News & Analysis as of August 14, 2025

Employment Discrimination

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The Equal Protection Clause is a section of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution that provides that "no state shall...deny to any citizen within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." Essentially, the Equal Protection Clause provides that the government must treat an individual the same way that it treats other individuals in the same circumstances. The 14th Amendment Equal Protection Clause applies only to state governments, but the requirements of the clause apply to the federal government through the Due Process Clause of the 5th Amendment. less -

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

Lathrop GPM on 6/6/2025

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

Texas Judge Strikes EEOC Guidance Protecting Transgender Employees

Ballard Spahr LLP on 6/3/2025

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

Disparate Impact Liability Under Fire

Epstein Becker & Green on 5/13/2025

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

Achieving DEI Compliance…On Your Website

Foley & Lardner LLP on 5/9/2025

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

New Executive Order Seeks to Eliminate Disparate-Impact Liability

Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP on 5/6/2025

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

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

CDF Labor Law LLP on 4/29/2025

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

Navigating DEI in a Shifting Legal Landscape

Troutman Pepper Locke on 4/4/2025

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

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

Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP on 3/11/2025

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

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

Whiteford on 3/7/2025

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

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

McAfee & Taft on 3/5/2025

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

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

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,... on 3/4/2025

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

Employment Law Update: What Employers and Educational Institutions Need to Know about the Attorney General’s February 5th Memo on...

Whiteford on 2/21/2025

On February 5, 2025, the U.S. Attorney General (“AG”) Pam Bondi issued a memorandum to all Justice Department employees titled “Ending Illegal DEI and DEIA Discrimination and Preferences,” outlining the Department of...more

Attorney General Issues Memo Stating that Illegal DEI and DEIA Programs in Private Sector Will Be Prosecuted

CDF Labor Law LLP on 2/10/2025

The day after her nomination was confirmed last week, Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a memorandum to all Department of Justice employees on Wednesday, February 5th, stating that the USDOJ’s Civil Rights Division will begin...more

What to Know About the War Being Waged Against DEI

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP on 2/6/2025

Can you still have DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) programs? How about affirmative action plans? The Supreme Court’s June 2023 decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard garnered national attention in holding...more

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

Paul Hastings LLP on 2/5/2025

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

The Trump Transformation – Major Shifts in EEOC and Employment Law

Kelley Drye & Warren LLP on 1/23/2025

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

2024 Summer Olympics Series: United States

Littler on 7/29/2024

The 2024 Summer Olympic Games begin Friday, July 26. To celebrate this international event, Littler offices around the globe will share key changes in labor and employment laws that have transpired since the last time their...more

Implications of U.S. Supreme Court Decision Overturning Affirmative Action Precedent in Higher Education

Proskauer Rose LLP on 9/8/2023

On June 29, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College that race-conscious admissions programs at Harvard College and the University of North Carolina...more

Ten DEI Steps Employers Should Consider Now

Jackson Lewis P.C. on 9/6/2023

The U.S. Supreme Court held the use of race in university and college admissions is unconstitutional in its Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. decisions on June 29, 2023. The Court’s ruling directly addresses only the...more

Supreme Court Strikes Down Affirmative Action in College Admissions

Mitratech Holdings, Inc on 8/18/2023

On Thurs. June 29, 2023, the Supreme Court ruled that race-conscious admissions policies are unconstitutional and invoked the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, stating that Harvard’s and UNC’s admissions programs...more

The Supreme Court’s Affirmative Action Ruling: A Shift in How Private Employers Approach DEI?

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,... on 8/10/2023

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

Reviewing Workplace DEI Practices in Light of Students for Fair Admissions Ruling

Butler Snow LLP on 8/7/2023

On June 29, 2023, the United States Supreme Court found affirmative action in the college admissions programs of two well-known universities to be unconstitutional. Despite the opinion only addressing two specific college...more

Republican and Democratic AGs Write Opposing Letters to Fortune 100 on DEI Programs

Cozen O'Connor on 7/21/2023

A group of 13 Republican AGs announced that they had sent a letter to every company on the Fortune 100 list warning that certain workplace diversity policies could be unlawful in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent...more

What Does Affirmative Action’s Death Knell Mean for Employers?

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP on 7/13/2023

At the end of June, the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President & Fellows Of Harvard College, Nos. 20-1199 & 21-707, 2023 WL 4239254 (U.S. June 29, 2023), outlawed race-based...more

Federal Contractors and Employers with DEI Initiatives: Three Takeaways from SCOTUS Decision Striking Down Racial Preferences

Husch Blackwell LLP on 7/12/2023

On June 29, 2023, in a 6-3 decision authored by Chief Justice Roberts, Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, the U.S. Supreme Court (“Court” or “Supreme Court”) held that college and...more

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