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
Entities receiving federal funds, including educational institutions, state and local governments, and public and private employers, must ensure that their programs and activities comply with federal law and do not...more
On January 21, 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order 14173: Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunities (“EO 14173”). EO 14173 aims to eliminate Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (“DEI”) and...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
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
From time to time, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) has established initiatives, task forces, or strike teams to advance its enforcement priorities. In recent years, DOJ has announced a Procurement Collusion Strike Force, a...more
The U.S. Department of Justice is recasting the False Claims Act as a civil rights enforcement tool—putting federal fund recipients on notice that false compliance certifications may now trigger FCA liability....more
On May 19, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a new Civil Rights Fraud Initiative that will leverage the federal False Claims Act (FCA) to investigate and litigate against universities, contractors, health...more
On May 19, 2025, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche issued a memorandum, Deputy Attorney General Blanche Memo: Civil Rights Fraud Initiative, announcing an initiative to “utilize the False Claims Act to investigate and, as...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
On May 19, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced via a memo titled “Civil Rights Fraud Initiative” (the Memo) an initiative to use the False Claims Act (FCA) against federal contractors and recipients of federal funds...more
Key Takeaways: - The U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced the creation of a new initiative focused on using the False Claims Act (“FCA”) to pursue “Civil Rights Fraud.” - DOJ warned FCA claims could arise when a...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
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
On March 20, 2025, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order (“EO”) titled “Improving Education Outcomes by Empowering Parents, States, and Communities,” directing the Secretary of Education to undertake all...more
Headlines this week largely focused on the Department of Education, and rightfully so. As announced on Tuesday, President Trump’s administration terminated over 1,300 Department of Education employees this week – nearly 50%...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
In a March 5, 2025 press release, Andrea Lucas, the Acting Chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), emphasized the agency’s plans to prioritize holding universities and colleges accountable to prevent...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
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
Twenty-seven days after the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) of the outgoing Biden administration issued long-awaited Title IX guidance relating to name, image, and likeness (NIL) payments by schools and third-party...more
On February 21, 2025, the federal district court for the District of Maryland blocked President Donald Trump from enforcing a majority of two January 2025 Executive Orders that seek to eliminate diversity, equity and...more
The legality of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (“DEI”) Programs has come under immense scrutiny beginning with the change in presidential administration. On January 21, 2025, President Trump issued executive order 14173...more