On January 20, the Trump administration issued an executive order (EO) titled, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.” The EO was one of several executive orders and actions published by the Trump administration on its first day in office. The EO states that the United States government... View Article
On January 9, a federal judge in the Eastern District of Kentucky Court vacated the Biden administration’s Title IX regulations. The order strikes down the regulations nationwide, reverting enforcement back to the 2019 Title IX regulations set by the Trump administration. Background The Biden administration’s Title IX final rule was released in April 2024 and... View Article
Each month, CUPA-HR General Counsel Ira Shepard provides an overview of several labor and employment law cases and regulatory actions with implications for the higher ed workplace. Here’s the latest from Ira. Terminated Professor May Pursue Title IX, Anti-Male Bias Claim as John Doe A former Boston University professor may anonymously pursue his Title IX... View Article
Each month, CUPA-HR General Counsel Ira Shepard provides an overview of several labor and employment law cases and regulatory actions with implications for the higher ed workplace. Here’s the latest from Ira. NCAA & Power Conferences Receive Preliminary Approval of Name, Image and Likeness and Anti-Trust Settlement — Ivies Win Dismissal of Anti-Trust Lawsuit A... View Article
On August 16, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the Biden administration’s request to partially overturn preliminary injunctions from lower courts that block the Department of Education from enforcing the administration’s April 2024 Title IX final rule. The decision leaves the preliminary injunctions from the lower district courts in place, preventing the new Title IX... View Article
On August 1, the Biden administration’s Title IX final rule goes into effect, implementing new requirements for compliance with Title IX for institutions of higher education. However, ongoing legal challenges have blocked the rule from taking effect in 26 states, as well as at certain institutions in states that have not sued the Department of... View Article
On July 5, the Biden administration released the Spring 2024 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Action (Regulatory Agenda), providing insights on regulatory and deregulatory activity under development across more than 60 federal departments, agencies and commissions. The Spring 2024 Regulatory Agenda is the first of two that will be released during the calendar year,... View Article
Each month, CUPA-HR General Counsel Ira Shepard provides an overview of several labor and employment law cases and regulatory actions with implications for the higher ed workplace. Here’s the latest from Ira. University of California and UAW Agree to End Grad Student Strike The rolling strike of University of California graduate students at several campuses,... View Article
Updates: On June 17, a federal judge in the Eastern District Court of Kentucky issued a second preliminary injunction against the Title IX rule, blocking the final rule from taking effect on August 1 in Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, Ohio and West Virginia. On June 24, the Biden administration filed a notice of appeal for the preliminary injunction... View Article
On April 19, the Department of Education (ED) released the text of the highly anticipated Title IX final rule. The final rule expands protections against sex-based discrimination to cover sexual orientation, gender identity, and pregnancy or related conditions. The rule also revokes both the Trump administration’s ban on campuses using a single person to investigate... View Article
On April 10, the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) announced it had concluded review of the Department of Education’s (ED) final rule to amend Title IX. OIRA review is the final step in the regulatory process, and we expect the ED will issue the final rule any day now. We will... View Article
On February 2, 2024, the Department of Education (ED) sent its highly anticipated Title IX final rule to the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) for review. OIRA review is the final step before the Title IX rule is published. While ED’s final rule is being reviewed, the public is not provided... View Article
On December 6, the Biden administration released the Fall 2023 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions, providing the public with an update on the regulatory and deregulatory activities under development across approximately 67 federal departments, agencies and commissions. This release is the second and final regulatory agenda for 2023, and it sets target dates... View Article
On June 14, the Biden administration released its Spring 2023 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions (Regulatory Agenda), providing the public with an update on the regulatory and deregulatory activities under development across approximately 67 federal departments, agencies and commissions. This release serves as the first Regulatory Agenda for the 2023 year, setting target... View Article
