Compliance Stuff

The Texas Business Court has entered the growing national debate about whether conversations with AI tools like ChatGPT are discoverable, and it came down on the side of protection. In a minute entry filed June 3, 2026, Judge Grant Dorfman of the Eleventh Division ruled that a non-lawyer’s ChatGPT conversations, prepared in anticipation of litigation, can qualify as protected attorney work product under Texas procedural rules. The ruling came in Tate Group Automotive, LLC v. Legacy Automotive Capital, LLC , Cause No. 25-BC11B-0020, after the Court completed an in camera review of ChatGPT “conversations” that the plaintiff had withheld from production. The decision continues the developing judicial dialogue on AI discoverability, siding with two federal courts that have found no waiver and expressly splitting from another federal court that reached the opposite conclusion. In doing so, the Court rejected the argument that a non-lawyer’s sharing of information with ChatGPT necessarily wa...

Here are the top 10 workplace compliance items you should tackle in June 2026, based on the latest labor and employment law updates. _____ Prepare for potentially big changes from the EEOC. As employers wait for the EEO-1 reporting portal to open this year, the Trump administration just sent a proposal to the White House on May 14 aiming to end the requirement altogether. Here’s what we know so far and five steps you should take now while the process plays out. Additionally, on May 27, the agency took initial steps to end a safe harbor for employers with voluntary affirmative action plans. You can read more about this development here . _____ Catch up on the DOL’s overtime rule rescission. The DOL has formally wiped the Biden-era overtime rule from its regulations, cementing the $35K salary threshold put in place in 2019. Here’s everything you need to know about what the May 14 amendment means for your business. _____ Stay current on evolving immigration developments. Several sign...

Tennessee has joined an increasing number of states specifically regulating use of AI in the mental healthcare space. In particular, Tennessee recently enacted Senate Bill 1580 (the “Bill”), which provides that a person who develops or deploys AI in the mental healthcare space may not advertise or represent to the public that the AI is or is able to act as a qualified mental health professional .[1] Failure to comply with the Bill carries serious risks, with the Bill specifying that violations constitute deceptive trade practices under the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act and authorizing civil penalties up to $5,000 per violation.[2] The Bill is significantly abbreviated when compared to legislation in other states, such as Illinois,[3] Nevada,[4] and Utah.[5] For example, Nevada prohibits the advertisement of AI as being capable of providing professional mental or behavioral health care, and a chatbot or other avatar from providing such care.[6] Similarly, Utah requires that mental ...

On May 21, 2026, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Executive Order N-6-26 —a sweeping directive aimed squarely at understanding, measuring, and managing the impact of AI on California’s labor market (the “EO”) . The EO reflects significant concern about AI’s potential major impact on all sectors of California’s economy. Why This Order, and Why Now? The already rapid pace of deployment of workplace AI tools continues to accelerate. With this profound shift, the labor market is experiencing significant transformation as employers seek to unlock the substantial potential productivity gains associated with AI adoption.[1] AI is being cited by employers as the primary or sole reason for more than a quarter of recent layoffs.[2] California sits at the center of this transformation . But with no state legislation passed to specifically address the impact of AI deployment upon the labor market, the Governor has responded through executive action. T his is not the first executive order o...

Governor Gavin Newsom just signed a sweeping executive order right before the holiday weekend directing California state agencies to study potential workforce disruptions caused by AI so they can protect displaced workers through new policy recommendations. The May 21 order tasks the Labor and Workforce Development Agency (LWDA) with reviewing and making recommendations on a range of worker protection policies, from WARN Act revisions to severance standards to collective bargaining practices involving AI. But does any of this affect you right now? The short answer is no for California employers, but the EO still warrants close attention given how it could change things in the future. No New Obligations Today Executive Order N-6-26 ( which you can find here ) does not create any immediate legal obligations for private employers . Instead, it sets in motion a series of government reviews and analysis tasks with various deadlines, all aimed at informing potential future legislation and r...

