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Employment Discrimination Equal Protection Title VII

FordHarrison

Inclusion Without Violation: Navigating the Attorney General's New DEI Guidance

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On July 29, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), through the Attorney General (AG), issued new guidance directed to all federal agencies, and applicable to federal fund recipients, that diversity, equity, and inclusion...more

Wiley Rein LLP

DOJ Clarifies Administration’s Stance on What Constitutes “Illegal DEI”

Wiley Rein LLP on

On July 29, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) released a memorandum titled “Guidance for Recipients of Federal Funding Regarding Unlawful Discrimination” (the Memorandum) that provides clarity on what the...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Attorney General Issues Memorandum on Unlawful Discrimination for Recipients of Federal Funds

- What is new: The Office of the U.S. Attorney General issued important guidance clarifying that any policy or practice distinguishing based on protected characteristics may violate federal antidiscrimination laws, including...more

Whiteford

Employment Law Update: U.S. Supreme Court Ends Double Standard: All Employees Get Equal Protection in Title VII Discrimination...

Whiteford on

On June 5, 2025, in a unanimous and highly anticipated decision, the U.S. Supreme Court in Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services, No. 23-1039, clarified a critical point in employment law: all employees—regardless of...more

Lerch, Early & Brewer

Supreme Court Clarifies: Title VII Protects

Lerch, Early & Brewer on

Earlier this month, the United States Supreme Court confirmed that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 guarantees equal protection to all employees, even if they belong to majority or minority groups....more

Proskauer - Law and the Workplace

U.S. Supreme Court Holds Majority-Group Plaintiffs Are Not Subject to a Heightened Evidentiary Standard Under Title VII

On June 5, 2025, the United States Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion authored by Justice Jackson in Ames v. Ohio Dep’t of Youth Services, ruling that the “background circumstances” test—which applies a heighted...more

Akerman LLP - HR Defense

Supreme Court Eliminates “Background Circumstances” Test in Reverse Discrimination Cases: What Employers Need to Know

In a landmark ruling significantly changing how workplace discrimination claims are litigated, the U.S. Supreme Court has removed a major barrier for plaintiffs alleging “reverse discrimination” claims under Title VII. In...more

Polsinelli

Supreme Court Rejects Heightened Evidentiary Requirement for Majority Groups in Title VII Cases

Polsinelli on

What You Need to Know: Equal Protection Under Title VII: On June 5, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Title VII’s protections apply equally to all individuals, regardless of whether they are in a...more

Woods Rogers

Supreme Court Reaffirms Equal Access to Title VII Protections

Woods Rogers on

In a unanimous decision issued June 5, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court in Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services vacated a Sixth Circuit ruling that imposed a higher evidentiary burden on majority-group plaintiffs in Title...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Supreme Court Rejects Heightened Prima Facie “Background Circumstances” Test for Majority Group Plaintiffs

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court vacated the dismissal of a heterosexual woman’s Title VII claims, concluding that she was improperly subjected to a heightened prima facie standard that required her to show...more

Lathrop GPM

U.S. Supreme Court Says “Reverse Discrimination” Is Equally Unlawful - Clarifies Standard for Majority-Group Plaintiffs in Title...

Lathrop GPM on

The U.S. Supreme Court today swung wide open the door for all persons who experience employment discrimination based on their race, color, religion, sex or national origin to bring suit under Title VII of the 1964 Civil...more

Ballard Spahr LLP

Texas Judge Strikes EEOC Guidance Protecting Transgender Employees

Ballard Spahr LLP on

A federal judge in Texas issued a decision on May 15, 2025, striking down portions of the EEOC’s Enforcement Guidance on protections against employment discrimination based on gender identity and/or sexual orientation....more

Epstein Becker & Green

Disparate Impact Liability Under Fire

Epstein Becker & Green on

On Wednesday, April 23, 2025, President Trump signed EO 14281, titled Restoring Equality of Opportunity and Meritocracy (EO), stating a new Trump Administration policy “to eliminate the use of disparate-impact liability in...more

Foley & Lardner LLP

Achieving DEI Compliance…On Your Website

Foley & Lardner LLP on

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

Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP

New Executive Order Seeks to Eliminate Disparate-Impact Liability

On April 23, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order (EO) titled Restoring Equality of Opportunity and Meritocracy.  This EO seeks to eliminate the use of disparate-impact liability in various contexts, arguing that...more

CDF Labor Law LLP

Federal Agencies Directed to End Enforcement of Disparate Impact Discrimination Claims Under President Trump’s New Executive Order

CDF Labor Law LLP on

On April 23, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order entitled “Restoring Equality of Opportunity and Meritocracy” (“Executive Order”). This Executive Order is one in a series issued by President Trump with the goal of...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

Navigating DEI in a Shifting Legal Landscape

Troutman Pepper Locke on

Workplace diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs face more scrutiny than ever in light of President Trump’s recent executive orders regarding DEI policies and programs across the public and private sectors, recent...more

Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP

Supreme Court of the United States Poised to Clarify Standard in Discrimination Claims

On February 26, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services, a case that could alter the legal landscape for employment discrimination claims under Title VII of the Civil...more

Whiteford

Employment Law Update: Supreme Court Hears Argument on Reverse Discrimination Claim with Implications for DEI

Whiteford on

Just as employers are reconsidering their approach to DEI and the myriad of potential risks such policies could present under current administration enforcement priorities, the Supreme Court recently heard arguments in a case...more

McAfee & Taft

SCOTUS to weigh in on reverse discrimination claim brought by heterosexual employee

McAfee & Taft on

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services, an employment discrimination lawsuit that focused on a reverse discrimination claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Iowa Governor Signs Law Making State the First to Remove Gender Identity Protections From Civil Rights Code

On February 28, 2025, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed legislation making the state the first to remove antidiscrimination protections for gender identity from its civil rights code....more

Paul Hastings LLP

The Defending Women Executive Order Presents Potential Clash Between Federal and State Antidiscrimination Law

Paul Hastings LLP on

On January 20, 2025, President Donald Trump issued an executive order titled “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government” (Defending Women EO). The Defending Women...more

Latham & Watkins LLP

Key Insights on Executive Order Directing Scrutiny of Private-Sector DEI Efforts

Latham & Watkins LLP on

On January 21, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order titled “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity” (the Order) directing federal agencies to enforce federal civil rights laws to...more

Kelley Drye & Warren LLP

The Trump Transformation – Major Shifts in EEOC and Employment Law

Less than 24 hours after assuming the presidency, Donald Trump announced significant changes in the leadership and focus of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”), as well as other policy changes which will...more

Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP

2024 Employment Year-End Roundup

INTRODUCTION - The year 2024 brought significant developments to a wide range of employment law areas, from anti-discrimination and retaliation law to labor issues. Federal courts across the country expanded the rights of...more

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