Compliance Stuff

Takeaways The DOJ analysis bolsters EEOC’s shift away from disparate impact liability theories of employment discrimination.  The DOJ memo proposes stricter limits on disparate impact claims. Related links DOJ Office of Legal Counsel Memo   EEOC Releases New National Enforcement Plan   Does Employer Disparate Impact Liability Still Exist? The Latest EO Pushes to Eliminate It EEOC to Halt Investigations into Disparate Impact Claims Article On June 9, 2026, the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Office of Legal Counsel released a memorandum opinion finding the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) existing guidelines on Title VII of the Civil Rights Act’s disparate impact provisions to be unconstitutional. EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas had requested that the DOJ review the EEOC’s interpretative rules and guidance documents to advise whether the Title VII disparate impact provisions were constitutional as currently interpreted and applied. The memo’s conclusions align with ...

  In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court published its decision in   Viking River Cruises v. Moriana   ( Viking River ), which was hailed as a “Big Win for California Employers.” The decision allowed for partial enforcement of arbitration agreements in actions brought under California’s Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA). The celebration of the “Big Win” was short-lived as the fight over the enforceability of arbitration agreements in PAGA actions continued immediately after   Viking River   was decided. Recently, PAGA plaintiffs began implementing a new anti-arbitration strategy wherein they attempted to bring a representative PAGA action that purportedly excluded the arbitrable portions of a PAGA action . Specifically, the PAGA plaintiffs assert that their representative PAGA action is solely based on alleged Labor Code violations against other,  non-party  employees. The PAGA plaintiff asserts that their PAGA action includes no arbitrable individual clai...