Disparate Impact & Enforcement Rollbacks: What’s the Tea in L&E?
Enforcement Priorities of the Second Trump Administration: The False Claims Act
#WorkforceWednesday®: New DOL Leadership, NLRB Quorum, EEOC Enforcement Priorities - Employment Law This Week®
#WorkforceWednesday®: How Will Trump’s Federal Changes Impact Employers? - Employment Law This Week®
Building Bridges – Rev. Al Sharpton’s Blueprint for Harlem’s Museum of Civil Rights
#WorkforceWednesday® - Key SCOTUS Decisions This Term for Employers - Employment Law This Week®
Webinar: Is Your DEI Policy Setting You Up for a Lawsuit?
DE Under 3: Title VII Prohibits Discriminatory Job Transfers Even Without Significant Harm, U.S. Supreme Court Unanimously Ruled
DE Under 3: EEOC Consent Decree Illustrated Enforcement Stance Regarding Natural Hair Texture & Race Discrimination
The Burr Broadcast: EEOC Strategic Enforcement Plan
#WorkforceWednesday: EEOC Enforcement Plan, California Expands Paid Sick Leave, and Strikes Across the Country - Employment Law This Week®
DE Under 3: U.S. EEOC Announced Year-End Litigation Round-Up for Fiscal Year 2023
#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: Title VII Actionable Adverse Employment Actions Not Limited to Only “Ultimate” Employment Decisions
Supreme Court Miniseries: Religious Accommodation at Work
Employment Law Now VII-133 - Hot Summer Employment Law Developments
#WorkforceWednesday: SCOTUS Introduces Heightened Standard for Religious Accommodation, Rules Against Affirmative Action, Protects “Expressive” Services - Employment Law This Week®
Business Better Podcast Episode: Is DEI at Risk? Considerations on the US Supreme Court Ruling Against Affirmative Action Programs
DE Under 3: New Controversial Proposed Rule Affecting Title VII
On August 14, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland issued a significant decision in American Federation of Teachers v. U.S. Department of Education, holding that the Department’s demand that states and...more
By Elizabeth Manchester and Kelley O’Donnell On July 29, 2025, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a sweeping memorandum titled “Guidance for Recipients of Federal Funding Regarding Unlawful Discrimination,” which...more
Since President Trump's return to office in January, his administration has intensified efforts to combat antisemitism on college campuses, positioning the issue as a central pillar of its civil rights agenda....more
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
On May 19, 2025, the Department of Justice announced the establishment of a Civil Rights Fraud Initiative, created to enforce the False Claims Act (FCA) “against those who defraud the United States by taking its money while...more
As the academic year is now wrapping up, we hope that the final weeks of school have been relatively stress free, and that our clients are now looking forward to some slower summer days. Here at Franczek, we have continued to...more
On May 19, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) unveiled the Civil Rights Fraud Initiative, a new enforcement strategy aimed at leveraging the False Claims Act to hold colleges, universities, government contractors, and...more
On May 19, 2025, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced its plan to use the False Claims Act to investigate and pursue claims of civil rights violations against federal fund recipients. The plan, entitled the Civil...more
According to a memorandum issued on May 19, 2025, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) will use the False Claims Act as a tool to enforce federal civil rights laws. The new policy memo has serious potential implications for...more
The United States Department of Justice recently announced that it would begin “vigorous enforcement” of the False Claims Act against recipients of federal funds for their use of diversity, equity and inclusion programs. The...more
Federal officials on Monday launched a new Civil Rights Fraud Initiative aimed at schools receiving federal funding, the next step in the Trump administration’s aggressive enforcement posture against transgender rights, DEI,...more
Harvard University has filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration’s decision to freeze more than $2 billion in federal grants and contracts benefitting Harvard. The funding freeze came after Harvard refused a list...more
On Wednesday, April 23, 2025, President Trump issued several Executive Orders targeting various elements of his policy agenda. Below, we discuss orders that aim to eliminate the use of disparate-impact liability under Title...more
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
Real World Impact: In light of recent government actions directed at ensuring educational institutions protect their faculty and staff, as well as students, from antisemitism, such employers should ensure they are familiar...more
It was another big week for the Department of Education, with President Trump signing an Executive Order on Thursday instructing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to take actions to “close” the Department. President Trump’s...more
A federal civil rights agency just announced that it will be investigating more than 50 higher ed institutions to determine whether they violated federal law by making race-based decisions in their graduate and scholarship...more
An ATIXA Testimonial by Alexis Piñero-Benson, University of New Hampshire Following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack in Israel and the ongoing geopolitical conflict, many colleges and universities witnessed a surge of...more
On March 7, 2025, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that its Office for Civil Rights (OCR) had initiated four investigations into unnamed medical schools and hospitals over allegations that the...more
Many K-12 and institutes of higher education are concerned about the potential threat to their federal funding given recent changes to the way the government is interpreting existing federal law to achieve certain policy...more
After giving educational institutions two weeks to comply with the Department of Education’s Dear Colleague Letter (DCL), on February 28, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) issued Frequently Asked Questions About Racial...more
Following its February 14, 2025, “Dear Colleague Letter,”outlining DEI programs that could result in a loss of federal funding by February 28, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights (the “Department”)...more
If nothing else, the early days of the Trump administration 2.0 have been a whirlwind of legal activity. Diversity, equity and inclusion efforts have of course been at the forefront and on February 14, 2025 the federal...more
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) directing educational institutions that they are prohibited from using race in decisions pertaining to admissions, hiring,...more
On Friday, February 14, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) issued a “Dear Colleague” letter advising federally funded schools that it considers any decisions or benefits based on race,...more