Hunton Employment & Labor Perspectives

On January 20, 2025, Donald J. Trump was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States. Fulfilling one of his major campaign promises, he issued a series of executive orders on his first day in office. Two of these orders represent a significant shift regarding gender and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.

Tuesday evening, January 21, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order entitled, “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity,” addressing the suspension of  DEI staff in government positions. Within the Order, the President revokes a number of prior executive orders, including Executive Order 11246 of September 24, 1965 (Equal Employment Opportunity).

Effective January 1, 2025, Illinois protects from discrimination employees who provide personal care to family members.  In so doing, Illinois joins several other states that provide a cause of action to employees who believe they face discrimination on the basis of “family responsibilities.”

As previously discussed, the Third Circuit recently considered the National Labor Board’s (“NLRB” or “Board”) statutory authority to order consequential damages in a case involving Starbucks.  As a quick refresher, the current Board has envisioned consequential damages it purportedly has the right to issue against a party it finds to have violated employee rights, such as unlawful termination, as covering a wide swath of potential financial repercussions. 

The federal government is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to find that anti-discrimination protections apply equally to all workers and there should be no heightened pleading standard for so-called “reverse discrimination” cases under Title VII.