On October 8, 2025, California adopted SB 642, which amends both California’s equal pay law and its pay transparency law. According to the legislative history, SB 642 “continues efforts to strengthen California’s Equal Pay...more
10/16/2025
/ California ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Equal Pay ,
Job Ads ,
Labor Reform ,
New Legislation ,
Pay Transparency ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
Introduction -
Class and representative actions, by their nature, have always been complex. Recent trends in employment litigation, driven largely by changing legislation and the lasting effects of the #MeToo and...more
10/1/2025
/ Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Disparate Impact ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Equal Pay ,
Expert Witness ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Wage and Hour
On July 30, 2025, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) issued guidance to recipients of federal funds that reiterates the Trump Administration’s view that federal antidiscrimination laws apply to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion...more
9/5/2025
/ Affirmative Action ,
Civil Investigation Demand ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Deregulation ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Executive Orders ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Funding ,
OFCCP ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Trump Administration ,
Whistleblowers
California is the latest mover in a world of evolving AI regulation, amending the Fair Employment and Housing Act’s (FEHA) regulatory framework to address the use of artificial intelligence in employment-related decisions....more
8/13/2025
/ Automated Decision Systems (ADS) ,
Bias ,
California ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Discrimination ,
New Regulations ,
Non-Discrimination Rules ,
Popular ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
State Labor Laws
On February 21, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland entered a preliminary injunction blocking the enforcement of important aspects of two Executive Orders: “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI...more
On January 21, 2025, the Trump Administration issued Executive Order 14173 focused on diversity, equity and inclusion (“DEI”) programs and their use in the public and private sectors. This Executive Order links compliance...more
Employers can expect a number of employment law changes under Donald Trump’s second term. While certainly difficult to predict, below is a guide to key anticipated changes, including leadership changes at federal agencies,...more
1/13/2025
/ Affirmative Action ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Independent Contractors ,
NLRB ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
OFCCP ,
Trump Administration
Within weeks of the Supreme Court’s decision striking down affirmative action in college admissions last year, Republican attorneys general for 13 states sent a letter to Fortune 100 CEOs condemning their DEI initiatives in...more
The U. S. Supreme Court has clarified that a plaintiff must show harm in addition to improper discriminatory intent when bringing a change-of-terms-or-conditions-of-employment claim under Title VII’s anti-discrimination...more
The federal government has revised the racial and ethnic categories that apply to data collection efforts across federal agencies, including the EEO-1 survey administered by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)...more
Earlier this month, The Walt Disney Company (“Disney”) became the latest company to face simultaneous allegations that they discriminate both against and in favor of women. On February 14, 2024, America First Legal Foundation...more
The California Supreme Court has determined that trial courts lack the authority to strike claims brought under California’s Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) on the grounds that trying them would be unmanageable....more
In June of 2023, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled on the use of affirmative action in higher education admission, leading to increased confusion among employers on how to create and implement legally compliant...more
8/24/2023
/ Affirmative Action ,
College Admissions ,
Diversity ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Protection ,
Fourteenth Amendment ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Race Discrimination ,
SCOTUS ,
Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard College ,
Students for Fair Admissions v University of North Carolina ,
Webinars
On November 5, 2021, the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) officially published the much-anticipated Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) for employers with 100 or more employees. Under the ETS, covered...more
11/10/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Employees ,
Infectious Diseases ,
OSHA ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
On September 24, 2021, the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force issued guidance on President Biden’s Executive Order on Ensuring Adequate COVID Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors. The Task Force guidance provides details...more
This month, OFCCP officially rescinded a Notice from nearly two years ago, which stated that it would not “request, accept, or use Component 2 data” that the EEOC collected with the 2017 and 2018 EEO-1 reports....more
9/17/2021
/ Data Collection ,
EEO-1 ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Equal Pay ,
Federal Contractors ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
Pay Data ,
Pay Discrimination ,
Pay Gap ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Wage and Hour
On September 9, 2021, President Biden signed two executive orders in support of his COVID-19 Action Plan. The first is an Executive Order requiring the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force to issue guidance mandating certain...more
9/15/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Employees ,
Infectious Diseases ,
OSHA ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
Employers face increasing demands and pressure to ensure and declare equitable pay for employees, not only from within their own workforces, but also from clients, customers, and government leaders. While states continue...more
As COVID-19 vaccination programs gain speed across the country, and employers consider long-term reopening plans, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has announced that starting April 26, 2021, it will begin...more
California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing (“DFEH”) has issued new guidance on the pay data reporting law enacted in September that established at the state level the equivalent of the EEOC’s discontinued EEO-1...more
On November 5, 2020, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (“OFCCP”) issued a final rule defining the evidentiary standards it will use for proving discrimination claims by federal contractors, revising the...more
With the Georgia Senate race and control of the Senate hanging in the balance, a Biden Administration’s ability to enact new employment-related legislation is questionable. However, with the stroke of a pen, a Biden...more
On October 21, 2020, OFCCP released a highly anticipated Request for Information (“RFI”) seeking information from federal contractors, federal subcontractors, and employees of federal contractors and subcontractors regarding...more
On October 7, 2020, OFCCP issued initial guidance regarding President Trump’s recent executive order prohibiting certain diversity-related training by federal contractors (“Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex...more
On September 30, 2020, California Governor Gavin Newson signed SB 973, making California the first state to require employers to submit employee pay data by race and gender. As we previously reported, SB 973 is modeled after...more