On August 14, 2023, the Biden Administration released its first guidance on how institutions of higher education may lawfully pursue efforts to recruit and admit diverse student bodies in light of the Supreme Court’s recent...more
8/21/2023
/ Affirmative Action ,
Biden Administration ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Colleges ,
Department of Education ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Educational Institutions ,
Equal Protection ,
New Guidance ,
Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard College ,
Students for Fair Admissions v University of North Carolina ,
Title VI ,
Universities
Shortly after oral arguments on the correct standard for assessing the application of mixed-purpose communications in In re Grand Jury, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed its writ of certiorari as improvidently granted.
To...more
For the first time since its 1981 opinion in United States v. Upjohn, the United States Supreme Court, in a review of the Ninth Circuit’s decision in In re Grand Jury, will examine the scope of the attorney-client privilege...more
On October 16, 2020, the Northern District of New York, in Doe v. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, enjoined Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) from applying its 2018 Sexual Misconduct Policy to a complaint concerning an...more
10/30/2020
/ Colleges ,
Educational Institutions ,
Final Rules ,
Gender-Based Violence ,
OCR ,
Pre-Suit Investigation ,
Retroactivity ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Violence Policies ,
Title IX ,
Universities
On September 22, 2020, President Trump issued a new executive order intended “to combat offensive and anti-American race and sex stereotyping.” The order aims to shape how diversity training is conducted not only within the...more
9/29/2020
/ Bias ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Colleges ,
Deregulation ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Educational Institutions ,
Employee Training ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
OFCCP ,
Race Relations ,
Sexual Stereotyping ,
Title VII ,
Trump Administration ,
Universities
As the #MeToo movement gains momentum, companies in nearly every major industry are dealing with allegations of gender discrimination, sexual harassment or even sexual assault—including allegations of widespread misconduct...more
On February 28, 2018, the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Civil Rights Division announced a new Sexual Harassment in the Workplace Initiative (SHWI) that will focus on combating workplace sexual harassment in the public sector....more
A memorandum obtained by ProPublica, if authentic, sets forth substantially revised guidance for civil rights investigations conducted by the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR). The memorandum,...more
Campuses across the country are wrestling with how free speech, tolerance, diversity and politics mix in a higher education environment. Recently, the Oversight Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee examined the...more
The US Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights (OCR), recently confirmed that transgender students are protected from sex-based discrimination under Title IX and found that a public school district violated Title IX...more
While the nation’s attention has been focused on incidents involving the use of lethal force by local police—and ensuing racial and community unrest, protest, and violence—recent incidents involving campus police highlight...more
On April 2, the Department of Justice entered into a settlement agreement with edX, a major online college course provider, over alleged violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) related to the accessibility of...more