Sectors
Foley & Lardner LLP partner Donald Schroeder commented on the Trump administration’s recent executive order deprioritizing disparate impact in discrimination cases related to reductions-in-force in the Law360 article, “Feds’ Shift Doesn’t Remove Disparate Impact Risk From RIFs.”
Despite the order, Schroeder cautioned employers not to skip statistical analyses when planning reductions-in-force, noting, “Regardless of what administration you’re in, I think it’s good to be vigilant in ensuring that you do this analysis prior to implementing a reduction in force.”
He added that a “natural progression” is that as the federal government scales back scrutiny, more disparate‑impact cases shift to state courts.
“States still do have, and still are implementing, a wide range of protections for employees that go above and beyond federal law. So, I think that the likelihood of seeing more state cases certainly goes up in the next few years,” Schroeder emphasized.
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