#WorkforceWednesday®: EEOC/DOJ Joint DEI Guidance, EEOC Letters to Law Firms, OFCCP Retroactive DEI Enforcement - Employment Law This Week®
False Claims Act Insights - Can DE&I Initiatives Lead to Potential False Claims Act Liability?
How to Comply with Trump’s Executive Order, Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity
2025 Outlook: The Department of Health and Human Services Under the Second Trump Administration – Diagnosing Health Care
#WorkforceWednesday®: How Will Trump’s Federal Changes Impact Employers? - Employment Law This Week®
DE Talk | If It’s Not in Writing, It Never Happened: Applicant Tracking & Recordkeeping Strategies to Ensure OFCCP Compliance
Work This Way: A Labor & Employment Law Podcast - Episode 28: Construction Compliance with Joan Moore and Mim Munzel of The Arbor Consulting Group
Webinar: Is Your DEI Policy Setting You Up for a Lawsuit?
#WorkforceWednesday: NLRB Wants Shuttered Starbucks Stores Reopened, Big Tech Retreats from DEI Programs, and Employers Scrap College Requirements - Employment Law This Week®
The Informed Board Podcast | How Will Corporate DEI Policies Be Affected by the Supreme Court Ruling in the University Affirmative Action Cases?
#WorkforceWednesday: The Ripple Effect of the Supreme Court’s SFFA Ruling for Diversity in the Workplace - Employment Law This Week®
Employment Law Now VII-134-Panel Discussion on Supreme Court's Affirmative Action Ruling and the Impact on Employer DEI Programs
DE Under 3: How to Lawfully Engage in Race-Based Employment Decisions
The Labor Law Insider: Recent U.S. Supreme Court, NLRB Decisions Highlight Labor Issues in Higher Education
Business Better Podcast Episode: Is DEI at Risk? Considerations on the US Supreme Court Ruling Against Affirmative Action Programs
DE Under 3: 4 Implications Impacting Federal Contractors & Employers Following the SCOTUS Decision in the Harvard & UNC Cases
DE Under 3: SCOTUS Finds “Race-Based” Admissions Practices At Harvard and UNC Unlawful
DE Under 3: The Harvard and UNC Case Decisions Are Coming
DE Talk | Top 5 Actions to Take After You Complete Your Affirmative Action Plan
On June 27, 2025, Director of the US Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) Catherine Eschbach issued a letter to federal contractors asking them to volunteer information on their efforts...more
Last week, OFCCP Director Eschbach issued a letter to federal contractors inviting them to voluntarily submit information regarding their efforts to comply with Executive Order 14173, “Ending Illegal Discrimination and...more
There have been recent developments in the continually evolving legal landscape for employers utilizing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs and policies. Below is a brief overview of those recent developments and...more
On June 5, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held in Ames v. Ohio Dept. of Youth Services that courts cannot apply a heightened evidentiary standard to majority-group plaintiffs when deciding discrimination claims. The...more
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Department of Labor released their 2026 Congressional Budget Justifications (CBJ) on May 30, 2025, providing valuable information related to the EEOC’s enforcement...more
On 5 June 2025, the Supreme Court ruled in Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services that, in order to establish a Title VII claim, a plaintiff who is a member of a “majority group” is not required to show “background...more
Can members of a majority group be subject to a heightened pleading standard for their Title VII discrimination claims? The United States Supreme Court answered this question with a unanimous “no” in Ames v. Ohio Department...more
Key Takeaways: - The Supreme Court held that Title VII does not permit courts to impose a heightened evidentiary standard on majority-group plaintiffs alleging disparate treatment. - Some lower courts have required...more
On June 5, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that plaintiffs bringing discrimination claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) cannot be required to satisfy a heightened evidentiary...more
As widely expected, the Supreme Court’s June 5, 2025 decision in Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services confirmed that a plaintiff alleging employment discrimination under Title VII cannot be held to a different,...more
On June 5, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services, rejecting the “background circumstances” requirement multiple circuit courts of appeals have applied to Title...more
On May 19, 2025, the DOJ announced the establishment of the “Civil Rights Fraud Initiative,” which seeks to use the False Claims Act (FCA) to investigate, and possibly take civil action against, recipients of federal funds...more
There is a growing sense of confusion and unease among many federal contractors and grant recipients in these early days of the second Trump administration. In a time when some agencies face dislocation and downsizing (or, as...more
On May 19, 2025, U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the formation of a Civil Rights Fraud Initiative “to investigate and, as appropriate, pursue claims against any recipient of federal funds that knowingly...more
On May 19, 2025, the U.S. Deputy Attorney General issued a memorandum (the “Memo”) announcing a Civil Rights Fraud Initiative (the “Initiative”) and instructing the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) to pursue False Claims...more
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) efforts, and the term itself, have become increasingly scrutinized and subjected to legal challenges by both government and private actors, making an understanding of the current DEI...more
Federal agencies have been enforcing President Donald Trump’s Executive Orders (EOs), with various federal and state government agencies mobilizing to carry out EO 14173, “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring...more
On April 23, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order titled “Restoring Equality of Opportunity and Meritocracy” (the Order). Through this Executive Order, and accompanying Fact Sheet, the Trump Administration...more
On April 23, 2025, President Trump signed an Executive Order (EO) titled Restoring Equality of Opportunity and Meritocracy, which follows a string of prior EOs aimed at removing DEI programs, which we covered here and here....more
Federal contractors need to take note of two Executive Orders impacting their employee Diversity Equity and Inclusion (“DEI”) programs. Unlike the recent EEO and DOJ guidance regarding employer DEI initiatives applying to...more
A leaked internal email from the newly-appointed Director of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) indicated that it may review information previously submitted by federal contractors during OFCCP audits...more
Policy shifts, court challenges, and strategic considerations for organizations navigating federal directives on DEI....more
In the ongoing public discussion about the implications of President Trump’s Executive Order 14173 a new “open letter” was issued this week from ten former OFCCP officials. The former officials offer their views about the...more
On April 15, 2025, ten former Department of Labor (DOL) officials from the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) and Office of the Solicitor (SOL)—including former Directors Jenny Yang and Pat Shiu—released...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