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First Amendment › Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) › Diversity

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the government from making laws respecting the establishment of religion, prohibiting the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech... more +
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the government from making laws respecting the establishment of religion, prohibiting the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech or the press, preventing citizens from peacefully assembling, or interfering with citizens' ability to petition the government for redress of their grievances. The First Amendment is one of the most sacred aspects of the American legal tradition and has spawned a vast body of jurisprudence and commentary. less -
Saul Ewing LLP

Harvard University Sues Trump Administration Over Federal Funding Freeze

Saul Ewing LLP on

Harvard University has filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration’s decision to freeze more than $2 billion in federal grants and contracts benefitting Harvard. The funding freeze came after Harvard refused a list...more

Fenwick & West LLP

Appeals Court Lifts Injunction on Trump Administration’s DEI Executive Orders

Fenwick & West LLP on

On March 14, 2025, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit lifted a lower court’s preliminary injunction blocking key provisions of President Donald Trump’s executive orders aimed at ending...more

Adler Pollock & Sheehan P.C.

Guidance on DEI for Federal Contractors and Grant Recipients

Adler Pollock & Sheehan P.C. on

Many federal contractors and grant recipients are seeking guidance regarding Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (“DEI”) in the wake of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals upholding President Trump’s Executive Orders on DEI (“DEI...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

South Carolina House and Senate Introduce Legislation on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,... on

State legislators have introduced bills in the South Carolina House of Representatives and South Carolina Senate to amend Title 1, Chapter 1 of the South Carolina Code by adding sections addressing diversity, equity, and...more

Snell & Wilmer

Federal Court Blocks DEI Executive Orders Nationwide

Snell & Wilmer on

Last week, a federal court in Maryland issued a memorandum opinion and a nationwide preliminary injunction preventing enforcement of certain provisions of President Donald Trump’s Executive Orders related to diversity,...more

Fenwick & West LLP

Judge Blocks Trump Administration’s Efforts to Eliminate DEI Programs; Government Appeals

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On February 3, 2025, the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education, the American Association of University Professors, Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, and the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore...more

Holland & Knight LLP

DEI Revived? Judge Issues Nationwide Injunction Against DEI-Based Executive Orders

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"Vague laws invite arbitrary power," U.S. District Judge Adam Abelson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland said in a ruling temporarily barring the Trump Administration from implementing parts of its...more

Hinckley Allen

What Now with DEI? Federal Court Declares Certain Provisions of Trump’s DEI Executive Orders Unconstitutional

Hinckley Allen on

On January 20 and 21, 2025, President Trump declared “DEI” to be henceforth “illegal” and issued two executive orders aimed at eliminating DEI programs – leaving employers in the private and public sectors to wonder – what...more

Paul Hastings LLP

Maryland District Court Enjoins Portions of Anti-DEI Executive Order: What Does This Mean?

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On February 21, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland preliminarily enjoined certain aspects of Executive Order No. 14173, President Donald Trump’s “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based...more

Epstein Becker & Green

Anti-DEI Executive Orders Enjoined: Implications for Federal Funding Recipients and Private Employers

Epstein Becker & Green on

On Friday, February 21, 2025, a federal judge issued a Preliminary Injunction in National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education, et al. v. Trump, blocking significant portions of two Executive Orders (EOs)...more

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

Federal Court Issues Preliminary Injunction against Anti-DEI Executive Orders

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP on

Despite court ruling, educational institutions face continuing enforcement uncertainty pursuant to the February 14 “Dear Colleague Letter” issued by the Department of Education - On February 21, 2025, a federal court in...more

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

Court blocks portions of Trump’s DEI Executive Orders

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The first challenge to President Trump’s Executive Orders targeting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the private sector has resulted in a preliminary injunction. As we previously reported, several organizations filed a...more

Blank Rome LLP

Preliminary Injunction Granted Related to DEI-Related Executive Orders—Takeaways for Government Contractors

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In the four weeks since President Trump issued Executive Order (“EO”) 14151 (“Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing”) and EO 14173 (“Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based...more

Berkshire

Trump Administration Sued A Second Time Over DEI-Related Executive Orders

Berkshire on

The Legal Defense Fund (LDF) and Lambda Legal has filed a federal lawsuit in the District of Columbia alleging that several of President Trump’s executive orders regarding “DEI” violate the Free Speech and Equal Protection...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

DEI at Stake: Federal Groups Challenge Trump’s Efforts to Curb Inclusivity

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,... on

The Trump administration is facing a new legal challenge to President Donald Trump’s executive orders (EOs) to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and initiatives after a group of diversity officers,...more

Perkins Coie

Lawsuit Challenges Trump DEI Executive Orders

Perkins Coie on

On February 3, 2025, the city of Baltimore and three organizations filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland opposing the recent Trump administration executive orders (EO) focused on eliminating...more

Poyner Spruill LLP

Eleventh Circuit Decision Generates Further Concern in Diversity Initiatives

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On Monday, June 3, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit held that a contest providing venture-capital funding to only Black women was substantially likely to violate section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of...more

WilmerHale

Eleventh Circuit Temporarily Blocks Fearless Fund Grant Program For Black Women-Owned Businesses

WilmerHale on

On June 3, 2024, the Eleventh Circuit authorized a preliminary injunction in American Alliance for Equal Rights v. Fearless Fund Management, LLC et al., ruling that a grant contest that awards funding and mentorship...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

DEI Under Scrutiny, Part X: Eleventh Circuit Blocks Venture Capital Fund’s Grant Contest for Black Women-Owned Businesses

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,... on

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

Fisher Phillips

Florida’s “Stop WOKE” Act Struck Down on Appeal: What Employers Need to Know

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A recent federal appeals court decision likely puts an end to a two-year battle impacting Florida employers and their workplace diversity, equity, and inclusion training. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on March...more

Proskauer - Corporate Defense and Disputes

Eleventh Circuit Affirms Injunction Against Florida Statute Concerning Mandatory Diversity Training

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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed an injunction against enforcement of portions of Florida’s “anti-woke” law, which prohibits employers from requiring employees to attend training sessions or other...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

New Year Promises Challenges to Employer DEI Programs

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January 1 marked the effective date for a number of new state laws that attempt to restrict certain employers’ use of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs. State legislatures are restricted under the First...more

BCLP

Fifth Circuit Panel Upholds Nasdaq Board Diversity Disclosure Rules

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A Fifth Circuit panel recently upheld Nasdaq’s diversity disclosure rules after petitioners challenged them under the First and Fourteenth Amendments and the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). Alliance For Fair Board...more

Jenner & Block

Client Alert: State Legislators Target Diversity Statements in Latest Effort to Dismantle DEI Initiatives

Jenner & Block on

As a growing number of state legislatures across the country advance anti-DEI initiatives before the end of their respective legislative sessions, diversity statements are in the crosshairs. Diversity statements began...more

Allen Matkins

California Bill Would Require Some Advisers To Venture Capital Firms To File Diversity Reports, But What About Preemption?

Allen Matkins on

As I discussed in this post from earlier this month, SB 54 would have required institutional investors, securities and real estate brokers, and others to report diversity status of startup founding teams.  The bill has since...more

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