#WorkforceWednesday: The Ripple Effect of the Supreme Court’s SFFA Ruling for Diversity in the Workplace - Employment Law This Week®
Business Better Podcast Episode: Is DEI at Risk? Considerations on the US Supreme Court Ruling Against Affirmative Action Programs
Following President Donald Trump’s issuance in January 2025 of the “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity” executive order, which sought to curb “illegal” diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI)...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
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
On May 19, 2025, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche issued a memorandum (the “Memorandum”) establishing the Department of Justice’s “Civil Rights Fraud Initiative” (the “Initiative”). The program “will utilize the False...more
On April 23, President Trump issued an executive order, "Restoring Equality of Opportunity and Meritocracy" (EO), intending to abolish a longstanding liability theory for workplace discrimination claims. Emphasizing the need...more
On April 23, 2025, President Donald J. Trump signed Executive Order 14281, Restoring Equality of Opportunity and Meritocracy (the “EO”), which aims to eliminate disparate impact as a theory of liability for unlawful...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
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
On March 7, 2025, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced that it would begin investigating four medical schools and hospitals pursuant to President Donald Trump’s...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
On January 29, 2025, President Donald J. Trump issued an executive order (EO) titled “Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism,” escalating federal efforts to address antisemitism within institutions of higher education. A...more
On January 29, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order combatting antisemitism in the United States. The executive order required the Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) “immediate action…to protect law and order, quell...more
On January 29, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order titled “Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism.” In a fact sheet issued on January 30, 2025, the White House stated that the Order “takes forceful and...more
Addressing so-called “environmental justice” (EJ) issues was a major focus for the Biden Administration from the time it took office. But, as we prepare for a new administration, the Biden Administration’s primacy in...more
On August 22, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana permanently blocked the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Justice from implement Civil Rights Act Title VI...more
A hallmark of the Biden Administration’s approach to environmental justice has been using preexisting authorities to advance its agenda, none more so than Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. That approach now faces several...more
Attorneys General from 23 states have filed a petition for rulemaking with the Environmental Protection Agency demanding the agency stop using Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 when regulating pollution. The petition,...more
Louisiana remains at the forefront of environmental justice activity. In just four days from January 19 to January 23, 2024, two courts in Louisiana offered interpretations to environmental justice efforts in the State of...more
At the end of January, a federal judge issued a ruling in a high-profile environmental justice case, Louisiana v. EPA, brought by Louisiana against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Justice...more