Businesses under consent decrees for violating federal anti-discrimination laws, including fairness in lending and hiring laws, may be off the hook under a sweeping executive order (EO) issued by President Donald Trump last month. The EO, aimed at furthering his agenda of dismantling protections against discrimination, says all agencies “shall evaluate” existing agreements by the end of July. The sprawling order, “Restoring equality of opportunity and meritocracy,” issued April 23, could bring pending investigations to a halt as well.
The EO’s impacts come from its broad language, ordering federal agencies to stop using a legal tool, called “disparate-impact liability,” which is aimed at fighting discrimination against historically disadvantaged groups. Trump, in his EO, argued that this approach has “hindered businesses from making hiring and other employment decisions based on merit and skill, their needs, or the needs of their customers.”
