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First Amendment › Race Discrimination

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the government from making laws respecting the establishment of religion, prohibiting the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech... more +
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the government from making laws respecting the establishment of religion, prohibiting the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech or the press, preventing citizens from peacefully assembling, or interfering with citizens' ability to petition the government for redress of their grievances. The First Amendment is one of the most sacred aspects of the American legal tradition and has spawned a vast body of jurisprudence and commentary. less -
Goodwin

Judge Denies Joint Motion to Vacate CFPB Settlement with a Chicago-Based Non-Bank Lender

Goodwin on

An Illinois federal district court judge presiding over a revived redlining case denied a joint motion to vacate a 2024 voluntary settlement between the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and a Chicago-based non-bank...more

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

New Administration Outlook: Trump's DOE Letters and Colleges' First Amendment Defenses Against Pretextual Title VI Threats

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP on

Anti-discrimination statutes protect against "deliberate indifference" to conditions establishing a hostile environment of antisemitic violence and harassment. But those statutes cannot be used to censor legitimate speech...more

Holland & Knight LLP

DEI in Flux: Fourth Circuit's Decision Resuscitates DEI Executive Orders

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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued an order on March 14, 2025, lifting the nationwide injunction on President Donald Trump's executive orders (EOs) targeting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI)...more

Ballard Spahr LLP

Federal Court Refuses to Lift Preliminary Injunction Blocking DEI Executive Orders, While EEOC, USDOE, and State AGs Address DEI...

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Last week brought further developments related to the Trump administration’s efforts to curtail what it views as illegal diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives....more

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

DOJ Moves to Challenge Illinois Nonprofit Board Disclosure Law

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

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has been granted judicial leave to intervene in the American Alliance for Equal Rights’ (AAER) suit against the State of Illinois challenging the state’s diversity, equity, and inclusion...more

DCI Consulting

Second Challenge to Anti-DEIA Executive Orders

DCI Consulting on

The National Urban League, National Fair Housing Alliance, and AIDS Foundation of Chicago have come together to challenge a series of Executive Orders (EO) issued by President Trump including EO 14151, “Ending Radical and...more

Carlton Fields

Portions of DEI Executive Orders Blocked by Federal Judge

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President Trump’s executive orders have spurred a slew of litigation, including a lawsuit challenging two orders that focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices in the federal government and federally funded...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

OCR’s Directive on Race-Conscious Policies in Higher Education

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On February 14, the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (DOE) issued a Dear Colleague Letter (DCL), which calls for educational institutions to immediately cease race-conscious practices in student...more

Jenner & Block

Client Alert: US Department of Education Issues Dear Colleague Letter Interpreting Students for Fair Admissions: What Colleges and...

Jenner & Block on

On February 14, 2025, the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a Dear Colleague Letter about legal obligations for educational institutions under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the...more

Venable LLP

Race-Conscious Grantmaking Litigation Updates: What Nonprofits Need to Know

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The Fearless Foundation has agreed to shut down its grant program for Black women business owners, settling a lawsuit that has been closely watched by nonprofit grant makers....more

Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP

Fearless Fund Settles: Settlement Will Shape Law on Race-Based Grantmaking in Eleventh Circuit While Leaving Issue Unresolved...

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Over the last year, we have monitored a lawsuit in Georgia that alleged a hedge fund (“Fearless Fund”) violated 42 U.S.C. § 1981—the federal prohibition on racial discrimination in contracting—by operating a grant contest...more

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

Federal Court Permanently Blocks Florida Restrictions on Workplace Diversity Training

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

On July 26, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida permanently blocked Florida’s Stop WOKE Act, which restricted the types of anti-harassment and antidiscrimination training that employers can...more

Foster Swift Collins & Smith

Recommendations for DEI Programs in the Wake of Recent Federal Court Decision Findings on Diversity Initiatives

Foster Swift Collins & Smith on

On June 3rd, 2024, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision, American Alliance for Equal Rights v. Fearless Fund Management Fund, LLC, et al, that impacts considerations for how diversity, equity and inclusion...more

Littler

11th Circuit Finds Race and Gender-Based Grant Program Likely Unlawful

Littler on

On June 3, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit granted a preliminary injunction prohibiting a venture capital fund from awarding grants based on race and gender. In reversal of the district court, the...more

Baker Donelson

Court Blocks VC Firm from Issuing Grants to Black Women-Owned Businesses

Baker Donelson on

Recently, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (the Court) held in Am. All. for Equal Rts. v. Fearless Fund Mgmt., LLC (Fearless Fund) that the Fearless Strivers Grant Contest (the Contest), a startup...more

Kaufman & Canoles

K&C Sports & Entertainment Law Weekly Roundup - June 2024 #3

Kaufman & Canoles on

The U.S. Twirling Association and a coach must pay nearly $4.2 million to a baton twirler who was sexually assaulted as a minor during a sponsored international trip, a New York federal jury has found, saying the organization...more

Poyner Spruill LLP

Eleventh Circuit Decision Generates Further Concern in Diversity Initiatives

Poyner Spruill LLP on

On Monday, June 3, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit held that a contest providing venture-capital funding to only Black women was substantially likely to violate section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of...more

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

DEI Under Scrutiny, Part X: Eleventh Circuit Blocks Venture Capital Fund’s Grant Contest for Black Women-Owned Businesses

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

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit blocked a contest by a venture capital fund that provided grants and other benefits to black women-owned businesses, finding the contest is likely to unlawfully discriminate...more

Lowenstein Sandler LLP

Fearless Fund Litigation Update – What Nonprofits and Other Private Actors Should Know

Lowenstein Sandler LLP on

On June 3, 2024, a divided U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit issued a decision in American Alliance for Equal Rights v. Fearless Fund Management, LLC, No. 23-13138 (11th Cir., June 3, 2024) (“Fearless Fund”)...more

Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP

Fearless Fund Decision May Impact Race-Based Grantmaking

Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP on

On June 3, 2024, a divided three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled that an Atlanta hedge fund likely violated 42 U.S.C. § 1981—the federal prohibition on racial discrimination in...more

Mintz

Eleventh Circuit Rules Corporate Grant Contest for Black Women Is Racially Discriminatory and Violates U.S. Constitution

Mintz on

On Monday, June 3, 2024, the Eleventh Circuit of Appeals held that the “Fearless Strivers Grant Contest, an entrepreneurship funding competition open only to businesses owned by black women” was “substantially unlikely to...more

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

Court halts black-only grants program

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Chief Justice Roberts did say, "eliminating race discrimination means eliminating all of it." The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled that a grant program -- which is available only to black females...more

Proskauer Rose LLP

Broadway Ruling Puts Discrimination Claims In The Limelight

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Does the First Amendment right to free speech permit an employer to hire or fire an employee based on race? On its face, the proposition may seem absurd, especially as we approach the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act...more

Proskauer - California Employment Law

Broadway Actor’s Race Discrimination Claims Sent Back to the Underworld in the Face of Producer’s First Amendment Rights

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A federal court in New York has held that a Broadway musical’s casting decisions—specifically replacing one actor with another actor of a different race—are shielded by the First Amendment from employment discrimination...more

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

U.S. Courts of Appeals Block Two Legal Efforts to Curb DEI Initiatives

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Based on First Amendment concerns, the Eleventh Circuit has blocked enforcement of provisions in Florida’s Stop WOKE Act that would restrict mandatory trainings endorsing DEI concepts. The Second Circuit has rejected a...more

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