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
Since January, multiple fundamental developments have dramatically altered the Title IX landscape, signaling a seismic shift in its interpretation and enforcement. These developments include a rapidly escalating and public...more
The long-rumored plan to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) took a formal step forward on March 20, 2025, when President Trump signed an Executive Order calling for the agency’s closure. While headlines suggest...more
Many K-12 and institutes of higher education are concerned about the potential threat to their federal funding given recent changes to the way the government is interpreting existing federal law to achieve certain policy...more
On February 5, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order (EO) entitled Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports. This EO expresses strong disapproval of policies allowing transgender girls and women to participate on girls’...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Following years of back and forth, new final rules were published by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on May 6, 2024 reinstituting the Department’s interpretation that the prohibition on...more
As a quick update for our education clients, the Biden administration purportedly plans to delay the release date of the Title IX final rule on transgender athletes until after the presidential election. While the Department...more
Conscientious objection in health care is the refusal of a health care professional to provide or participate in the delivery of a legal, medically appropriate health care service to a patient because of personal beliefs. ...more
Late last week the Connecticut State Department of Education (“CSDE” or “Department”) issued new guidance addressing the rights of transgender students in Connecticut schools. Entitled Guidance on Civil Rights Protections...more
In a July 28, 2023 ruling, the Seventh Circuit has signaled that Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) seeking to enforce pronoun policies can expect to face increased scrutiny. Specifically, the Seventh Circuit vacated its...more
The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) published on April 6, 2023, a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) about sex-related criteria used to limit or deny a student's ability to participate in...more
The federal Department of Education released a notice of proposed rulemaking earlier this month addressing gender identity and participation in athletics. ...more
On April 6, 2023, the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking relating to Title IX, a federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in federally funded programs. 20 U.S.C....more
On April 6, the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) released its much-anticipated proposed Title IX rule on the eligibility of students for participation in athletic programs based on their gender identity....more
The participation of transgender athletes in youth, interscholastic, and elite sport has long been a highly charged political issue domestically and internationally, with a vast range of different approaches to regulating...more
The U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has proposed a standard that would clarify participation and equal opportunity of transgender students in school athletics....more
On April 6, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the State of West Virginia’s application to vacate an injunction imposed by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals on the State’s enforcement of its version of the “Save Women’s...more
Athletics is poised to be a major topic in Title IX this year. The participation of transgender athletes in school sports continues to dominate headlines, as we reported earlier on this blog, while gender inequity remains a...more
In neighboring states last week, the federal courts issued two decisions affirming the rights of transgender students and athletes. In Connecticut, the Second Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of a...more
Recent court and OCR decisions regarding transgender students and employees reflect widely varying responses to the Biden administration’s efforts to expand protections for LGBTQ+ individuals under federal law, including...more
On June 23, 2022, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a resolution letter (“Letter”) to Tamalpais Union School District (“the District”) upon completion of its investigation into a Title IX...more
The 50th anniversary of Title IX provides elementary, secondary, and postsecondary institutions an opportunity to reflect on the impact of and future developments stemming from the law....more
On June 22, 2021, the United States Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights (“OCR”) and the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division (“DOJ) issued a joint Fact Sheet addressed to elementary and secondary...more
In a somewhat unsurprising development, the United States Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights [OCR] has issued a new interpretation of Title IX, recognizing that it prohibits discrimination on the basis of...more
Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, or OCR, issued a Notice of Interpretation stating that Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits discrimination against LGBTQ+ students and...more