On May 15, 2025, a District Court struck portions of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (“EEOC”) 2024 guidance pertaining to sexual orientation and gender identity under Title VII....more
On March 19, 2025, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) and the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) issued a joint press release announcing the release of two technical assistance documents designed to...more
3/24/2025
/ Civil Rights Act ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Discrimination ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Hostile Environment ,
Joint Policy Statements ,
Race Discrimination ,
Retaliation ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Title VII
Last week, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (the “Department”) announced that it has initiated two sets of investigations against dozens of universities for alleged violations of Title VI....more
3/18/2025
/ Civil Rights Act ,
Colleges ,
Department of Education ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Government Investigations ,
Harassment ,
Investigations ,
OCR ,
Race Discrimination ,
Title VI ,
Universities
Following its February 14, 2025, “Dear Colleague Letter,”outlining DEI programs that could result in a loss of federal funding by February 28, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights (the “Department”)...more
3/5/2025
/ Civil Rights Act ,
Dear Colleague Letter ,
Department of Education ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Educational Institutions ,
Equal Protection ,
Federal Funding ,
OCR ,
Race Discrimination ,
Title VI ,
Universities
In a widely expected move, Acting National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) General Counsel William Cohen rescinded a range of Biden Administration labor-law policies, including high-profile directives that targeted...more
2/21/2025
/ Biden Administration ,
Deregulation ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Rescission ,
Trump Administration ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Unions
On February 14, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights (the “Department”) issued a “Dear Colleague Letter” to “clarify and reaffirm” that schools, colleges and universities receiving “federal financial...more
2/20/2025
/ Civil Rights Act ,
Colleges ,
Dear Colleague Letter ,
Department of Education ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Funding ,
OCR ,
Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard College ,
Students for Fair Admissions v University of North Carolina ,
Trump Administration ,
Universities
On November 15, 2024, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas overturned a 2024 rule that raised the salary threshold for workers to qualify for an exemption under the Fair Labor Standards Act...more
11/22/2024
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Final Rules ,
Highly Compensated Employees ,
Minimum Salary ,
Over-Time ,
Salaried Employees ,
Threshold Requirements ,
Vacated ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
Employers with Federal contracts have experienced unique challenges in the past few years—from navigating the Federal contractor vaccine mandate to new rules related to sick leave and time off. One of the most significant...more
11/21/2024
/ Biden Administration ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Davis-Bacon Act ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Procurement Systems ,
Federal Property and Administrative Services Act (FPASA) ,
Final Rules ,
Minimum Wage ,
Obama Administration ,
OFCCP ,
Prevailing Wages ,
Service Contract Act ,
Split of Authority ,
Trump Administration ,
Wage and Hour
Following a landmark NLRB ruling last year, the answer is yes. For the last several decades, the process for union recognition of an employer’s workforce was largely unchanged....more
It is common knowledge that employers have a vested interest in the confidentiality and discretion of their employees, especially in emerging or sensitive industries. ...more
10/15/2024
/ #MeToo ,
Confidentiality Agreements ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
New Legislation ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Popular ,
Proprietary Information ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Trade Secrets
Although employers are welcome to support their employees’ ability to meet with their union representatives, they are not required to grant nonemployee union representatives access to their property to do so....more
The Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (“PAGA”) has been increasingly criticized as harmful to employers and employees. Well-meaning organizations are forced to expend resources settling often frivolous actions rather than...more
The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) just approved a rule that would largely prohibit making or enforcing employee noncompete agreements. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and others have already sued to block the new rule. What...more
In a post-pandemic environment, more people are still working from home than ever before. In this episode, Dorsey Partners Kent Schmidt, Nisha Verma, and Heather Dillion discuss the types of claims they are seeing and issues...more
6/21/2023
As union organizing increases and covers industries not traditionally captured by unions, the landscape for employers is changing rapidly. Below are the key items employers (both union and non-union) should keep in mind for...more
Governor Newsome has signed S.B. 1162, which requires employers to make salary ranges for positions available to both applicants and employees and expands pay data reporting requirements to better identify gender and...more
9/29/2022
/ Disclosure Requirements ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Governor Newsom ,
Job Ads ,
New Legislation ,
Pay Data ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Pay Transparency ,
Race Discrimination ,
Reporting Requirements ,
State Labor Laws
Currently, under the California Family Rights Act (“CFRA”), California employers with 50 or more employees must provide 12 weeks of job protection to employees to care for a seriously ill family member or for one’s own...more
On September 9, 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 1867, which supplements both the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act and California Executive Order N-51-20, with the result of providing some form of paid...more
On April 7, 2020, several California cities and counties issued emergency orders requiring nonmedical essential workers and residents who are leaving their homes to wear face coverings. Face coverings may include cloth...more
In Kim v. Reins, the Supreme Court was faced with the following question: Do employees lose standing to pursue a PAGA claim if they settle and dismiss their individual claims for Labor Code violations? To the surprise of many...more
3/17/2020
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Employment Litigation ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Reversal ,
Settlement Offer ,
Standing ,
State Labor Laws ,
Summary Judgment
Employees must be paid for time spent on their employer’s premises waiting for, and undergoing, required searches of bags and other property voluntarily brought to work, according to the California Supreme Court’s ruling...more
On October 10, 2019, California Governor Newsom signed a bill seeking to ban employers from requiring employees or applicants to sign arbitration agreements waiving their rights under the Labor Code or the state’s...more
On October 11, 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law AB 51, which will drastically change the requirements for employers who use arbitration agreements. Specifically, the new law bans employers from requiring, as a...more
10/17/2019
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
FEHA ,
Governor Newsom ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Mandatory Arbitration ,
State Labor Laws
On September 18, 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Assembly Bill 5, which clarifies when workers should be considered “employees” under the California Labor Code and the California Unemployment Insurance Code,...more
10/9/2019
/ ABC Test ,
Affordable Care Act ,
Dynamex ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Freelance Workers ,
Governor Newsom ,
Health Insurance ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
New Legislation ,
Payroll Taxes ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Staffing Agencies ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
Withholding Tax
On September 18, 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Assembly Bill 5, which clarifies when workers should be considered “employees” under the California Labor Code and the California Unemployment Insurance Code,...more
9/24/2019
/ ABC Test ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Dynamex ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Governor Newsom ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Code ,
Misclassification ,
New Legislation ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour