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Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces, We Hardly Knew Ye

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 03.28.17

On March 27, 2017, President Trump signed a joint resolution under the Congressional Review Act disapproving the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Final Rule. Most of the rule’s requirements were put on hold in October when a U.S. district court judge in Texas granted a preliminary injunction (discussion available here); however, the rule’s paycheck transparency requirements became effective on January 1, 2017. The President’s signature will eliminate the entire rule, including the paycheck transparency requirements, relieving contractors of substantial compliance burdens associated with the FAR rules and Department of Labor Guidance implementing the EO.

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Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.21.25

A Sign of What’s to Come? Court Dismisses FCA Retaliation Complaint Based on Alleged Discriminatory Use of Federal Funding

On November 7, 2025, in Thornton v. National Academy of Sciences, No. 25-cv-2155, 2025 WL 3123732 (D.D.C. Nov. 7, 2025), the District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed a False Claims Act (FCA) retaliation complaint on the basis that the plaintiff’s allegations that he was fired after blowing the whistle on purported illegally discriminatory use of federal funding was not sufficient to support his FCA claim. This case appears to be one of the first filed, and subsequently dismissed, following Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s announcement of the creation of the Civil Rights Fraud Initiative on May 19, 2025, which “strongly encourages” private individuals to file lawsuits under the FCA relating to purportedly discriminatory and illegal use of federal funding for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in violation of Executive Order 14173, Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity (Jan. 21, 2025). In this case, the court dismissed the FCA retaliation claim and rejected the argument that an organization could violate the FCA merely by “engaging in discriminatory conduct while conducting a federally funded study.” The analysis in Thornton could be a sign of how forthcoming arguments of retaliation based on reporting allegedly fraudulent DEI activity will be analyzed in the future....

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