Photo of Nicholas Ustaski

Nicholas Ustaski

Subscribe to Nicholas Ustaski's Posts

Nick represents employers of all sizes in a variety of industries on complex employment matters, including experience on hundreds of matters related to complex national and international corporate transactions. His practice primarily consists of, labor and employment due diligence, policy review and revisions, executive management consulting and advisement, mergers and acquisitions and other types of transactions, and employment litigation defense.

Contact:Read more about Nicholas Ustaski

Takeaways

  • The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a heightened standard for reverse discrimination claims under Title VII.
  • This decision, combined with Muldrow, lowers the bar for employees to bring discrimination lawsuits.

On June 5, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court (“SCOTUS”) issued a unanimous decision in Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services, which rejected a heightened standard for pursuing reverse discrimination claims under Title VII. Ames filed a lawsuit under Title VII alleging that she was discriminated against for being heterosexual when she was denied a promotion and then demoted in favor of homosexual coworkers. Ames applied for a newly created and open position within the Ohio Department of Your Services (“ODYS”). Not only did Ames not receive the job, she was subsequently demoted to her prior position with a reduced salary. The ODYS hired a lesbian woman for the position Ames sought. It then hired a gay man to replace Ames in her program leadership position after she had been demoted.Continue Reading Reverse Discrimination Claims Are Easier To Pursue After SCOTUS Decision

Takeaways

  • President Trump issued a record-breaking number of executive orders in his first 100 days, many of which significantly impact labor and employment law.
  • New DEI-related executive orders require employers—particularly federal contractors—to certify compliance with anti-discrimination laws and may trigger increased scrutiny of hiring practices.
  • Federal agencies are moving away from the “disparate impact” theory of liability, signaling potential shifts in how employment discrimination cases are litigated and defended.
  • Leadership changes at the EEOC and NLRB have left both agencies without quorums, limiting their ability to enact new rules or pursue major litigation.

On November 5, 2024, President Donald J. Trump achieved something that many did not think possible when he was elected to a second, non-consecutive term to be the President of the United States. In his campaign, President Trump promised to reshape the federal government and aggressively influence and change many areas of law with executive action. Subsequently, President Trump has issued a flurry of executive orders (“EOs”) that cover a multitude of legal, administrative, and other areas of law. One area in which the EOs have had a direct impact is in the labor and employment field.

Since President Trump took his second oath of office, he signed and implemented more than 140 EOs in the first 100 days of his presidency—a number that eclipses all previous records, including former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s record of 99 EOs in the first 100 days set in 1933. Many of President Trump’s EOs are still in effect, while other of these second-term EOs are facing numerous challenges in the U.S. federal court system.

Below is a summary of the most impactful EOs issued during President Trump’s first 100 days in office related to labor and employment law, along with a brief analysis on how they may impact private employers, companies, and individual workers in the employment sphere. All private employers and their human resource teams should familiarize themselves with these changes to ensure compliance with applicable federal laws, in addition to any additional U.S. local or state laws.Continue Reading The First 100 Days of President Trump’s Second Presidency: Re-Shaping Federal Employment Policies

At the end of the 2024 legislative session, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz signed several bills into law, which amended several employment-related statutes addressing paid sick and leave time, pregnancy accommodation and leave, restrictive covenants, and employee misclassification.Continue Reading 2025 Minnesota Labor and Employment Legal Updates

Mothering Justice Decision

On July 31, 2024, the Michigan Supreme Court decided Mothering Justice et al. v. Attorney General et al. In that case, the Court reinstated two laws, the Earned Sick Time Act and the Improved Workforce Opportunity Wage Act, that appeared on the Michigan state ballot in September 2018. After having been voted upon, the Michigan legislature amended both laws. In Mothering Justice, the Court found this amendment process to be unlawful and reinstated both laws as drafted in 2018, effective on February 21, 2025. Each has major implications for Michigan employers, as explained below:Continue Reading 2025 Michigan Labor and Employment Legal Updates

Institutions of Higher Education Can No Longer Establish or Maintain DEI Offices

Texas is one of several states that have implemented laws aimed at eliminating DEI offices and initiatives for publicly funded institutions.

Effective January 1, 2024, Texan institutions of higher education (e.g., the University of Texas) are no longer permitted to establish or maintain diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”) offices or hire/assign employees (or officers or contractors) to perform any DEI-like job duties. Further, Texas institutions may not require applicants or employees to provide DEI statements or give preference to any applicants or employees on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin. And finally, the law requires these institutions to “adopt policies and procedures for appropriately disciplining, including by termination, an employee or contractor” who violates the law.Continue Reading 2025 Texas Labor and Employment Legal Updates

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (“EEOC”) Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace

The EEOC’s Enforcement Guidance guidelines on harassment in the Workplace were issued on April 29, 2024. In the guidance, the EEOC presents a legal analysis of standards for harassment and employer liability applicable to claims of harassment under the EEO statutes enforced by the Commission. The guidance sets forth the EEOC’s position on its definition of “protected characteristics” and identifies workplace behaviors that rise to the level of harassment. These include prohibitions on work-related harassment based on race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions; sexual orientation; and gender identity), national origin, disability, genetic information, and age (40 or over).Continue Reading Labor and Employment 2025 Federal Legal Updates

With 2025 quickly approaching, Illinois employers should be aware of new changes in Illinois state employment laws. There are a number of Illinois employment laws and amendments that have either recently gone into effect or are set to go into effect January 1, 2025. This post is a summary of the new laws that went into effect or will be in effect in 2025 to help Illinois employers be ready to comply with all the new changes.Continue Reading Illinois Labor and Employment 2025 Employment Law Update

Last month, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC’) unveiled its highly anticipated Enforcement Guidance on Workplace Harassment.

After almost a decade of efforts to update its harassment guidelines, the EEOC’s new guidance delves into topics that are most relevant to the modern workforce. The guidance sets forth the EEOC’s position on its definition of “protected characteristics” and identifies workplace behaviors that rise to the level of harassment. These topics include, for example, the #MeToo movement which swept the nation with well-publicized lawsuits involving sexual harassment and sexual violence and the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia, where the Court ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act protects workers from discrimination based on their sexual orientation and gender identity.Continue Reading The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Issues New Guidance Regarding In-Office and Virtual Harassment in the Workplace

Workplace Violence Reporting Poster Required

Effective September 1, 2023, Texas employers of any size are required to “post a notice to employees of the contact information for reporting instances of workplace violence or suspicious activity to the Department of Public Safety.” On its website, the Texas Workforce Commission (“TWC”) has posted a notice to employers that compliance is expected beginning on January 8, 2024, and provided a poster to be posted in English and Spanish in a conspicuous place convenient to all employees to comply with this new requirement.

This requirement followed the enactment of Senate Bill 240, which requires healthcare facilities to adopt a workplace violence prevention plan, as described below.Continue Reading Legal Updates for Texas Employers in 2024