On May 19, 2025, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche issued a memorandum (the “Memorandum”) establishing the Department of Justice’s “Civil Rights Fraud Initiative” (the “Initiative”). The program “will utilize the False Claims Act to investigate and, as appropriate, pursue claims against any recipient of federal funds that knowingly violates federal civil rights laws,” led by
Presidential Actions and Executive Orders
Federal Judge Blocks Key DEI Executive Order Provisions
On April 14, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois issued a preliminary injunction preventing the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) from enforcing a certification provision and termination clause included in the executive orders titled Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity (“EO 14173”) and Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI…
EEOC and DOJ Release Guidance on DEI and Workplace Discrimination
On March 19, 2025, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) and the U.S. Department of Justice issued two technical assistance documents discussing how the agencies view and define Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (“DEI”) in the context of workplace discrimination: “What You Should Know About DEI-Related Discrimination at Work” and “What To…
Fourth Circuit Temporarily Allows DEI-Related EOs to Continue
As we previously reported, on March 3, 2025, the Maryland District Court denied Defendants’ motion to stay the preliminary injunction in National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education v. Trump, preventing the federal government from enforcing several DEI-related clauses in its recent Executive Orders. The court held that the Government had not…