Employers are increasingly using artificial intelligence and other algorithmic tools to support workplace decisions, including recruiting, screening, interviewing, promotion, workforce planning, and performance management. These tools can improve efficiency and consistency, but they also introduce important compliance, reputational, and employee-relations considerations. Two concepts that often arise in AI governance are bias audits and validation testing. Although related, they serve different purposes. A bias audit generally evaluates whether the use of a tool is associated with materially different outcomes across protected or demographic groups. Depending on the jurisdiction and the tool at issue, a bias audit may be legally required before use. For example, New York City’s automated employment decision tool law requires certain employers and employment agencies to obtain a bias audit within one year before using covered tools and to provide related notices and disclosures . And o...

U.S. employers are bracing for new developments in workplace policy and regulation as technology-related risks – namely around AI and data privacy – take center stage. This comes as businesses adjust to workplace policy shifts following a year shaped by other Trump administration priorities, including immigration enforcement and increased scrutiny of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. Littler’s 14th Annual Employer Survey draws on insights from more than 300 C-suite executives, in-house lawyers and human resources professionals. The report explores the top workplace law trends, compliance challenges and employment litigation risks facing U.S. businesses in 2026 and how executives are navigating them. AI is now the leading area where employers expect changes to workplace policy and regulation to impact their businesses over the next year, followed by data privacy. This is a notable shift from last year’s survey, when DEI and immigration topped the list. As AI becomes mor...

Neuroscientist and AI researcher Vivienne Ming says we are measuring the wrong things, hiring for the wrong traits, and building AI that makes us less capable. The fix, she argues, is not more training—it is a different kind of human. Ming is author of  Robot-Proof: When Machines Have All the Answers, Build Better People.  She doesn’t speak about the future of work the way most executives do. Where they tend to see a straightforward productivity story—AI as a tool that will absorb the tedious tasks and free humans for the interesting ones—she sees a far more unsettling picture. The serial AI entrepreneur argues that the very premise of the debate is wrong, and that the skills companies are currently training for are the ones AI will master first. “We misunderstand what kind of intelligence AI actually is,” she says. “ Agentic AI is a ‘how’ machine. It can learn the rules of coding, legal analysis, or financial modeling and execute them faster and cheaper than any human. If a...

On April 1, 2026, Governor Bill Lee signed  Senate Bill 1580  into law, making Tennessee among the first states to specifically regulate how AI can be marketed and used in the mental health space. The new law takes effect July 1, 2026. What Does the New Law Do? The new law is short and straightforward, providing that a person who develops or deploys an artificial intelligence system cannot advertise or represent to the public that such a system is, or is able to act as, a qualified mental health professional. Artificial intelligence  is broadly defined to mean “models and systems capable of performing functions generally associated with human intelligence, including reasoning and learning.”  Qualified mental health professionals are  defined in existing Tennessee mental health law to include certain licensed psychiatrists, psychologists, psychological examiners, social workers, and marital and family therapists. The new law establishes a private right of action...

A  recent Illinois federal court decision  shows that when AI listens in on calls, legal questions follow. The putative class action case is  Megan Lisota v. Heartland Dental, LLC, et al . It was brought against two entities: Heartland Dental, LLC and its partner, RingCentral, Inc. Heartland Dental provides administrative and overflow call center services to dental clinics. In providing its services, it contracts with RingCentral. RingCentral is a provider of cloud-based, AI-supported telephone services. According to plaintiff’s complaint, RingCentral's AI software is designed to capture and transcribe real time call details from patient, payer, and provider calls. Heartland used these details, the plaintiffs alleged, to identify and triage callers. It also used them to identify missed opportunities to schedule dental appointments. The plaintiff, a patient, alleged these activities constituted eavesdropping in violation of the Federal Wiretap Act . The court ruled the pl...

While the use of artificial intelligence (AI) continues to grow in many workplaces, some employees are asking for religious accommodations to avoid using AI tools at work. Quick Hits A number of organized religions have stepped into the public debate over AI to provide their religious perspective. Some employers are receiving accommodation requests from workers who have religious objections to using AI. Federal and state laws require employers to provide reasonable accommodations for an employee’s religious beliefs, unless it would impose an undue hardship. In recent years, many business leaders have implemented new work protocols and performance metrics that require workers to use AI tools for certain job functions. At the same time, religious objections to workplace requirements or procedures are on the rise. One stark example involved a  nearly $600,000 jury verdict upheld on appeal  in favor of an evangelical Christian employee who objected to his employer’s biometric hand...