Employment Law in Motion
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Federal Agency Issues Memorandum Temporarily Freezing Federal Grant and Loan Payments; Judge Issues Temporary Stay
On January 27, 2025, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Acting Director Matthew Vaeth issued Memorandum #M-25-13, temporarily freezing federal grant and loan payments pending further review. While Social Security and Medicare programs are not affected by this Memorandum, other federal grant and loan programs are potentially impacted.
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President Trump Order Seeks to End Discriminatory DEI Programs and Mandates, Affecting Federal Contractors, Private Sector, and Higher Education
On his second day in office, President Trump issued an Order titled “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity,” addressing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in federal government as well as mandates and programs affecting the public and private sector. Specifically, the President acted to “order all executive departments and agencies to terminate all discriminatory and illegal preferences, mandates, policies, programs, activities, guidance, regulations, enforcement actions, consent orders, and requirements.” The President further ordered that all federal agencies “enforce our longstanding civil-rights laws” and “combat illegal private-sector DEI preferences, mandates, policies, programs, and activities.”
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President Trump’s First-Day Orders Impacting Employers
President Trump issued a large number of Executive Orders and proclamations on his first day in office, January 20, 2025. Here is a summary of those that may affect employers.
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Posting Outside the Office, but Not Outside the Scope of an Employer’s Potential Liability
Between hybrid work, flexible schedules, online meetings, and the ubiquity of social media, the lines between in and out of office conduct continue to get murkier and create potential tagalong liability that persists for employers who do not promptly respond to complaints brought forward by employees. The Ninth Circuit has made clear that even though an employee’s conduct is online—even outside of work time—the impact that it has on an employee can be sufficient to sustain a Title VII hostile work environment claim.
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So Much for Goodbye: FTC Ban on Noncompetes Just Overturned
On May 7, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published a much-anticipated new rule that would have prohibited ALL new noncompetes with employees nationwide, and enforcement of almost all existing noncompetes beginning September 4, 2024. However, just yesterday, a federal district court in Texas held that the FTC lacked the authority to issue the rule and issued a nationwide injunction that now prevents the rule from going into effect. The agency has initially indicated it is weighing its options and may yet appeal the decision.
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EEOC Issues Final Rule Maintaining Agency’s Expansive Interpretation of Pregnant Workers Fairness Act
The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) was enacted in 2023 to protect pregnant employees from workplace discrimination and ensure they receive reasonable accommodations in the workplace. On April 15, 2024, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commissio...
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