The FDIC is urging financial institutions it supervises to voluntarily submit self-assessments of their diversity policies and practices to the agency by Oct. 31, 2024....more
In just a month since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Chevron Deference Doctrine, district courts across the country have blocked several federal agency rules, including an injunction in Texas barring enforcement of the...more
7/30/2024
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Administrative Proceedings ,
Chevron Deference ,
Chevron v NRDC ,
Clean Air Act ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Final Rules ,
Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo ,
Natural Resources ,
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
SCOTUS ,
Statutory Interpretation
As we previously reported, here, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a Final Rule on April 23, 2024 that would prevent most employers from enforcing non-compete agreements against workers, effective September 4, 2024...more
7/15/2024
/ Competition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Labor Reform ,
Motion To Enjoin ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Restrictive Covenants
On May 17, 2024, Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed into law SB 24-205, entitled Consumer Protections for Artificial Intelligence, which will become effective on February 1, 2026. The law applies to developers and deployers...more
6/13/2024
/ Algorithms ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Bias ,
Colorado ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Collection ,
Data Protection ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Labor Reform ,
Machine Learning ,
New Legislation ,
Risk Management ,
State Labor Laws
The U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has issued its final regulations for the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), providing explanation and guidance for employers in implementing the PWFA in their workplaces and...more
6/6/2024
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Employee Rights ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Labor Reform ,
Pregnancy ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ,
Reasonable Accommodation
As we previously reported, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted to issue a final rule (the “Rule”) that would prevent most employers from enforcing noncompete agreements against workers, with only limited exceptions for...more
5/20/2024
/ Competition ,
Corporate Sales Transactions ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Labor Reform ,
Non-Compete Agreements
Last week, on April 17, 2024, the US Supreme Court unanimously held in Muldrow v. City of St. Louis, Missouri, et al., that an employee challenging a job transfer under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII)...more
4/26/2024
/ Civil Rights Act ,
Discrimination ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employee Transfers ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Lateral Transfers ,
Muldrow v City of St Louis ,
SCOTUS ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Title VII
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted to issue a final rule that would prevent most employers from enforcing noncompete agreements against workers, with only limited exceptions for existing noncompetes with senior...more
4/25/2024
/ Competition ,
Confidential Information ,
Contract Terms ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Labor Reform ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Restrictive Covenants
As long expected, the U.S. Department of Education issued amendments to Title IX regulations following the public comment period. The amended regulations—totaling 1,577 pages—make clear that sex discrimination under Title IX...more
4/24/2024
/ Amended Regulation ,
Biden Administration ,
Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Colleges ,
Department of Education ,
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ,
Employees ,
Gender Identity ,
LGBTQ ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Students ,
Title IX ,
Universities
On March 8, 2024, a Texas federal district court vacated the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “the Board”) 2023 joint employer rule (“2023 Rule), and restored the 2020 joint employer rule (“2020 Rule”)....more
3/13/2024
/ Employer Liability Issues ,
Final Rules ,
Franchises ,
Joint Employers ,
Labor Reform ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Staffing Agencies ,
Texas ,
Vacated
On Tuesday, February 27, 2024, a federal judge enjoined the enforcement of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (“PWFA”) against the state of Texas. Judge James Wesley Hendrix determined that a proxy voting rule in place during...more
2/29/2024
/ Civil Rights Act ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employees ,
Motion To Enjoin ,
Pregnancy ,
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Quorum ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
State and Local Government ,
Texas
On December 5, 2023, the Supreme Court of the United States in Acheson Hotels, LLC v. Laufer, declined to substantively address a question businesses across the country have been eager to resolve: That is, whether a “tester”...more
12/20/2023
/ Acheson Hotels LLC v Laufer ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Article III ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Mootness ,
Public Accommodation ,
SCOTUS ,
Standing ,
Statutory Violations ,
Website Accessibility ,
Websites
On December 5, 2023, the Supreme Court of the United States in Acheson Hotels, LLC v. Laufer, declined to substantively address a question businesses across the country have been eager to resolve: That is, whether a “tester”...more
12/18/2023
/ Acheson Hotels LLC v Laufer ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Article III ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Dismissals ,
Mootness ,
SCOTUS ,
Standing ,
Website Accessibility ,
Websites
In a 3-2 decision in Zilka v. Tax Review Board, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court upheld the Commonwealth Court and sided with the City of Philadelphia Department of Revenue in a case addressing whether a City resident was...more
On November 9, 2023, a coalition of business advocacy groups led by the US Chamber of Commerce filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas challenging the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”)...more
11/20/2023
/ Federal Labor Laws ,
Final Rules ,
Franchisors ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Joint Employers ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
State Labor Laws ,
Summary Judgment
Summary -
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has recently announced settlements with a number of companies whose separation agreements or internal policies the SEC viewed as impeding employees’ participation in the...more
10/5/2023
/ Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Former Employee ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Violations ,
Separation Agreement ,
Settlement ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers
On August 18, 2023, in Hamilton v. Dallas County, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed decades of precedent by broadening the standard for what constitutes an actionable adverse employment action....more
Summary -
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice (DOJ) have taken steps to update the Merger Guidelines and overhaul the premerger notification process, each with a sharpened focus on the effect a...more
In this episode, we discuss the recent US Supreme Court ruling in the Students for Fair Admissions Inc.'s lawsuits against Harvard University and the University of North Carolina, which challenged the constitutionality of...more
Summary -
The Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President & Fellows of Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. University of North Carolina (collectively SFFA), in a 6-3...more
7/6/2023
/ Affirmative Action ,
Civil Rights Act ,
College Admissions ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Educational Institutions ,
Equal Protection ,
Fourteenth Amendment ,
SCOTUS ,
Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard College ,
Students for Fair Admissions v University of North Carolina ,
Title VI ,
Title VII
The United States Department of Labor (DOL) recently issued a Field Assistance Bulletin providing guidance to field staff regarding the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (PUMP Act). ...more
On May 1, in its Lion Elastomers decision, the Board overruled Trump-era precedent (General Motors) that made it easier for employers to discipline workers for outbursts in the context of workplace activism and union-related...more
The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and three other federal agencies issued a joint statement vowing to use existing laws to protect employees and the general public from discrimination and bias...more
The focus remains on the National Labor Relations Board’s (Board or NLRB) ruling in February that asking employees to sign separation agreements with confidentiality and non-disparagement clauses is unlawful. Most recently,...more
Last month, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled that an employer violates Section 8(a)(1) of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA or Act) when the employer offers employee severance agreements with provisions...more