Insights

Underscoring the Administration’s intention to eradicate DEI preferences and mandates, the Department of Justice (DOJ) launched a new Civil Rights Fraud Initiative (Initiative) to be co-led by DOJ’s Civil Rights Division and Fraud Section. In response, Crowell launched its own DEI and Civil Fraud Initiative to support clients in managing the heightened risks associated with this new enforcement landscape.

On June 6, 2025, Judge Claudia Wilken issued final judgment in the In re College Athlete NIL Litigation, No. 4:20-cv-03919 (N.D. Cal.), approving the Fourth Amended Settlement Agreement commonly known as the “House Settlement.” The House Settlement drastically changes how Division I athletes are compensated, and will likely have far-reaching implications for higher education NCAA-member institutions and student-athletes.

On Thursday, June 5, 2025, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services, rejecting the "background circumstances" rule that would require majority-group plaintiffs to meet a heightened evidentiary standard in Title VII discrimination cases. The decision vacated and remanded the case for further consideration by the Sixth Circuit. In so doing, the Court held that all plaintiffs – whether minority or majority employees – bringing discrimination cases under Title VII are subject to the same evidentiary standards under the McDonnell Douglas framework for evaluating disparate-treatment claims.

The new administration took over four months ago and has implemented significant changes throughout the federal government, including policies affecting prior federal environmental justice (EJ) initiatives. These changes will likely result in reduced regulatory burdens and faster permitting but will apply only at the federal level, leaving the existing EJ laws at the state level fully enforceable.  

On May 19, 2025, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche issued a Memorandum creating the Civil Rights Fraud Initiative that will “utilize the False Claims Act to investigate and . . . pursue claims against any recipient of federal funds that knowingly violates federal civil rights laws.” According to the Memorandum, though racial discrimination has “always been illegal,” the Administration posits that “many corporations and schools continue to adhere to racist policies and preferences—albeit camouflaged with cosmetic changes that disguise their discriminatory nature.” In an effort to prevent federal funds from being used in connection with or support of these purportedly racist policies and preferences, the Initiative will wield the power of the False Claims Act, the government’s most powerful tool to fight fraud, waste, and abuse.

The classification of “independent contractors versus employees” – a political football that has undergone many iterations as the White House switched between political parties – has again changed hands. The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) has now introduced new guidance, consistent with earlier Republican iterations, while rejecting the 2024 Democratic formulation. It remains to be seen whether the courts will give DOL much deference in this area.

On April 23, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order, Restoring Equality of Opportunity and Meritocracy, declaring it the policy of the United States “to eliminate the use of disparate-impact liability in all contexts to the maximum degree possible to avoid violating the constitution, Federal civil rights laws, and basic American ideals.” The order reasons that “disparate impact liability all but requires individuals and businesses to consider race and engage in racial balancing to avoid potentially crippling legal liability.”

In a landmark verdict on April 14, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division notched its first-ever jury trial conviction for criminal wage-fixing under the Sherman Act in United States v. Eduardo Lopez in the District of Nevada. A home health care staffing executive, Eduardo (“Eddie”) Lopez, was found guilty of (1) conspiring with several competing home healthcare staffing agencies to fix the wages of home health nurses in the Las Vegas area, and (2) defrauding the unwitting buyer of his agency by concealing the then-ongoing antitrust investigation into nurse wage and hiring practices. It is worth noting, however, that while the Lopez conviction is a significant milestone for the DOJ’s campaign into labor antitrust violations, wage-fixing cases may be more straightforward to prosecute than no-poach agreements, where the DOJ still has not prevailed before a jury. This victory nonetheless affirms the DOJ’s ability to criminally prosecute labor market collusion as a criminal offense after numerous failed attempts, signaling the prudence of further caution for companies and individuals to mitigate risk in labor antitrust markets.

The settlement approval hearing in In re College Athlete NIL Litigation, No. 4:20-cv-03919 (N.D. Cal.) is set for April 7, 2025. Commonly known as the “House Settlement,” the pending resolution between plaintiffs and the NCAA, if approved by Judge Claudia Wilken, could have far-reaching implications for higher education NCAA-member institutions and student-athletes.

