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Category: Agency Enforcement

EEOC Signals It Won’t Pursue Claims of Gender Identity Discrimination

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has moved to dismiss six lawsuits that it filed last year alleging gender identity discrimination against employers. Last week, the EEOC and Harmony Hospitality jointly moved to dismiss the EEOC’s case against Harmony Hospitality, which alleged that Harmony violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act by firing an employee after learning of the employee’s...
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Category: Affirmative Action and Diversity

Enforcement of E.O. 14173 Begins

The Trump Administration has wasted no time in beginning to enforce Executive Order 14173, which instructs all federal agencies to enforce civil rights laws and combat illegal private sector diversity, equity, and inclusion activities. The Federal Communications Commission has launched an investigation into the DEI practices of Comcast Corporation and NBCUniversal. The FCC selected Comcast for review because of “substantial...
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Category: Agency Enforcement

Michael Schloss Appointed as OFCCP’s Deputy Director of Policy and Acting Director

The Trump Administration has appointed Michael Schloss as the Deputy Director of Policy and Acting Director at the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP). Mr. Schloss is an ERISA attorney who previously served as a career official at the Labor Department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA). He retired in January 2023 as EBSA’s Director of Enforcement. He rejoined EBSA...
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Category: Agency Enforcement

Trump Administration Sets Its Sights on Immigration Policy Reform

The Trump Administration is cracking down on illegal immigration and is eager to enforce immigration policies and deport unauthorized individuals. President Trump issued numerous immigration-related executive orders during his first week in office. Most relate to securing the United States’ southern border and are not directed at employers or employees. However, companies are reporting raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement at...
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Category: Agency Enforcement

EEOC “Commissioner Charges” Remained Active in FY 2024

Commissioners at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission have been making above-average use of Commissioner charges to prompt discrimination investigations, according to data released by the EEOC. EEOC Commissioners initiated 33 charges alleging discrimination under Title VII, the ADA, GINA, and PWFA in fiscal year 2024. Commissioner charges are discrimination charges initiated by an EEOC Commissioner. Proposals for Commissioner charges come from various...
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Category: Affirmative Action and Diversity

Acting Secretary of Labor Micone Orders OFCCP To Halt All E.O. 11246 Investigations

Acting Labor Secretary Vincent Micone has ordered DOL personnel to cease all enforcement activities under rescinded Executive Order 11246 and to pause enforcement activities under VEVRAA and Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 pending further guidance. Secretary’s Order 03-2025, issued January 24, 2025, covers “all pending cases, conciliation agreements, investigations, complaints, and any other enforcement-related or investigative activity.”...
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Category: Affirmative Action and Diversity

President Trump Rescinds Dozens of Executive Orders on First Day in Office

On his first day in office, President Trump issued an Executive Order (E.O.) rescinding more than 60 E.O.s issued by President Biden. Two of the rescinded E.O.s regulated federal contractors: E.O. 14055, which required successor contractors under the Service Contract Act (SCA) to offer jobs to a predecessor contractor’s employees; and E.O. 14069, which directed contracting agencies to consider requiring contractors to...
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Category: Affirmative Action and Diversity

President Trump Rescinds E.O. 11246

President Trump has issued a new Executive Order formally rescinding Executive Order 11246 and directing the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) to cease holding federal contractors responsible for taking affirmative action. Executive Order 11246 was signed by President Johnson in 1965, and prohibits covered federal contractors from discriminating in employment on the basis of race and sex, among...
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Category: Agency Enforcement

President Trump Designates New Leadership at Workplace Compliance Agencies

President Trump has moved quickly to install new leadership at agencies responsible for workplace compliance. He has already designated new officials at the EEOC, where he named Republican Commissioner Andrea Lucas to serve as Acting Chair, and at the NLRB, where he designated Republican Marvin Kaplan to serve as Chairman. At the Labor Department, he designated career official Vince Micone...
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Category: Agency Enforcement

President-Elect Trump Picks Former EEOC Commissioner Keith Sonderling for Deputy Secretary of Labor

President-elect Trump has announced Keith Sonderling as his choice to serve as Deputy Secretary of Labor. The Deputy Labor Secretary is DOL’s second-in-command and generally manages the department’s day-to-day operations. Sonderling served as an EEOC Commissioner from September 2020 until August 2024. Before that, he served as Acting Administrator of DOL’s Wage and Hour Division. President Trump will have to...

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