Discrimination

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Early in the New Year, McDonald’s announced that as a result of an outside law firm audit it would be  ending some of its diversity practices, citing as the reason the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 decision outlawing affirmative action in college admissions. Notwithstanding this corporate action, just a few days later McDonald’s was hit with a civil rights lawsuit filed by a conservative activist alleging that a Hispanic scholarship program the company sponsors is discriminatory based on race. As discussed below, this new lawsuit is just the latest anti-ESG lawsuit conservative activists have filed based on DEI-related and other issues. A copy of the January 12, 2025, complaint in the new McDonald’s lawsuit can be found here.Continue Reading McDonald’s Sued in ESG-Backlash Lawsuit over Hispanic Scholarships

As I have noted on this site in discussing artificial intelligence, among the risks and opportunities that the recent rapid emergence of AI represents for organizations of all kinds are the risks associated with AI-related regulatory oversight and supervision. Until now, references to AI-related regulatory concerns have mostly pertained to the EU’s Artificial Intelligence Act, which the European Parliament approved in March of this year. It is now clear that AI-related regulatory concerns likely will also extend to supervisory efforts of U.S. states as well, as reflected in the Colorado legislature’s May 8, 2024 passage of the Colorado Artificial Intelligence Act. This legislation, if signed into law by Colorado governor Jared Polis, would make Colorado the first U.S. state to enact comprehensive AI-related regulation.

As discussed below, the Act may or may not become law, but whether or not it does become law, it contains key signposts concerning the likely course of future AI-related regulation, as well as key AI risk management measures that well-advised companies will take to try to address their AI-related regulatory risk.Continue Reading Colorado Legislature Passes U.S.’s First State AI Regulatory Bill

In my recently published survey of the top topics in the world of directors’ and officers’ liability and insurance, and in connection with my discussion of ESG issues, I briefly mentioned the lawsuit that was filed last week against directors and officers of Starbucks in connection with the company’s “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” (DEI) policies. Because there are a number of notable aspects of this lawsuit, it is worth taking a closer look at the suit. As discussed below, the lawsuit represents yet another instance of anti-ESG backlash and illustrates how companies taking the initiative on ESG issues could incur scrutiny and litigation risk. A copy of the recent complaint can be found here and a copy of the plaintiff’s August 31, 2022 press release can be found here.
Continue Reading Starbucks Execs Hit With Suit Alleging the Company’s DEI Policies Violate Civil Rights Laws

As local coronavirus pandemic-related stay-at-home orders expire or are withdrawn over the coming weeks, employees will be returning to the workplace. According to a recent blog post, a “wave of workplace class actions” could follow in connection with the return to work. In an April 26, 2020 blog post on the Workplace Class Action Blog entitled “The Coming Surge of Workplace Class Actions in the Wake of COVID-19” (here), Gerald Maatman and Jennifer Riley of the Seyfarth Shaw law firm predict a surge of workplace lawsuits “in several key areas such as discrimination and workplace bias, wage & hour, as well as on the health & safety front.”
Continue Reading Will a Wave of Workplace Lawsuits Follow the Return to Work?