Compliance Stuff

On October 3, 2025, the U.S. Senate confirmed Brittany Bull Panuccio by a 51–46 vote to serve as a commissioner of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for a term expiring in 2029. T his confirmation provides Republicans with a majority on the Commission and positions the agency to realign its enforcement and policy priorities with President Donald Trump’s America First agenda. Quick Hits The U.S. Senate confirmed Brittany Bull Panuccio as EEOC commissioner, giving Republicans a majority and the ability to realign the agency’s enforcement and policy priorities. The new Commission is expected to shift focus by scrutinizing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, religious liberty, and discrimination, narrowing disparate impact enforcement, revisiting LGBTQ+ guidance, and scaling back algorithmic bias initiatives. Employers may want to prepare for increased attention to claims of majority and religious discrimination, review DEI and accommodation policies, and mon...

he Connecticut Appellate Court recently affirmed summary judgment in favor of a law firm employer, holding that a legal assistant’s request to work entirely remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic was not a reasonable accommodation under state anti-discrimination law. The decision in  Castelino v. Whitman, Breed, Abbott & Morgan, LLC  provides helpful guidance for employers navigating remote work requests as disability accommodations and clarifies the legal standard for determining essential job functions in the post-pandemic workplace. Quick Hits The Connecticut Appellate Court affirmed summary judgment for a law firm employer, finding that in-person work was an essential function of the plaintiff’s legal assistant position. The plaintiff, who had diabetes and asthma, requested to work exclusively from home due to COVID-19 concerns. The employer denied the request but allowed some remote work on specific days. The court held that the requested accommodation—f ull-time remot...

In this installment of our  Workplace Strategies Watercooler 2025  podcast series, Dee Anna Hays (shareholder, Tampa) and Lucas Asper (shareholder, Greenville), who are co-chairs of the firm’s Multistate Advice and Counseling Practice Group, join Todd Duffield (shareholder, Atlanta) to discuss the latest tips and trends for multistate handbooks. Dee Anna, Lucas, and Todd touch on various state and local law-specific issues and key topics for employers’ consideration, including revisiting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), leaves of absence, and reasonable accommodation policies. They also stress the importance of understanding employee monitoring and privacy limitations and employee rights to engage in protected activity under the National Labor Relations Act, a protection that extends to all employees, including those not represented by a union. Transcript Announcer: Welcome to the Ogletree Deakins podcast, where we provide listeners with brief discussions about importa...