03-20-2025

Karen Ortiz is an administrative law judge within the EEOC. She received a directive from her supervisor to pause all LGBTQ cases and send them back to Washington, D.C. for review in light of the executive order that the government would only recognize two genders. Ortiz responded with an email to 185 colleagues, asking them to “resist” complying. The next day, Ortiz went bigger, emailing Acting Chair Andrea Lucas with a cc to 1000 colleagues with the subject line “A Spoon is Better Than a Fork." The email made it to the internet where it was recirculated on Bluesky and received more than 10,000 “upvotes” on Reddit. The EEOC has issued her a written reprimand for “discourteous conduct.”

03-19-2025

The Department of Education announced plans to investigate 45 colleges over “race-exclusionary practices.” Title VI requires schools that receive federal funds to provide students with a discrimination-free environment based on race, color, or national origin. The targeted schools purportedly violated the law by working with The Ph.D. Project. That project described itself as helping to “change the future workforce by providing students a model of achievement and businesses” to “enrich the talent pipeline.” The administration asserted it limited participation based on race.

03-18-2025

Many judges who have made rulings that do not align with the current presidential administration have faced physical and job threats from Elon Musk and other supporters. Musk and other administration allies have publicly tried to discredit judges who have ruled against their efforts to fire federal employees and dismantle programs. They have called for judicial impeachment and attacked the judges’ integrity. Reuters interviewed eleven federal judges. They shared heightened concerns over their physical security and the rise in violent threats.

03-13-2025

California Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order requiring all state workers to work in the office at least four days a week. The order goes into effect on July 1, 2025. This hybrid schedule applies to all state agencies and departments, which includes 224,000 full-time employees. Gov. Newsom stated that the in-office requirement will improve collaboration and communication, enhance mentorship and knowledge-sharing, strengthen oversight and accountability, and deliver better services to the state.

03-12-2025

In January, President Trump fired Gwynne Wilcox, a Democrat the Senate confirmed to a second five-year NLRB term in September 2023. The NLRB was left with just two members following Wilcox’s and the board chair’s contemporaneous firings. With two members, the board has been unable to act. Wilcox followed through on her plan to challenge the firing, which she asserted was “unprecedented” and “illegal.” A federal court reversed the firing, holding it was unlawful.

03-11-2025

The Joint Task Force to Combat Antisemitism announced the “immediate cancellation” of about $400 million in federal grants and contracts given to Columbia University. These cancellations are due to the institution’s “continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students.” The Task Force said it was merely the first round, and it plans to cancel more. Columbia holds more than $5 billion in federal grant commitments. The Task Force asserted that Jewish students have faced violence, intimidation, and antisemitic harassment on Columbia’s campus.

03-06-2025

Ellenor Zinski worked for Liberty University’s IT department beginning in February 2023. In July 2023, Zinski notified Liberty that she was taking hormone replacement medications and planned to change her name. Just one month later, Liberty University fired her because it “does not and will not permit employees ... to transition away from one’s birth gender” because it violated the institution’s religious beliefs. Zinski filed a federal lawsuit alleging sex discrimination.

03-05-2025

Marlean Ames worked for the Ohio Department of Youth Services. She claimed that the department passed over her for promotion and then demoted her because she was straight. The department denied the allegations. Some federal circuit courts have held that members of a majority group, like white people or heterosexuals, must carry a higher level of proof when suing for “reverse” discrimination. The lower courts dismissed Ames' case. U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on the issue of whether a “majority-group plaintiff has to show something more than a minority-group plaintiff, here, whether a straight person has to show more than a gay person.”

03-04-2025

Shortly after taking office, the President issued two executive orders directed at “illegal DEI” in government and with private employers. Federal agencies took steps to comply, notifying contractors and grantees that they would evaluate and possibly terminate some contracts and grants. The National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education and others challenged the constitutionality of the orders in a Maryland district court. The Maryland federal district court agreed with the plaintiffs that some of the orders violated the Constitution.