On April 3, 2025, a group of former U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) officials issued a statement defending specific employer diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in response to technical...more
On January 6, 2025, in the wake of the issuance of guidance by the New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL) about the New York State Paid Prenatal Leave Law, which came into effect on January 1, 2025, the New York City...more
On January 9, 2024, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights (DCR) issued a thirteen-page “Guidance on Algorithmic Discrimination and the New Jersey Law Against...more
1/22/2025
/ Algorithms ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
New Guidance ,
NJLAD ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Title VII
On September 26, 2024, New York City published updated frequently asked questions (FAQs) for the New York City Earned Safe and Sick Time Act (ESSTA) in light of the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection’s...more
1/17/2025
/ Amended Rules ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Rights ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Local Ordinance ,
Paid Leave ,
Private Right of Action ,
Safe Leave ,
Sick Leave ,
State Labor Laws ,
Telecommuting
A federal circuit court recently vacated a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) order approving Nasdaq’s diversity rule for boards of directors of public companies....more
12/31/2024
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Board of Directors ,
Corporate Governance ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Minorities ,
Nasdaq ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Vacated ,
Woman Board Members
Employers with workers in New York State may want to start preparing now for several new rules that will take effect on January 1, 2025. Most of them are likely to impact employers’ bottom lines....more
On November 4, 2024, New York City Mayor Eric Adams signed legislation to ensure hotel safety that will mandate a comprehensive licensing system for hotels to operate in New York City, implement several consumer safety...more
New York City employees may soon be entitled to take sick leave to care for their pets if a newly introduced bill is passed by the city council....more
On June 24, 2024, the Legislature of the Virgin Islands overrode Governor Albert Bryan Jr.’s veto of the Fair Chance for Employment Act. The act is intended to prohibit the automatic disqualification of applicants based upon...more
10/28/2024
/ Background Checks ,
Compliance ,
Congressional Override ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Criminal Records ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Exceptions ,
Fair Chance Act ,
Governor Vetoes ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Law Enforcement ,
Virgin Islands
In an era when artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming the workplace, Illinois has joined the growing list of states taking legislative action to further regulate the use of AI in employment settings, which...more
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that under the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021 (EFAA), a hostile work environment “accrues” for purposes of the EFAA each time a...more
8/19/2024
/ Amended Legislation ,
Arbitration ,
Biden Administration ,
Dispute Resolution ,
Effective Date ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Hostile Environment ,
New Legislation ,
Retaliation ,
Retroactive Application ,
Sexual Harassment
On July 25, 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) notified the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit that at least part of the basis for the currently pending legal attack on the Nasdaq’s proposed...more
8/14/2024
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Board of Directors ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Corporate Governance ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Judicial Review ,
Nasdaq ,
Pending Litigation ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Securities Exchange Act
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit will likely weigh in soon on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) approval of Nasdaq’s board diversity rule that will require listed companies to disclose...more
7/17/2024
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Board of Directors ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
En Banc Review ,
First Amendment ,
Fourteenth Amendment ,
Listing Rules ,
Nasdaq ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act
On March 4, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit struck down a part of a politically charged Florida law known as the “Stop WOKE Act” that sought to restrict workplace training on certain diversity,...more
3/15/2024
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Free Speech ,
New Legislation ,
Racial Bias ,
Stop Woke Act ,
Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard College ,
Title VII
The National Football League’s (NFL) “Rooney Rule,” which requires teams to consider minority candidates when filling certain coaching vacancies, has been considered a model for diverse slate hiring policies, but it is now in...more
3/1/2024
/ Athletes ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Coaches ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Football ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Minorities ,
NFL ,
Recruitment Policies ,
SCOTUS ,
Sports ,
Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard College ,
Title VII
With high-profile challenges to employer diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and “reverse discrimination” claims on the rise, a case reinforcing the circuit split over whether plaintiffs from a “majority” group...more
1/4/2024
/ Appellate Courts ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Evidence ,
Evidentiary Standards ,
Reverse Discrimination ,
Sexual Orientation ,
Title VII
New York Governor Kathy Hochul recently signed into law the “Freelance Isn’t Free Act,” which will provide protections for freelance workers, mirroring those already provided in New York City....more
This article is the second part of Ogletree Deakins’ series, “DEI Under Scrutiny,” which examines the evolving employment law landscape for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in the United States. Part one of...more
On September 6, 2023, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed a law that prohibits employers from requiring employees to attend employer-sponsored meetings the “primary purpose” of which is to communicate the employer’s...more
Under a recently introduced bill, employers across New York State could face new restrictions on the electronic surveillance of workers and the growing use of automated decision-making and artificial intelligence (AI)...more
On June 29, 2023, the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) issued new guidance on the enforcement of the city’s law regulating the use of automated employment decision tools (AEDTs) ahead of the...more
7/5/2023
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Audits ,
Automation Systems ,
Bias ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disparate Impact ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Final Rules ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
New Guidance ,
Notice Requirements
Consideration of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues is becoming increasingly important for companies when conducting business and in dealings with investors and employees. The increased emphasis on ESG poses...more
4/24/2023
/ Climate Change ,
Commuting ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Investors ,
Retirement Plan ,
Sustainability ,
Sustainable Business Practices
On April 11, 2023, the New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL) finalized updates to the state’s “Sexual Harassment Model Policy” that provides employers a template to aid their compliance with New York State laws...more
4/18/2023
/ Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Model Rules ,
Online Platforms ,
Remote Working ,
Retaliation ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State Labor Laws
On April 6, 2023, the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) adopted highly anticipated final rules implementing the city’s law regulating the use of automated employment decision tools (AEDT) tools...more
On January 31, 2023, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) held a public hearing, titled, “Navigating Employment Discrimination in AI and Automated Systems: A New Civil Rights Frontier,” to receive panelist...more
2/3/2023
/ ADEA ,
Age Discrimination ,
Algorithms ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Analytics ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Automation Systems ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Comment Period ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
NPRM ,
Public Hearing ,
Screening Procedures ,
Title VII