Non-compete clauses, confidentiality agreements, and non-disparagement provisions that Abruzzo had argued were presumptively unlawful under the NLRA are now in a more permissive enforcement environment. The 2023 rule — which would have treated indirect or potential control as sufficient — was vacated before taking effect and is now https://www.firstsign.us/the-importance-of-legal-advice-in-everyday-life/ effectively shelved. Under the reinstated 2020 standard, a business is a joint employer only if it “possesses and exercises substantial direct and immediate control” over at least one essential term or condition of employment. The Supreme Court has separately agreed to consider whether Humphrey’s Executor should be overruled in a pending FTC case. In early 2025, President Trump removed NLRB member Gwynne Wilcox and Acting General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo, reducing the Board below its quorum threshold. In a concurrence joined by Justice Gorsuch, Justice Thomas questioned whether the McDonnell Douglas burden-shifting framework itself — the foundational analytical structure used in most employment discrimination cases — remains a useful tool or should be reconsidered.
Today’s episode provides the latest update on court litigation involving President Trump’s DEI Executive Orders, and analyzes the EEOC’s brand new guidance on what constitutes “illegal DEI.” Howard and I discuss https://synapsewaves.com/articles/antimusk-societal-pushback-behavioral-insights/ the major developments from the first year of President Trump 2.0 and the impact on employers. This episode provides important takeaways for employers to address internal and external messaging after – and before – a crisis occurs. Challenging employee leave and accommodation requests, and how employers might consider potential solutions to those challenges.
The class-action lawsuit Mobley v. Workday, Inc., which alleges that an HR software vendor’s AI tools are discriminatory, highlights the risk for employers using third-party AI for hiring and other employment decisions. This approach, which diverges from the harm-based standard followed in other circuits, creates a jurisdiction-dependent ability to “pause” Board enforcement. The Fifth Circuit’s decision in SpaceX v. NLRB allows employers in that circuit (specifically, Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi) to seek to enjoin ongoing NLRB proceedings based on the alleged unconstitutionality of Board member and administrative law judge (ALJ) removal protections. Today’s episode updates the latest trends in employment law, including changes with the EEOC’s focus and makeup, rulemaking ping-pong with Today I am joined by two of my immigration law partners, Scott Bettridge and David Adams, to discuss the new immigration policy and initiatives under President Trump’s 2.0 administration, and how employers should prepare for and respond to I-9 audits and ICE raids. Today’s episode updates the latest trends in employment law, including changes with the EEOC’s focus and makeup, rulemaking ping-pong with the DOL’s independent contractor and overtime exemption rules, bucking the trend with non-compete legislation, and regulating “moonlighting.”
Ames v. Ohio: Title VII’s New Unified Standard
The California PERB backstop law (AB 288) and Washington’s analogous measure are being challenged on federal preemption grounds. It affects the FTC, the SEC, the FCC, and every other multi-member independent agency. Several developments that haven’t yet resolved will define employment law’s trajectory through the end of the year and into 2027. Employers are navigating this without settled guidance, in real time. The tension between the EEOC’s enforcement posture and what the statute actually requires will generate litigation throughout 2026. The ruling opens the courthouse door slightly wider for majority-group claims; it doesn’t automatically invalidate programs that survived scrutiny before.
All Aboard: Navigating STB Constraints When Financing Class III Railroads
- The tension between the EEOC’s enforcement posture and what the statute actually requires will generate litigation throughout 2026.
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- Today I am joined by two of my immigration law partners, Scott Bettridge and David Adams, to discuss the new immigration policy and initiatives under President Trump’s 2.0 administration, and how employers should prepare for and respond to I-9 audits and ICE raids.
- Utah has banned non-compete agreements for all health care workers entirely effective May 6, 2026.
- Howard and I discuss the major developments from the first year of President Trump 2.0 and the impact on employers.
As Littler’s analysis notes, well-documented inclusion initiatives that don’t rely on protected characteristics in individual employment decisions remain defensible under Title VII. The EEOC’s 2025 performance report flagged DEI 14 times and emphasized “anti-American bias” in hiring — a framing that puts employers who expanded diversity programs in the past several years in a difficult position. The EEOC has simultaneously deprioritized claims based on “disparate impact” (policies that affect protected groups disproportionately even without discriminatory intent) in favor of direct challenges to employer diversity policies. Pending legislation in Connecticut, Illinois, and New Jersey would further restrict enforcement, in some cases to employees earning up to $300,000.
Smithfield Says It Shouldn’t Face Jury In EEOC’s Age Bias Suit
Utah has banned non-compete agreements for all health care workers entirely effective May 6, 2026. The law makes non-compete agreements unenforceable against any employee — not just low-wage workers — who is discharged without cause, unless the employer provides severance benefits or other monetary payment, disclosed at the time of the agreement’s execution. For employers in the Sixth Circuit, this limits the Board’s ability to issue bargaining orders following pre-election unfair labor practices — but whether other circuits will follow remains an open question. The Sixth Circuit added another dimension in March 2026, vacating a bargaining order in Brown-Forman Corp. v. NLRB on the grounds that https://neuralooms.com/articles/impact-of-remote-work-insights-studies/ the Board had exceeded its authority by establishing a new union recognition standard through adjudication that conflicted with prior precedent.
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