On May 26, the Department of Education published a blog post stating that the release of the anticipated Title IX final rule will be delayed until at least October 2023. The final rule was previously targeted in the Fall 2022 Regulatory Agenda for May 2023. In the blog post, the department states that they need... View Article
On April 28, the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) will begin enforcing remedies for employer violations of an employee’s right to reasonable break time and space to pump breast milk under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). These remedies were codified into law under the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections (PUMP) for Nursing... View Article
On April 6, the U.S. Department of Education released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on student eligibility for athletic teams under Title IX. The proposed rulemaking focuses on transgender students’ eligibility to participate on athletic teams as legislation and policies at the federal, state and local levels have been introduced to ban transgender student... View Article
On February 17, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued three resource documents on Title IX compliance for school athletic programs. The first resource document covers support for equal opportunity in school athletic programs generally, while the other two cover Title IX and athletic opportunities at K-12 schools and colleges and universities... View Article
Each month, CUPA-HR General Counsel Ira Shepard provides an overview of several labor and employment law cases and regulatory actions with implications for the higher ed workplace. Here’s the latest from Ira. Divided Court of Appeals Rules That Separating Bathrooms By Biological Sex Does Not Violate the Constitution or Title IX — Transgender Student’s Discrimination... View Article
On January 4, 2023, the Biden administration released the anticipated Fall 2022 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions (Regulatory Agenda), providing the public with a detailed glimpse into the regulatory and deregulatory activities under development across approximately 67 federal departments, agencies and commissions. Agendas are generally released in the fall and spring and set... View Article
Each month, CUPA-HR General Counsel Ira Shepard provides an overview of several labor and employment law cases and regulatory actions with implications for the higher ed workplace. Here’s the latest from Ira. University’s Internal Investigation of Pay Equity Claims Protected By Attorney-Client Privilege — EEOC Fails In Attempt to Require Disclosure of Documents A federal district... View Article
On September 12, CUPA-HR submitted comments in response to the Department of Education (DOE)’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to amend Title IX. The NPRM seeks to rollback and replace the Trump administration’s 2020 Title IX rule, specifically with respect to its grievance procedures, and establish expanded protections against sex-based discrimination to cover sexual orientation,... View Article
When August arrives, Congress leaves D.C. and heads to their home districts for the annual August recess period. To keep CUPA-HR members apprised of recent and future actions on the Hill and in federal agencies, here are highlights of the latest actions by Congress, nominations they’ll have to consider when they return, and regulations that... View Article
Each month, CUPA-HR General Counsel Ira Shepard provides an overview of several labor and employment law cases and regulatory actions with implications for the higher ed workplace. Here’s the latest from Ira. Long Awaited Title IX Regulations Issued On Thursday, June 23 the Biden administration’s Department of Education issued its long anticipated new Title IX... View Article
On June 23, the Department of Education released the highly anticipated Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to amend Title IX. The NPRM proposes to replace the Trump administration’s 2020 Title IX rule and establishes safeguards for transgender students by proposing a ban on “all forms of sex discrimination, including discrimination based on sex stereotypes, sex... View Article
Sexual violence is a multi-faceted and difficult topic. Higher ed institutions either enter the conversation before an event of sexual violence has occurred or after it has occurred, leaving the institution scrambling for answers to the campus community as to why it happened in the first place. As part of upcoming Sexual Assault Awareness Month... View Article
Each month, CUPA-HR General Counsel Ira Shepard provides an overview of several labor and employment law cases and regulatory actions with implications for the higher ed workplace. Here’s the latest from Ira. U.S. Supreme Court to Review Harvard and UNC Affirmative Action Admission Policies In Consolidated Case The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear and... View Article
Each month, CUPA-HR General Counsel Ira Shepard provides an overview of several labor and employment law cases and regulatory actions with implications for the higher ed workplace. Here’s the latest from Ira. Union Leaders Are Split Over Vaccine Mandates After a year of cooperation with union leaders over health and safety measures promoting worker safety... View Article
