Compliance Stuff

On July 4, 2025, President Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act into law—a budget reconciliation bill enacting several signature policies of the President’s second-term agenda.  Left on the cutting-room floor, however, was an ambitious attempt to prohibit nearly all state and local regulation of artificial intelligence (“AI”) for the foreseeable future. The version of the bill passed by the House of Representatives on May 22, 2025, contained a provision preventing states and localities, for a period of 10 years, from enforcing “any law or regulation … limiting, restricting, or otherwise regulating artificial intelligence models, artificial intelligence systems, or automated decision systems entered into interstate commerce. ”  Initially, a proposed version of the bill in the Senate included a similar provision that made the moratorium a condition of states receiving any of the $500 million in funds earmarked to support deployment of AI models or systems and underlying i...

UPDATED July 7, 2025 The bill became law on July 4, 2025. Florida lawmakers recently passed the  Florida Contracts Honoring Opportunity, Investment, Confidentiality and Economic Growth (CHOICE) Act  (the “Act”), which would create a presumption that covered non-compete and garden leave agreements are enforceable. If it is approved by Governor Ron DeSantis, or allowed to become law without his signature, the Act will take effect on July 1, 2025. The Act bucks the trend of states (e.g.,  Virginia  and  Wyoming ) passing laws limiting the enforceability of restrictive covenants. According to the Act’s “Legislative findings,” the Legislature was motivated to pass the measure due to its findings that: “strong legal protections in contracts between employers and contracted personnel which encourage optimal levels of information sharing and training and development” are a proper and legitimate state interest; “alternative means of protecting confidential information an...

A California jury did it again!  Last Thursday, a Los Angeles jury awarded $27.5 million to a former chief nursing officer of a hospital for the alleged post-traumatic stress disorder and other psychological problems she suffered after being constructively discharged from her job .  The nurse claimed she had been called to assist in an emergency at the hospital’s parking structure after a woman jumped from the eighth floor to the ground and died.  The nurse later learned that a man also had jumped to his death from the same structure six years before. After the incident, the nurse “advocated for stronger safety measures” (including installing a physical barrier), but she was met with “unusually strong resistance from her superiors.”  The nurse took a medical leave of absence from the hospital after suffering severe psychological problems in part related to treating the suicide victim and also from the stress of “nothing being done to make the structure safer. ”...

On June 5, 2025, the United States Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion authored by Justice Jackson in  Ames v. Ohio Dep’t of Youth Services , ruling that the “background circumstances” test—which applies a heighted evidentiary standard to majority group plaintiffs seeking to state a  prima facie  claim for disparate treatment under Title VII—is inconsistent with Title VII.  The Court vacated the Sixth Circuit’s decision granting summary judgment to the Ohio Department of Youth Services, and remanded it to the lower court.   Background Plaintiff Marlean Ames, a heterosexual woman, began working at the Ohio Department of Youth Services (the “Department”) as an executive secretary in 2004. In 2014, she was promoted to a program administrator role.  In April 2019, Plaintiff applied for another promotion, but was not hired. In May 2019, the Department demoted Plaintiff back to her executive secretary position. The Department then hired a 25-year-old gay man...

On July 24, 2024, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the denial of a preliminary injunction seeking to bar enforcement of New Jersey’s Temporary Workers’ Bill of Rights Law (the “Law”) . The Circuit Court found that the Law does not violate the dormant Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits states from enacting measures that discriminate against or unduly burden interstate commerce. The Law, which took full effect on August 5, 2023, provides comprehensive protections for certain temporary workers in New Jersey. Temporary Workers’ Bill of Rights The Law applies to each temporary laborer who is employed by a covered temporary help firm who either: (1) has been assigned by the firm to work in a designated classification placement within New Jersey; or (2) has been assigned by the firm to work in a designated classification outside of New Jersey, but who has his or her primary residence in New Jersey. Among its provisions, the Law includes requirements for reco...