Compliance Stuff

On August 15, 2025, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed into law two important changes to the Illinois Human Rights Act (IHRA) found in SB2487.  Fact Finding Conferences No Longer Mandatory or Automatic First, the Illinois Department of Human Rights (IDHR) will no longer be required to conduct Fact Finding Conferences (FFCs) (a generally two-hour hearing with an investigator and each side present to answer questions) in each employment charge filed. Instead, FFCs will mostly be voluntary and will be conducted if both sides chose to opt-in to having the FFC. Specifically, if both the complainant and the respondent submit a written request for a FFC within 90 days after “the date on which the charge was filed,” then the IDHR must conduct a FFC, unless it issues its report before receiving both requests. If the parties request the FFC, they must also include a 120-day extension of time for the IDHR to investigate the charge and issue its report. The IDHR can also still decide to ho...

On July 29, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), through the Attorney General (AG), issued  new guidance  directed to all federal agencies, and applicable to federal fund recipients, that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs must fully comply with federal civil rights laws, including Title VI, Title VII, Title IX (limited to educational institutions) and the Equal Protection Clause (limited to governments and their agencies) . The AG emphasized that practices involving preferential treatment based on protected characteristics (such as race, sex, or national origin) are unlawful unless narrowly tailored to meet specific legal standards, which are rarely satisfied outside of court-ordered remedies. The guidance warns against using protected traits directly or indirectly in hiring, promotion, scholarships, or training programs; segregating individuals by race or sex for access to opportunities, resources, and training; and implementing “diverse slate” requiremen...

On August 8, 2025, in  Bivens v. Zep, Inc ., the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held that employer liability for nonemployee harassment requires proof of the employer’s intent, a departure from the previous negligence standard historically relied upon by other federal appellate courts in accordance with prior EEOC guidance. Background Dorothy Bivens, a Black sales representative for Zep (a cleaning products manufacturer), was terminated during a company-wide reduction in force. Prior to termination, Bivens experienced an incident where a client of Zep, while she was at the client’s workplace, locked her in his office and asked to date her. She reported this to her supervisor, who reassigned the client to another sales team. Later, Bivens was terminated as part of a reduction in force. Following her termination, Bivens sued Zep for hostile work environment, harassment, retaliation, and discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Ti...

Real World Impact:  Governor Ron DeSantis has allowed Florida’s expansive noncompete bill to become law without his signature. As discussed in our May 19, 2025  Alert , the Florida Contracts Honoring Opportunity, Investment, Confidentiality, and Economic Growth (CHOICE) Act significantly expands the enforceability of noncompete agreements in Florida. The law addresses both garden leave agreements and noncompete agreements. With regard to noncompete agreements, the law expands the permissible duration of noncompete agreements from two years to a maximum of four years and contains no geographic scope limitation . Thus, noncompete agreements that comply with the CHOICE Act can last two years longer and can extend to employees who move out of Florida . The law’s salary requirement means it will not apply to lower wage workers (employees or contractors who do not earn a salary, excluding benefits or discretionary compensation, greater than twice the annual mean wage of the county...

The Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has published proposed changes to regulations under the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA) and Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act (Section 503) and has published a notice of rescission of regulations implementing Executive Order (EO) 11246. These proposed changes implement  EO 14173 , which revoked EO 11246. While the proposals are mostly procedural and involve eliminating cross-references to EO 11246, the proposed modifications to the Section 503 regulations also eliminate the requirement that contractors invite applicants and employees to self-identify their disability status and eliminate the current regulation’s utilization goal requirements.  Background:  Before January 21, 2025, the OFCCP enforced EO 11246, VEVRAA, and Section 503. EO 11246 prohibited employment discrimination by federal contractors and subcontractors based on race, color, religion, sex, sexua...

On June 20, 2025,  Texas Senate Bill 1318  was signed into law, introducing new restrictions on noncompete agreements entered with physicians licensed by the Texas Medical Board and other healthcare practitioners in Texas. Effective September 1, 2025, the statute requires physician noncompetes to contain a strict duration, geographic scope, and buyout terms to be enforceable, and poses additional restrictions for noncompetes with dentists, nurses, and physician assistants. BEFORE THE CHANGES Existing Texas law treats physician noncompetes as a distinct category. Under the  Texas Business & Commerce Code  15.50(b), a physician covenant is enforceable only if it meets a strict criteria, in addition to the reasonableness standard that applies generally to all Texas noncompetes. Before this change, physician noncompetes in Texas were only enforceable if they: allowed the physician access to a list of the patients seen or treated within one year from the physician’s t...

In a decision issued on June 27, 2025,  Trump v. CASA, Inc . (a 6-3 ruling), the U.S. Supreme Court held that federal District Courts lack authority to grant universal injunctions. In  CASA , the United States District Courts for the Districts of Massachusetts, Maryland, and the Western District of Washington had previously issued universal preliminary injunctions against the January 20, 2025 Executive Order ending birthright citizenship for babies born in the United States to mothers either illegally in the country or visiting on a temporary basis and whose father is not a United States citizen or permanent legal resident (“the EO”) . The U.S. Supreme Court did not address the legality of the EO, but its ruling lifts the preliminary injunctions except as to the parties, paving the way for the Trump administration to implement the EO otherwise, at least for the time being. Prior to  CASA , the national trend was for the lower federal courts to issue universal (or “natio...

Real World Impact : Effective July 2, 2025, New York City’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection will amend its implementing rules to the City’s Earned Safe and Sick Time Act to include the City’s own version of New York State’s paid prenatal leave (“PPL”) obligations for employers. Much of the City’s rules will merely duplicate the requirements already mandated by State law. However, employers should be aware that the City’s version will impose some additional responsibilities. New Reporting Obligations: Unlike the State’s PPL requirements, the City’s rules will require employers to furnish specific written payroll disclosures to their employees. Specifically, for each pay period that an employee uses PPL, the employer will need to inform the employee on either (a) a pay stub or (b) a separate written document, of two things: (1) the amount of PPL used during that pay period; and (2) the total remaining balance of PPL available for use out of the twenty hours allotted per 52...

Real World Impact:   President Trump’s travel ban on foreign nationals from certain countries could impact employers whose workforces and hiring plans include individuals from those countries. June 4, 2025 Presidential Proclamation On June 4, 2025, President Trump signed a  Proclamation  fully restricting and limiting the entry into the United States of foreign nationals from the following 12 countries:  Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen . The Proclamation also partially restricts or limits the entry of foreign nationals from the following seven countries:  Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela . Individuals from the countries subject to the partial ban cannot come to the United States permanently or enter on student or tourist visas. The proclamation states that the suspension and limitation of entry (travel ban) has been issued for countries ...

Real World Impact:   The United States Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in a sex discrimination case as it sided with a straight woman on the standard to be used in pleading disparate treatment on the basis of her sexual orientation . The Court granted certiorari from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Background on  Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services This case arises from a claim that Ames was not promoted – and, later, was demoted – as a result of her sexuality . In 2004, Ames was hired as an executive secretary at the Ohio Department of Youth Services. In 2014, she was appointed program administrator. In 2018, Ginine Trim, a gay woman, came into the Department as Ames’s supervisor. Under Trim’s leadership, Ames received positive performance evaluations. However, when she applied for a promotion in 2019, she was denied . Instead, a gay woman with less experience and no college degree was chosen over Ames. Not long after being denied a promotio...