Compliance Stuff

On April 23, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order entitled “ Restoring Equality of Opportunity and Meritocracy ” (“Executive Order”). This Executive Order is one in a series issued by President Trump with the goal of eliminating Diversity Equity and Inclusion (“DEI”) policies and practices . This Executive Order focuses on dismantling legal claims for discrimination based on a disparate impact theory of liability. Under the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”), among many other federal and state laws, disparate impact liability exists where a neutral policy or practice is shown to have a disproportionately negative effect on a protected group, such as race, national origin, and gender, regardless of intent. There are various legal defenses to disparate impact claims , including showing that the policy or practice is “job-related” or based on a legitimate “business necessity.” Notwithstanding available affirmat...

On April 23, 2025, President Trump signed an Executive Order (EO) titled  Restoring Equality of Opportunity and Meritocracy , which follows a string of prior EOs aimed at removing DEI programs, which we covered  here  and  here . This most recent EO seeks to eliminate the use of disparate-impact liability across federal agencies, marking a significant shift in how civil rights statutes, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, could be enforced. “Disparate-impact” is a foundational legal concept under both Titles VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The former prohibits discrimination based on race, color, and national origin in federally funded programs, while the latter prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin in employment . Disparate-impact liability has long been used by federal agencies, like the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and courts to identify policies that, while neutral on thei...