On Thursday July 29, President Biden announced the release of preliminary guidelines for a COVID-19 vaccination mandate for all federal employees. This decision is Biden’s most recent effort to promote vaccination nationwide and combat the spread of the Delta variant. Overview of Vaccination Mandate Guidelines Every federal government employee and onsite contractor will be asked to attest... View Article
On July 20, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a questions-and-answers (Q&A) resource. According to a press release from OCR, “the Q&A clarifies how OCR interprets schools’ existing obligations under the 2020 amendments” and includes an appendix, which “responds to schools’ requests for examples of Title IX procedures that may be... View Article
On June 15 and 16, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) released new resources on federal enforcement of protections against sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year in Bostock v. Clayton County that the bar on workplace discrimination based... View Article
Each month, CUPA-HR General Counsel Ira Shepard provides an overview of several labor and employment law cases and regulatory actions with implications for the higher ed workplace. Here’s the latest from Ira. Supreme Court Agrees to Review First Amendment Free Speech Case Filed by Community College Trustee Opposing His College Board’s Decision to Censure Him ... View Article
On April 6, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a letter outlining plans to review the Trump administration’s final rule on Title IX, which changed how colleges and universities must handle allegations of sexual assault and harassment under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. The letter comes nearly a... View Article
On March 8, President Biden issued an Executive Order (EO) titled, “Guaranteeing an Educational Environment Free from Discrimination on the Basis of Sex, Including Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity.” The EO sets forth the administration’s policy that “all students should be guaranteed an educational environment free from discrimination on the basis of sex, including discrimination... View Article
Each month, CUPA-HR General Counsel Ira Shepard provides an overview of several labor and employment law cases and regulatory actions with implications for the higher ed workplace. Here’s the latest from Ira: Courts Revisiting Telework as a Reasonable Accommodation Under the ADA — Asthmatic Employee Awarded COVID-19 Related Telework Accommodation by Federal Court as a... View Article
On September 9, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced the publication of a final rule that implements President Trump’s Executive Order 13864, Improving Free Inquiry, Transparency, and Accountability at Colleges and Universities. The new rule conditions federal research or education grants on compliance with the First Amendment for public institutions and compliance with stated... View Article
In early August, federal judges in the Southern District of New York and the District of Columbia’s circuit court denied two requests from the State of New York and 18 state attorney generals to delay the August 14 effective date of the new Department of Education Title IX rule while the rule continues to be... View Article
The content in this blog post is for general information purposes only and should not be considered legal advice. Higher ed HR pros are working tirelessly to update institutions’ policies and procedures after the sudden shift of work operations as a result of the public health crisis. On top of this workload, institutions must now... View Article
Each month, CUPA-HR General Counsel Ira Shepard provides an overview of some labor and employment law cases and regulatory actions with implications for the higher ed workplace. Here’s the latest from Ira: Court: Mere “Awareness” of an Employee’s Disability Does Not Ordinarily Satisfy the ADA Request Requirement The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C.... View Article
Key Issues CUPA-HR > Title IX Department of Education Unveils Final Rule on Title IX May 6, 2020 (WASHINGTON INSIDER ALERT) - Today, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) unveiled a final rule changing how colleges and universities must handle allegations of sexual assault and harassment under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.... View Article
Each month, CUPA-HR General Counsel Ira Shepard provides an overview of some labor and employment law cases and regulatory actions with implications for the higher ed workplace. Here’s the latest from Ira: Federal Courts Split on Whether Title IX Provides a Separate Litigation Remedy for Education Workers for Sex Bias in Addition to Title VII... View Article
To fully understand and embrace the changing role of higher ed HR, we must first acknowledge and connect our work to the most pressing challenges of our institutions. At CUPA-HR’s national board of directors meeting in July, we asked the board to identify the most pressing challenges their colleges and universities face. We asked the... View Article
Members OnlyTitle IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, or simply Title IX, prohibits sex-based discrimination in all programs and activities that receive financial assistance from the U.S. Department of Education. Title IX states that: “No person shall, on the basis of gender, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to... View Article