Category Archives: Social Justice

DOJ Announces Civil Rights Fraud Initiative: Department Will Seek To Use The False Claims Act To Enforce Civil Rights Laws Against Universities And Government Contractors

by Debo P. Adegbile, Christopher Babbitt, Brian Boynton, Lisa Brown, Kevin Lamb, and Brenda E. Lee

Top left to right: Debo P. Adegibile, Christopher Babbitt, Brian Boynton, Lisa Brown, Kevin Lamb, Brenda E. Lee (photos courtesy of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP)

On May 19, 2025, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche announced a new Civil Rights Fraud Initiative within the Department of Justice to “utilize the False Claims Act to investigate and, as appropriate, pursue claims against any recipient of federal funds that knowingly violates federal civil rights laws.”

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BlackRock’s Voting Choice Program Expands to Accommodate Diverging Client Priorities with More Tailored Voting Guidelines

by Adam O. Emmerich, David A. Katz, Karessa L. Cain, Elina Tetelbaum, and Carmen X. W. Lu

Left to right: Adam O. Emmerich, David A. Katz, Karessa L. Cain, Elina Tetelbaum and Carmen X. W. Lu. (Photos courtesy of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz)

In recent years, one of the most significant developments in corporate governance has been the adoption and expansion of voting choice programs by the largest institutional investors. Such changes have come in response to growing scrutiny and pressure from asset owners and regulators with diametrically opposed and fervently held views on the role of environmental and social issues such as climate change and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in investment decisions. In furtherance of this trend, BlackRock has now adopted separate voting guidelines tailored towards specific funds and investors.

Early this month, BlackRock released climate and decarbonization stewardship guidelines for its funds with explicit decarbonization or climate-related investment objectives or other funds where clients have instructed BlackRock to apply these guidelines to their holdings. These new guidelines will supplement BlackRock’s benchmark policies applicable to all assets under management and will focus attention on how companies have aligned their business model and strategies to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. A total of 83 funds with $150 billion of combined assets are expected to be covered by the new guidelines. BlackRock has indicated that it will apply the guidelines to those companies held by covered funds and clients who have opted into the guidelines and that produce goods and services that “contribute to real world decarbonization,” have a “carbon intensive business model” or face “outsized impacts from the low carbon transition,” based on their Scopes 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas emissions.

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DEI Initiatives Post-SFFA: Considerations for Boards and Management

by Martin Lipton, John F. Savarese, Adam J. Shapiro, Erica E. Bonnett, Noah B. Yavitz, and Carmen X. W. Lu

Top left to right: Martin Lipton, John F. Savarese, and Adam J. Shapiro.
Bottom left to right: Erica E. Bonnett, Noah B. Yavitz, and Carmen X. W. Lu
(Photos courtesy of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz)

It is no secret that American corporations face vigorous — and often conflicting — demands concerning diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. Over the past year, DEI initiatives and commitments have come under pressure in the face of macroeconomic headwinds, political scrutiny and legal challenges. That pressure has only grown following the Supreme Court’s recent decision against affirmative action in SFFA v. Harvard (as discussed in our prior memo), after which Attorneys General from both red and blue states sent conflicting letters to Fortune 100 companies on what the SFFA decision meant for corporate DEI initiatives.

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The Supreme Court’s Upcoming Affirmative Action Decision: Potential Implications for Private-Sector Employers

by Jyotin Hamid, Simone S. Hicks, Mary Beth Hogan, Arian M. June, Tricia Bozyk Sherno, Rachel Tennell, and Katelyn Masket

Top row from left to right: Jyotin Hamid, Simone S. Hicks, Mary Beth Hogan, and Arian M. June.
Bottom row from left to right: Tricia Bozyk Sherno, Rachel Tennell, and Katelyn Masket.
(Photos courtesy of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP)

The Supreme Court of the United States is expected to issue a widely anticipated decision next month concerning the permissibility of race-conscious affirmative action in higher education in the Harvard College and University of North Carolina cases.[1] Although these cases arise in the context of education, not employment, and do not formally concern laws governing private-sector employment, we expect that the decision may have far-reaching implications for how courts, lawmakers, employers, and employees address efforts to promote diversity in private-sector workplaces. In particular, the decision may have an impact on how employers navigate the line between permissible efforts to promote workplace diversity and avoiding so-called “reverse discrimination” lawsuits brought by employees who may claim that they are disadvantaged by such efforts.

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FTC Warns Companies about Generative AI

by Kirk J. Nahra, Arianna Evers, Ali A. Jessani, and Roma Gujarathi

From left to right: Kirk J. Nahra, Arianna Evers, Ali A. Jessani, and Roma Gujarathi (Photos courtesy of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP)

On May 1, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released a blog post cautioning companies about the use of generative AI tools to change consumer behavior. Generative AI is a subset of AI that can generate new text, images, and other media based on patterns learned from existing data. The machine-generated content often feels authentic and realistic and is convincingly similar to that of a real human.

