On February 13, 2025, a coalition of 16 Attorneys General issued a document titled \u201cMulti-State Guidance Concerning Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Employment Initiatives\u201d (\u201cGuidance\u201d). The stated purpose of the Guidance is \u201cto help businesses, nonprofits, and other organizations operating in our respective states understand the continued viability and important role of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility efforts\u201d after private sector participants raised concerns about the continued viability of such policies and programming following an Executive Order that purports to target \u201cillegal DEI and DEIA policies\u201d across a wide range of organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Guidance reports that \u201cdiversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility best practices are not illegal,\u201d and that \u201cthe federal government does not have the legal authority to issue an executive order that prohibits otherwise lawful activities in the private sector or mandates the wholesale removal of these policies and practices within private organizations[.]\u201d The Guidance contends that diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility initiatives help businesses prevent workplace discrimination and are consistent with federal and state law. The Guidance concludes with a list of best practices for diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in the areas of recruitment and hiring, professional development and retention, and assessment and integration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Attorneys General for the states of Massachusetts, Illinois, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont joined in the Guidance. The full text can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, on February 21, 2025, in\u00a0Nat\u2019l Assoc. of Diversity Officers in Higher Ed. v. Trump, D. Md<\/em>, the United States District Court for the District of Maryland issued a preliminary injunction that blocks, at least for now, some of the more salient provisions of\u00a0the executive order that affect\u00a0federal contractors and other private sector employers. \u00a0In\u00a0particular, the court took issue with the constitutionality of the certification and enforcement threat provisions (anchored in the False Claims Act). \u00a0An analysis of the implications of the injunction for employers and others may be found here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On February 13, 2025, a coalition of 16 Attorneys General issued a document titled \u201cMulti-State Guidance Concerning Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Employment Initiatives\u201d (\u201cGuidance\u201d). The stated purpose of the Guidance is \u201cto help businesses, nonprofits, and other organizations operating in our respective states understand the continued viability and important role of diversity, equity, inclusion, … <\/p>\n