HHS Office for Civil Rights Director Melanie Fontes Rainer on Progress and News at OCR
ERISA Blog | Changes to the HIPAA Privacy Rules A Primer for Self-Insured Group Health Plans
Podcast - Data Privacy and Tracking Technology Compliance
Patient Data and Privacy
2022 DSIR Deeper Dive: OCR’s Right of Access Initiative
HIPAA Tips With Williams Mullen - Telehealth After the Pandemic
Relaxed HIPAA Restrictions For Providers Using Telehealth
Webinar: Investigating and Resolving Sexual Assaults on Campus
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
We reported last week that the pace of executive orders coming from the new presidential administration had begun to slow. While, overall, the rate does still appear to be slowing, this week has been a notable one....more
On January 14, 2025, the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced a resolution agreement with the University of Washington following a Title VI complaint of alleged discrimination and harassment based...more
Consequent to increasing sectarian tensions on campus, ATIXA members tell us they are seeing a rise in anonymous racist, homophobic, transphobic, Islamophobic, pro/anti-Israel messages, and other discriminatory comments...more
After a year marked by student protests on university campuses nationwide, including encampments and commencement ceremony walk-outs, universities are scrambling to prepare for students’ return to campus the upcoming Fall...more
In recent months, OCR has reached resolution agreements with a school district and two universities after investigating complaints of discrimination and harassment based on ancestry or ethnicity, including allegations...more
Colleges and universities around the country have been dealing with increasingly violent and contentious student protests in recent months. Many have had to deal with student, parent, faculty, donor, and public criticisms...more
In response to increases in discrimination complaints, the Department of Education Office of Civil Rights (OCR) issued a Dear Colleague Letter: Protecting Students from Discrimination, such as Harassment, Based on Race,...more
The Biden Administration has made concentrated efforts to address the rise in reports of antisemitic, Islamophobic, and other hate-based or bias-based incidents in schools and on college campuses since the beginning of the...more
On November 7, 2023, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) released a “Dear Colleague Letter” (DCL) that reminds schools of their Title VI obligations to provide all students with a learning environment...more
On May 1, 2023, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) released its annual report for Fiscal Year 2022. The FY 2022 report focused on civil rights complaints, proactive compliance reviews, technical assistance presentations, and...more
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) released a fact resource on October 4, 2022, reaffirming that Title IX of the Education Amendments Act protects students and employees from discrimination based...more
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has published a fact sheet that addresses key issues intersex students face in schools and provides recommendations on how schools can support intersex...more
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) has published an extended Q&A designed to support educational institutions in protecting student rights and interests within the context of both virtual and...more
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a statement yesterday reminding schools, colleges, and universities of their responsibilities to address discrimination and harassment based on race and...more
Cyberbullying is nothing new. A majority of teens have experienced the phenomenon and college campuses certainly are not immune. Just because something is common does not make it simple to deal with, however. And this is...more
Title VI Obligations- School districts have an obligation under Title VI not to discriminate on the basis of race, color or national origin. They cannot intentionally discriminate – that is, for example, treat...more
On December 11, 2019, President Donald Trump signed an executive order declaring his administration’s commitment to enforcing federal racial anti-discrimination provisions against discrimination “rooted in anti-Semitism.”...more
The Fourth Circuit broke new ground in the Title IX landscape last week, reversing a district court’s dismissal of a lawsuit in which students alleged their university violated Title IX by failing to adequately respond to...more
On May 9, 2013, the United States Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Educational Opportunities Section (“DOJ”) and the United States Department of Education, through its Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”), issued a...more