Insights Search

On November 17, 2023, the Department of the Treasury (“Treasury”) and the Internal Revenue Service (the “Service”) issued proposed regulations [REG-132569-17] regarding the definition of “energy property” and related rules applicable to the energy credit (the “Proposed Regulations”) available under section 48 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”).

Welcome to Vinson & Elkins’ Securities and ESG Updates. Our aim is to provide insights into notable developments in securities reporting and the environmental, social and governance space over the quarter.

On October 2, 2023, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) published proposed enforcement guidance on workplace harassment, which, if finalized, would be the first update to workplace harassment guidance by the EEOC in nearly 25 years.

It takes two to tango, but the National Labor Relations Board (“Board”) reaffirmed that it might only take one to engage in protected concerted activity.

On August 29, 2023, the Department of Treasury (the “Treasury”) and the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) issued proposed regulations (the “Proposed Regulations”) providing proposed rules governing the prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements (together, the “Labor Requirements”) impacting a broad swath of clean energy tax credits included in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the “IRA”) (i.e., sections 30C, 45, 45L, 45U, 45Q, 45V, 45Y, 45Z, 48, 48C, 48E, and 179D¹ of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended).

An important federal appeals court has clarified a key principle of antitrust law in a way that potentially makes it more difficult for an employer to win a motion to dismiss, and thereby avoid expensive discovery, with respect to company agreements that contain commonly used hiring restrictions.

Welcome to Vinson & Elkins’ Securities and ESG Updates.

The drumbeat of opposition to non-compete agreements is getting even louder, as New York is now poised to enact a law that, if passed, would create sweeping prohibitions against non-competes in that state.

While employers wait to see whether, and to what extent, the Federal Trade Commission enacts its proposed rule banning non-competes, the Office of the General Counsel for the National Labor Relations Board (the “NLRB”) has joined the fray, denouncing the legality of restrictive covenants.

Employers (hopefully) are aware that their employees are afforded certain rights under the National Labor Relations Act (the “NLRA” or “Act”), including the right to self-organization, to bargain collectively, and to engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection.

Welcome to Vinson & Elkins’ Securities and ESG Updates.

On October 25, 2022, a federal jury in Houston awarded a woman $365,000,000 in punitive damages and over $1,000,000 in compensatory damages, after finding that her employer had terminated her in retaliation for complaining about race discrimination.