Compliance Stuff

Overview State legislatures continue to reevaluate the role of employee non-compete agreements, with 2026 shaping up to be another consequential year in the ongoing movement to restrict or eliminate their use. Current pending legislation reflects two dominant strategies: (1) bans on non-compete agreements either entirely or limited to specific industries and (2) increasing wage thresholds that condition enforceability on exceptionally high compensation levels. This alert only focuses on legislation that proposes an outright ban to non-compete agreements or imposes new or increased wage thresholds. Although details vary significantly by jurisdiction, the cumulative effect of these legislative efforts is a steady contraction of the circumstances in which non-competes are likely to remain enforceable. Further, the patchwork of state-level enforcement means employers operating across multiple states must closely track these developments and continually reassess their approach to restrictiv...

The First Circuit Court of Appeals’ recent decision in  DeAngelis v. Hasbro, Inc. , is a reminder to employers that religious discrimination claims stemming from COVID-19 vaccination policies are not yet a thing of the past . Those cases continue to offer crucial insights for employers as they navigate religious accommodation requests in other contexts. 0:00 4:56 Quick Hits On January 29, 2026, the First Circuit reversed the dismissal of plaintiffs’ religious discrimination and retaliation claims arising from their employer’s COVID-19 vaccination policy. In doing so, the First Circuit made clear that “my-body-is-my-temple arguments rooted in a plaintiff’s religious beliefs are sufficient to plead the existence of a bona fide religious belief.” Additionally, although the employees resigned their employment, the court concluded that allegations regarding the investigation of one plaintiff’s alleged failure to wear a mask at an employer-sponsored event and another plaintiff’s removal ...

In 2026, organizations will face a markedly more complex privacy and cybersecurity landscape. Numerous individual states continue to expand substantive requirements, federal regulators are asserting broader enforcement authority and emerging technologies are reshaping compliance expectations. This alert previews the privacy compliance developments most likely to affect businesses in the coming year and outlines practical implications for compliance and risk management. 1. Expansion of State Privacy Laws and Accelerated Enforcement With the addition of Indiana, Kentucky and Rhode Island’s new statutes on Jan. 1, 2026, a total of 20 states have comprehensive consumer privacy laws in effect. Although these laws share many structural similarities, their divergent definitions, exemptions and rights create operational challenges for any organization handling data across multiple jurisdictions. Unsurprisingly, California remains the most demanding privacy jurisdiction. Its  newly effecti...

Privacy law evolved at a dizzying pace in 2025. Regulators brought headline-making enforcement actions, courts continued to shape the boundaries of existing statutes, and state legislatures advanced new laws. Much of that activity centered on familiar pressure points: privacy notices and opt-out mechanisms, telemarketing and text messaging practices, and the collection and use of sensitive data, particularly biometric information, health data (such as the Healthline CCPA enforcement), and children’s and teen’s personal information (including actions against Roku in multiple jurisdictions). Newly effective laws echoed those same priorities. For example, Maryland’s comprehensive privacy law and several children’s privacy statutes in states like New York and Colorado place new limits on how children’s data may be used for advertising and related purposes, while Colorado also expanded consent requirements for certain biometric processing affecting both consumers and employees. In parallel,...