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  • Date:

    Jackson Fed’n of Teachers v. Eitch (S.D. Miss. Aug. 18, 2025)

    Order Granting Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction. Plaintiffs, several individuals and organizations impacted by Mississippi House Bill 1193 (HB 1193), challenged the constitutionality of the law. The state law prohibits public schools and universities from teaching, promoting, or requiring participation in diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. HB 1193 bans educational engagement with “divisive concepts,” though it does not clearly define what concepts are prohibited. Defendants maintained that the law is not a violation of the First Amendment because it “seeks to regulate only government speech, and the speech of public employees (such as educators) in their official capacity.” The court previously granted a temporary restraining order (TRO) on the implementation of the law on July 22, 2025. The court granted a preliminary injunction, finding that plaintiffs sufficiently demonstrated the potential for irreparable harm. The court noted the “dearth of evidence” from defendants on the issue of irreparable harm and agreed with plaintiffs that HB 1193 is “unconstitutionally vague, fails to treat speech in a viewpoint-neutral manner, and carries [] serious risks of terrible consequences with respect to the chilling of expression and academic freedom.” 

    Topics:

    Constitutional Issues | Discrimination, Accommodation, & Diversity | Due Process | Enforcement of Non-Discrimination Laws | First Amendment & Free Speech

  • Date:

    U.S. Department of Justice Notice of Findings Regarding the University of California, Los Angeles (Jul. 29, 2025)

    The Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Civil Rights Division determined that the University of California, Los Angeles (the University) violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by failing to adequately address antisemitic harassment during and after a protest encampment on campus in spring 2024. The DOJ’s Notice of Violation outlined three key findings. First, the notice claimed that Jewish and Israeli students were subject to severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive harassment, including assaults, verbal abuse, and physical exclusion from campus spaces, on the basis of their race, religion, or national origin. Second, notice claimed that the University had actual notice of this hostile environment, having received at least eleven formal complaints and issued public statements acknowledging Jewish students’ fears and physical exclusion. Third, the notice claimed that the University responded with deliberate indifference, taking no meaningful action to eliminate the hostile environment for nearly a week, despite having both legal and policy authority to dismantle the encampment earlier. The DOJ concluded that the University’s free speech concerns were misplaced because the conduct in question included physical assaults, intimidation, and denial of access, which are not protected by the First Amendment. DOJ officials condemned the inaction and warned that legal action will follow if the University does not enter into a voluntary resolution agreement by August 5, 2025.  

    Topics:

    Constitutional Issues | Discrimination, Accommodation, & Diversity | Enforcement of Non-Discrimination Laws | Equal Protection | External Counsel | First Amendment & Free Speech | General Counsel | Race and National Origin Discrimination

  • Date:

    Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services (Jun. 5, 2025)

    Vacatur and Remand. Plaintiff, a straight, white woman employed by the Ohio Department of Youth Services since 2004 filed a Title VII claim against her employer alleging she was denied a management promotion, and demoted because of her sexual orientation. Plaintiff interviewed for a new management position in 2019, but her employer hired another candidate who was lesbian. Plaintiff was later demoted from her role, and her employer then filled that role with a gay man. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of defendant, and the Sixth Circuit affirmed that decision. The two courts reviewed plaintiff’s claim under the McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green burden-shifting framework and concluded that plaintiff failed to meet her prima facie burden because she had not shown “background circumstances to support the suspicion that the defendant is that unusual employer who discriminates against the majority.” Both lower courts reasoned that because plaintiff is a straight, white woman, she was required to make the showing “in addition to the usual ones for establishing the prima-facie case.” While the Sixth Circuit “background circumstances” rule required plaintiffs who are members of a majority group to bear an additional burden during the first step of the application of the framework, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the standard for proving disparate treatment under Title VII does not change based on whether the plaintiff is a member of a majority group. The Court wrote that the so-called “background circumstances” rule ignored its instruction to avoid inflexible applications of the prima facie standard. In its unanimous decision, the Court resolved the prior circuit split regarding the correct evidentiary standard to apply to majority-group plaintiffs’ claims. Therefore, the Court’s decision aligns the standard to be applied to all plaintiffs, vacated the judgment, and remanded the case for application of the proper standard. 

    Topics:

    Discrimination, Accommodation, & Diversity | Diversity in Employment | Enforcement of Non-Discrimination Laws | Faculty & Staff

  • Date:

    U.S. Department of Homeland Security Notice of Intent to Withdraw at Harvard University (May 28, 2025)

    U.S. Department of Homeland Security (the Department) sent Harvard University a Notice of Intent to Withdraw terminating Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) certification based on an alleged failure to comply with federal regulations. The Notice states that potential compliance issues were identified during a review of University records, including: (1) failure to comply with reporting requirements; (2) failure to maintain a campus environment free from violence and antisemitism; and (3) practices with foreign entities raising national security concerns. It gives Harvard 30 calendar days to respond regarding the alleged deficiencies and demonstrate compliance with applicable requirements.

    Topics:

    Discrimination, Accommodation, & Diversity | Enforcement of Non-Discrimination Laws | Immigration | International Students | International Ventures | Research

  • Date:

    Department of Energy Direct Final Rule Rescinding Regulations Related to Nondiscrimination in Federally Assisted Programs or Activities (May 16, 2025)

    U.S. Department of Energy (the Department) issued a Direct Final Rule (DFR) rescinding certain regulatory provisions related to nondiscrimination in federally assisted programs or activities. The Department is rescinding a number of provisions based on its determination that such provisions are either outdated, raise serious constitutional difficulties, or are based on anything other than the best reading of the underlying statutory authority or prohibition. In particular the change is intended to replace the verbiage of several clauses in the regulations that include the phrase “have the effect of” to “intent of” (emphasis added). The Department states that this rescission is intended to align with the evidentiary approach set forth by the U.S. Supreme Court in Arlington Heights and the express statutory authority of Title VI. Additionally, the Department is rescinding 10 C.F.R. 1040.8 in its entirety, which reads “due to limited opportunities in the past, certain protected groups may be underrepresented in some occupations or professions.” It is the Department’s position that the phrase suffers from fatal constitutional infirmities, and that the effects of past societal discrimination are not a sufficiently compelling justification for racial classifications by or for any level of government. The DFR takes effect July 15, 2025, “unless significant adverse comments are received” on or before June 16, 2025.

    Topics:

    Discrimination, Accommodation, & Diversity | Enforcement of Non-Discrimination Laws

  • Date:

    U.S. Department of Defense Memorandum Reviewing Military Educational Institution Library Collections (May 9, 2025)

    U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) sent a memorandum to Senior Pentagon Leadership Commanders of the Combatant Commands Defense Agency and DoD Field Activity Directors stating educational materials at the Department’s military educational institutions (MEIs) promoting divisive concepts and gender ideology are incompatible with the Department’s mission. The memo orders the Secretaries of the Military Department and other DoD Component heads to (1) promptly identify any Department MEI library materials potentially incompatible with this core mission; (2) appropriately sequester those materials; (3) confirm the initial characterization through a deliberate review; and (4) determine an appropriate ultimate disposition for those materials, noting that steps (1) and (2) must be completed by May 21, 2025. It goes on to state that a temporary Academic Libraries Committee (ALC) will inform the preliminary identification and sequestration, subsequent deliberate review, and decision concerning the disposition of material confirmed to be inconsistent with direction from the President and the Secretary of Defense. The ALC developed a list of search terms and guidance to assist in the identification of materials requiring further review that is attached to the memo.  

    Topics:

    Discrimination, Accommodation, & Diversity | Enforcement of Non-Discrimination Laws

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