Insights

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Category: Agency Enforcement

New GAO Report Details Inconsistencies in EEOC Charge Intake Processing, Other Areas

The Government Accountability Office (GAO), the research and investigatory arm of the U.S. Congress, has released a new report looking at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC or Commission) charge intake and processing operations. And while the report ostensibly focuses on inconsistencies in the intake process, it also points out wide variations in the average time it takes the...
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Category: Affirmative Action and Diversity

EEOC To Seek Extension of EEO-1 Component 1 Data Collection With Minor Revisions

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has announced that it intends to seek approval of the Employer Information (EEO-1) “Component 1” Report and associated recordkeeping obligations, including some minor changes to the EEO-1, for the next three reporting years (2022 through 2024), as required under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). Please note that in seeking approval for a three-year...
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Category: Affirmative Action and Diversity

What Do the High Court’s University Admissions Cases Mean for Private Sector Affirmative Action?

The U.S. Supreme Court held oral arguments recently in a pair of high-profile cases involving legal challenges brought against affirmative action admissions programs at the University of North Carolina (a public institution) and at Harvard University (a private institution), respectively. The plaintiffs, Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA), argue that the consideration of race used in each admissions program is unlawful,...
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Category: Whistleblowing and Retaliation

Expanding Whistleblower Retaliation Protection for Federal Employees

Before adjourning for this week’s elections, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation that would significantly expand whistleblower retaliation protection for employees of the federal government. Although the bill was passed on a partisan vote and has no chance of becoming law this year, it contains several provisions that go beyond current anti-retaliation protections for private sector employees. Accordingly, we...
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Category: Agency Enforcement

Biden Administration Issues “Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights”

The Office of Science and Technology Policy within the Biden White House has published a white paper outlining five “principles” that should guide the development and use of artificial intelligence (AI) and algorithmic decision-making tools that have “the potential to meaningfully impact [the] rights, opportunities, or access” of the American public at large. Although this so-called AI Bill of Rights...
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Category: Agency Enforcement

OFCCP Closes FY 2022 With Thirteen New Financial Settlements

As we anticipated, the Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) closed out its 2022 fiscal year (October 1, 2021 – September 30, 2022) by announcing a flurry of major new financial settlements. Indeed, the 13 new financial settlements announced since our last update in September double the total number of financial settlements announced by OFCCP in FY...
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Category: Disability, Accommodations, and Leaves

FMLA Ruling by Tenth Circuit in Parker v. United Airlines Rejects “Cat’s Paw” Claim

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit ruled recently that an employer wasn’t liable under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) under the so-called “cat’s paw” theory of discrimination. In this case, the plaintiff claimed she was unlawfully fired based on the retaliatory bias of a supervisor who objected to her taking approved FMLA leave. In a...
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Category: Agency Enforcement

EEOC Releases Draft 2022-2026 “Strategic Plan” for Public Comment

As anticipated, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC or Commission) has published its draft “Strategic Plan” for fiscal years (FY) 2022-2026 for public comment. The high-level Strategic Plan (Plan), once adopted, is designed to outline the EEOC’s enforcement and management goals over the next five years, and the strategy for achieving them. More specifics as to how the EEOC...
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Category: Agency Enforcement

As Expected, OFCCP Adopts EEOC’s New “Know Your Rights” Poster

We reported last week that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has issued a new “Know Your Rights” poster to replace the familiar “EEO is the Law” poster that covered employers have used for many years to meet EEOC and Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) posting requirements. As we predicted, the Labor Department’s OFCCP has now also announced...
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Category: Agency Enforcement

EEOC Ends Fiscal Year 2022 With a Flurry of New Lawsuits

It is not unusual for a federal enforcement agency with litigation authority such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC or Commission) to wrap up its fiscal year (FY) by filing a slew of new lawsuits or to announce new settlements to demonstrate that agency lawyers are doing their job. That said, the EEOC may have set a new milestone...

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