On May 20, 2025, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) opened the platform for employers to submit EEO-1 reports. In doing so, EEOC Acting Director Andrea Lucas warned employers not to use the data to take...more
On April 15, 2025, a group of former U.S. Department of Labor officials issued an “open letter” urging federal contractors to continue voluntary diversity practices, including conducting self-assessments, despite the Trump...more
4/16/2025
/ Affirmative Action ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Non-Discrimination Rules ,
OFCCP ,
Title VII ,
Trump Administration
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 March 27, 2025, a federal judge for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois temporarily blocked the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) from enforcing portions of two provisions in President Donald Trump’s...more
On March 24, 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor announced the appointment of Catherine Eschbach as director of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), signaling a new chapter for the agency following the...more
On March 14, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit granted the government’s request to stay a Maryland federal judge’s nationwide preliminary injunction that had blocked key portions of the president’s...more
On March 10, 2025, a federal judge in Maryland clarified the scope of the nationwide preliminary injunction that enjoins key portions of two of President Donald Trump’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)–related executive...more
On March 3, 2025, a federal judge in Maryland refused to halt a preliminary injunction blocking key parts of two of President Donald Trump’s executive orders (EO) seeking to eliminate “illegal” diversity, equity, and...more
3/4/2025
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Due Process ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Executive Orders ,
Fifth Amendment ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Motion To Stay ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Trump Administration
While the Trump administration appeals a recent federal court ruling that blocked enforcement of key parts of two executive orders (EO) to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and initiatives, the...more
A federal judge in Maryland has preliminarily blocked the Trump administration from enforcing key provisions of the recent executive orders (EO) to eliminate “illegal” diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and...more
2/24/2025
/ Civil Rights Act ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Private Sector ,
Trump Administration
Executive Order (EO) 14173 “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity” creates new obligations that could carry significant risks for any organization doing business with the United States federal...more
2/13/2025
/ Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
OFCCP ,
Subcontractors ,
Whistleblowers
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit blocked a contest by a venture capital fund that provided grants and other benefits to black women-owned businesses, finding the contest is likely to unlawfully discriminate...more
6/10/2024
/ Article III ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
First Amendment ,
Grants ,
Minority-Owned Businesses ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Race Discrimination ,
Standing ,
Title VII ,
Venture Capital ,
Women-Owned Businesses
On March 28, 2024, the White House unveiled revisions to the federal statistical standards for race and ethnicity data collection for federal agencies, adding a new category and requiring a combined race and ethnicity...more
4/1/2024
/ Biden Administration ,
Comment Period ,
Compliance ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Ethnicity ,
Native American Issues ,
OFCCP ,
OMB ,
Public Agencies ,
Public Employees ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard College ,
Tribal Employees
Alabama has joined the growing list of states passing laws banning diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in public institutions. On March 20, 2024, Governor Kay Ivey signed into law Senate Bill (SB) No. 129, a...more
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 Supreme Court of the United States declined to review a case alleging that facially race-neutral admissions criteria at a selective Virginia public high school were unlawfully intended to strike a racial balance, leaving...more
2/23/2024
/ Admissions ,
Affirmative Action ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Educational Institutions ,
Equal Protection ,
Legal History ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
Public Schools ,
Racial Bias ,
SCOTUS ,
Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard College
During recent oral arguments in a case that could shift the balance in employment discrimination cases and impact employer diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives,...more
This article is the first 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....more
12/1/2023
/ Affirmative Action ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Discrimination ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employment Policies ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Contractors ,
OFCCP ,
Risk Assessment ,
Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard College ,
Students for Fair Admissions v University of North Carolina ,
Title VII
The Supreme Court of the United States’ recent decision to strike down affirmative action admissions policies in higher education is having significant indirect consequences for private employers and their diversity, equity,...more
8/10/2023
/ Affirmative Action ,
Civil Rights Act ,
College Admissions ,
Department of Education ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Equal Protection ,
Fourteenth Amendment ,
Hiring & Firing ,
SCOTUS ,
State Attorneys General ,
Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard College ,
Title VII
On June 29, 2023, the Supreme Court of the United States struck down affirmative action in college admissions, leaving employers to wrestle with the implications of the decision for various diversity, equity, and inclusion...more
7/21/2023
/ Affirmative Action ,
Civil Rights Act ,
College Admissions ,
Comment Period ,
Disparate Impact ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
EEO-1 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Policies ,
Ethnicity ,
Hiring & Firing ,
OMB ,
Race Discrimination ,
SCOTUS ,
Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard College ,
Students for Fair Admissions v University of North Carolina ,
Working Groups
The White House recently launched an effort to revise and update the statistical standards for race and ethnicity data collection across federal agencies with a stated goal of better reflecting the growing diversity of people...more
2/15/2023
/ Affirmative Action ,
Biden Administration ,
Comment Period ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
EEO-1 ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
OMB ,
Public Agencies ,
Public Employees ,
Statistical Analysis
Here are the latest developments from the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP).
New OFCCP Director. Jenny Yang, formerly of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity...more