After months of negotiations, Belgium’s new federal government has reached an agreement introducing significant changes to labor law, employment flexibility, and social security. These reforms aim to boost employment rates, simplify regulations, and reduce labor costs for employers.  

Late on Friday, a federal judge in Maryland issued a preliminary injunction pausing certain elements of the Trump Administration’s two recent executive orders (“EOs”) addressing “illegal DEI programs.” The two EOs, Exec. Order 14151, Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing (the “J20 Order”) and Exec. Order 14173, Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity (“J21 Order”), contain a number of provisions that, among other things, direct the federal government to dismantle “illegal DEI programs” within federal agencies and federal contractors. Please refer to our prior alert on these EOs for a full breakdown of the provisions in each.

On February 18, President Trump issued an Executive Order titled “Ensuring Accountability for All Agencies” that directs independent agencies (as well as Cabinet Departments and their sub-agencies) to route all “proposed and final significant regulatory” and budgetary actions through the White House and the Office of Management and Budget. If implemented to its full extent, this action will significantly strengthen the authority of the White House by weakening the political autonomy of these independent agencies. As an assertion of the President’s inherent powers under Article II of the U.S. Constitution, it also stands to weaken congressional influence over these independent agencies, both through the appropriations and confirmation processes.

On February 13, 2025, a coalition of sixteen state attorneys general issued a “Multi-State Guidance Concerning Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Employment Initiatives” (the Guidance). Led by Attorney General Andrea Campbell of Massachusetts and Attorney General Kwame Raoul of Illinois, and joined by the Attorneys General of Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont, the Guidance is a direct response to concerns from the private sector in the aftermath of President Trump’s recent Executive Order 14173, which  directed federal agencies “to encourage the private sector to end illegal discrimination and preferences, including DEI.” The Guidance clarifies “the state of the law for businesses, nonprofits, and other organizations operating” in their respective states.

Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) 32bis applies in Belgium in the event of a transfer of undertakings. It establishes the legal framework that protects employees’ rights during such a transfer.

On Inauguration Day, President Trump issued a flurry of executive orders.  Among the first he signed was the Initial Rescissions Of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions Executive Order (the “Rescinding EO”). This directive rescinded 78 executive orders issued by the Biden Administration.  The revocation of one in particular, Executive Order 14055 of November 18, 2021 Non-displacement of Qualified Workers Under Service Contracts (the “EO 14055”), will have an immediate impact on federal contractors performing and bidding on Service Contracts.

The first day of the Trump Administration included the issuance of 26 executive orders(“EOs”), the most in modern presidential history. Among these EOs, President Trump signed the Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government Executive Order (the “EO” or “Order”). While focused on federal policy, the Order has broad implications for private sector employers.

Late on the night of January 21, 2025, President Trump signed the “Ending Illegal Discrimination And Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity” Executive Order (the “EO”). This EO, like a number of the executive orders issued on his first day in office, took aim at Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (“DEI”) programs by, among other things, broadly directing executive agencies and departments to terminate all “discriminatory and illegal preferences, mandates, policies, programs, activities, guidance, regulations, enforcement actions, consent orders, and requirements;” curtailing the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs’ (OFCCP) operational authority and directing agencies to scrutinize the DEI practices of private sector employers. Additionally, this language raises questions about the future and status of certain programs, preferences, and set-aside procurements administered by the U.S. Small Business Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, and other agencies. 

On 23 October 2024, the European Parliament adopted Directive (EU) 2024/2831 (“the Directive”), aimed at improving conditions for individuals working for digital platforms.  The Directive introduces comprehensive measures to: address the employment status of digital platform workers, ensure transparency and fairness in algorithmic management, and strengthen the protection of personal data. The Directive came into force on 1 December 2024, and Member States are required to adopt the necessary measures for transposition into national law by 2 December 2026.

New York Department of Labor Issues Guidance Regarding Paid Prenatal Leave, Taking Effect January 1.

On September 30, 2024, Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed a putative class action in Mejia v. High Brew Coffee Inc., 1:22-cv-03667-LTS (S.D.N.Y. Sep. 30, 2024), holding that an online-only business’s website is not a place of public accommodation under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). Chief Judge Swain’s opinion is the first of its kind for the Southern District and is the latest installment in an ongoing judicial debate about the reach of the ADA’s regulatory reach.