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Companies with forthcoming annual report and proxy statement filings should consult with counsel regarding recent regulatory and legal developments related to diversity, equity and inclusion (“DEI”) initiatives and the potential impact on disclosures related to such information.
V&E Securities & ESG Update
On January 21, 2025, President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order titled “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity” (the “Executive Order”), which significantly impacts not only requirements applicable to federal government contractors and subcontractors, but also could lead to private sector investigations or enforcement actions concerning Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (“DEI”) initiatives — particularly those maintained by larger companies (whether privately held or publicly listed), regardless of whether they contract or subcontract with the government.
On October 25, a panel of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals (the “Fifth Circuit”) upheld the Nasdaq board diversity rule in the face of challenges that (among other things) the rule attempted to improperly and unconstitutionally dictate the composition of corporate boards.
V&E ESG Update
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.
In the aftermath of the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down the race-conscious admissions systems of two universities in a six-to-three decision (the “SFFA Decision”), commentators are asking about the impact of the ruling on corporate employment decisions; diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs; and environmental, social and governance (ESG) efforts.
Any employer required to collect EEO-1 workforce demographic data should be thinking about the issue of whether to publicly disclose that data, and consider what might happen to it once it’s disclosed.