On May 19, 2025, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche issued a memorandum, Deputy Attorney General Blanche Memo: Civil Rights Fraud Initiative, announcing an initiative to “utilize the False Claims Act to investigate and, as...more
On March 27, 2025, a judge for the Northern District of Illinois granted a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the DEI Certification and Termination Provisions authorized by President Trump’s Executive Orders 14151 and...more
On March 24, 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor announced Catherine Eschbach1 as the new director of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP). In its announcement, Director Eschbach expressed that she is...more
On March 14, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order ending the obligation to pay individuals working on or in connection with certain federal contracts or subcontracts a minimum wage currently set at $17.75 per hour....more
On March 14, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit lifted the nationwide injunction on President Trump's executive orders targeting inclusion, equity, and diversity (IE&D) programs, allowing enforcement while...more
On February 21, a federal district court judge issued a preliminary injunction against several elements of Trump’s executive orders regarding DEI or DEIA. The reach of this preliminary injunction goes beyond the plaintiffs in...more
2/24/2025
/ Civil Rights Act ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Fifth Amendment ,
First Amendment ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Trump Administration
On January 24, 2025, Acting Secretary of Labor Vincent Micone, III issued an order to all Department of Labor employees, including employees of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, Office of Administrative Law...more
On January 21, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order titled, “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity.” The order is targeted at what the president describes as “illegal” diversity,...more
1/23/2025
/ Affirmative Action ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Discrimination ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Policies ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
OFCCP ,
Trump Administration
On December 22, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issued a nationwide preliminary injunction banning the enforcement of Executive Order 13950, which seeks to prohibit purported...more
12/24/2020
/ Bias ,
Deregulation ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Due Process ,
Employee Training ,
Federal Contractors ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
LGBTQ ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Sexual Stereotyping ,
Trump Administration
Although the 2020 presidential election is technically behind us, razor-thin and contested elections for the presidency and Congress remain, potentially drawing out the uncertainty through the new year. As of the date of...more
11/9/2020
/ Equal Pay ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Independent Contractors ,
Joe Biden ,
Joint Employers ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
LGBTQ ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Trump Administration ,
Wage and Hour
On October 21, 2020, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance released a Request for Information (RFI) relating to federal contractor and subcontractor training, and the recently issued Executive Order 13950. That order,...more
10/22/2020
/ Bias ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Deregulation ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employee Training ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
OFCCP ,
Race Relations ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Request For Information ,
Sexual Stereotyping ,
Title VII ,
Trump Administration
On October 7, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) released Frequently Asked Questions under the recent Executive Order 13950 regarding diversity and inclusion programs...more
10/8/2020
/ Bias ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Deregulation ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employee Training ,
Enforcement Guidance ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
OFCCP ,
Race Relations ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Sexual Stereotyping ,
Title VII ,
Trump Administration
On September 22, 2020, the White House released a new executive order, On Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping. Among other things, the order instructs government contracting agencies to add provisions to government contracts...more
9/24/2020
/ Bias ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Deregulation ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employee Training ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Race Relations ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Title VII ,
Trump Administration
Craig Leen’s performance as OFCCP’s director has generally received high marks from the federal contractor community. Although the agency under Director Leen became much more aggressive with regard to some of its enforcement...more
On August 10, 2018, Craig Leen, Acting Director of the Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), issued a new directive, 2018-03...more
On March 27, 2017, President Trump signed a joint resolution of disapproval (H.J. Res. 37) to block the rule implementing Executive Order 13,673, Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces, otherwise known as the "blacklisting" rule. The...more