equal work, unless the employer bases the wage difference on statutorily defined factors. Alabama and Mississippi were the...more
6/12/2019
/ Civil Rights Act ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Pay Act ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
New Legislation ,
Pending Legislation ,
Salary/Wage History ,
State Labor Laws ,
Title VII ,
Wage and Hour