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Legal Dispute Surrounding Abortion Pill Has Significant Implications for Broader Healthcare Industry

by Andrew L. Bab, Maura Kathleen Monaghan, Paul D. Rubin, Shannon Rose Selden, Kim T. Le, Jacob W. Stahl, Adam Aukland-Peck, Prakriti Luthra, Melissa Runsten, and Charlotte Blatt

From top left to right: Andrew L. Bab, Maura Kathleen Monaghan, Paul D. Rubin, Shannon Rose Selden, and Kim T. Le.
From bottom left to right: Jacob W. Stahl, Adam Aukland-Peck, Prakriti Luthra, Melissa Runsten, and Charlotte Blatt. (Photos courtesy of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP)

On November 18, 2022, the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine and several other plaintiffs (“Plaintiffs”) filed suit in federal court against the Food and Drug Administration (the “FDA”), seeking to overturn the FDA’s approval of mifepristone, a drug commonly used for medication abortions, as well as in the management of miscarriage and in the treatment of certain diseases (the “AHM Litigation”). After expedited briefing and a hearing, Northern District of Texas Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk issued a preliminary order that would effectively remove mifepristone from the market nationwide for use in the termination of pregnancy. The court signaled its belief that both the FDA’s initial approval and its subsequent decision to eliminate certain restrictions on its use were arbitrary and capricious because the FDA had allegedly failed to consider relevant safety data.

While the merits of this case have yet to be fully litigated—and the Supreme Court has temporarily preserved the status quo—this case may have significant implications for the broader healthcare industry, including FDA-regulated entities as well as providers, insurers, and even companies that subsidize healthcare for their employees.

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Federal Agencies Will Jointly Look for Bias and Discrimination in AI

by Bradford Hardin, K.C. Halm, Aisha Smith, and Matt Jedreski

From left to right: Bradford Hardin, K.C. Halm, Aisha Smith, and Matt Jedreski (photos courtesy of David Wright Tremaine LLP)

DOJ, FTC, CFPB, and EEOC Announce Joint Commitment to Use Existing Consumer Protection and Employment Authority to Oversee Use of Artificial Intelligence

On April 25, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released a joint statement highlighting their commitment to “vigorously use [their] collective authorities to protect individuals” with respect to artificial intelligence and automated systems (AI), which have the potential to negatively impact civil rights, fair competition, consumer protection, and equal opportunity. These regulators intend to use their existing authority to enforce consumer protection and employment laws, which apply regardless of the technology used for making decisions or delivering products and services. The joint statement outlines several key areas of focus for the agencies – ensuring that AI does not result in discriminatory outcomes, protecting consumers from unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices (UDAAP), preventing anticompetitive practices that may be facilitated or exacerbated by AI, and promoting responsible and transparent development of AI systems. Rather than operate as if AI is unregulated, businesses should ensure their use of AI complies with existing laws and regulations.

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NYC’s AI Hiring Law Is Now Final and Effective July 5, 2023

by Avi Gesser, Anna Gressel, Jyotin Hamid, Tricia Bozyk Sherno, and Basil Fawaz

From left to right: Avi Gesser, Anna Gressel, Jyotin Hamid, and Tricia Bozyk Sherno (Photos courtesy of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP)

The New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (the “DCWP”) has adopted final rules (the “Final Rules”) regulating the use of artificial intelligence for hiring practices. The DCWP’s Automated Employment Decision Tool Law (the “AEDT Law” or the “Law”) requires covered employers to conduct annual independent bias audits and to post public summaries of those results. To recap, the DCWP released an initial set of proposed rules on September 23, 2022, and held a public hearing on November 4, 2022. Due to the high volume of comments expressing concern over the Law’s lack of clarity, the DCWP issued a revised set of proposed rules on December 23, 2022, and held a second public hearing on January 23, 2023. After issuing the Final Rules, the DCWP delayed enforcement of the Law for the second time from April 15, 2023 to July 5, 2023.

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Notes from IAPP’s Global Privacy Summit 2023: Skynet Will Not Become Self-Aware (But Still Presents Risks) and the CFPB Seeks to Hold Individuals Accountable

by Joseph Facciponti

Joseph Facciponti (photo courtesy of the author)

The NYU Law Program on Corporate Compliance and Enforcement’s Executive Director attended the International Association of Privacy Professional‘s annual Global Privacy Summit in Washington, D.C., earlier this week. This post provides observations and highlights from the conference.

CFPB Director Rohit Chopra Highlights Priorities for Enforcement Policy, FinTech, and “Dark Patterns”

In a fireside chat, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Rohit Chopra outlined key concerns and enforcement priorities for the agency.

On the subject of cryptocurrencies and banking, Director Chopra opined that much of the discussion around crypto was a “distraction” and that one actual source of his concern in this area was the comingling of banking and technology. Using as an example what he characterized as Meta’s “brazen” attempt to create its own currency – the unsuccessful Libra project – he highlighted widely-used technology-driven payment systems such as Apple Pay, Venmo, WeChat Pay, and others as posing potential privacy, safety and soundness, and fairness risks to consumers. For example, with the recent banking crisis as a backdrop, Director Chopra asked what would happen if there was a run on one of these payment systems, and what would happen to any money that consumers had stored with the networks. In a similar vein, Director Chopra inquired about the state of consumers’ rights to dispute fraudulent transactions on digital payment networks, wishing to see something similar to the rights consumers currently have with credit cards.

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