Diversity Equity and Inclusion

Please join us on June 10, 2021 for Ballard Spahr’s annual in-depth program highlighting key issues and developments in labor and employment law from 2020 and 2021. This year’s virtual program will cover the latest state and national legal developments, hot topics related to HR compliance including vaccination challenges, and how HR can be prepared …

The Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Education (DOE) made back-to-back announcements regarding the implementation and application of Title IX. On April 5, 2021, the DOJ released a three-page memorandum (the Memorandum) confirming that Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender…

On March 15, 2021, the FDIC’s Office of Minority and Women Inclusion (OMWI) released a Financial Institution Letter regarding diversity self-assessments. In accordance with Section 342 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, the FDIC is calling on its supervised institutions with 100 or more employees to submit voluntary self-assessments…

President Biden issued a new Executive Order on “Guaranteeing an Educational Environment Free from Discrimination on the Basis of Sex, Including Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.” The Executive Order—which he issued on International Women’s Day, March 8, 2021—directs the U.S. Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona, to propose policy changes within the next 100 days. These …

On March 4th, the SEC sent a very clear signal about one of its chief enforcement priorities by announcing the creation of a Climate and ESG Task Force within the Division of Enforcement. ESG stands for Environmental, Social, and Governance. From the labor and employment perspective, the “S” in ESG often relates to diversity, equity…

On February 25, 2021, the House Subcommittee on Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship, and Capital Markets held a hearing entitled, “Climate Change and Social Responsibility: Helping Corporate Boards and Investors Make Decisions for a Sustainable World.”  The hearing invited panelists, including James Andrus, an investment manager for the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), to discuss a…

It’s no secret that environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors are at the forefront of the national conversation surrounding social equity.  These same factors are influencing decisions by institutional investors.  A new Ernst & Young survey reports that, when making investment decisions, institutional investors are closely analyzing diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in the board …

As one of his first official acts as the President of the United States, President Biden issued an Executive Order on Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government (the Executive Order). It set in stone the social justice policies underpinning the Biden administration and repealed two Executive Orders issued by…

Ballard Spahr Labor attorneys Meredith Dante, Steve Suflas, and Chris Kelly discuss what a Biden-Harris administration means for employers in the area of labor and employment law. The team discusses what they expect to see from a new administration regarding: potential changes to the National Labor Relations Act; the priorities of a new National Labor…