EEOC sued to enforce EEO laws for LGBTQ complaints: A legal services nonprofit cannot challenge the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity’s handling of gender identity discrimination allegations because the agency’s enforcement of federal laws is a core executive function generally insulated from judicial review, EEOC claimed in an Oct. 15 court filing. The agency faces a lawsuit filed by FreeState Justice, a Maryland legal services nonprofit, that alleged EEOC unlawfully “abdicated” its statutory and constitutional obligations to protect transgender workers from discrimination. But permitting the case to move forward would turn the district court into an “overseer that micromanages the Commission’s enforcement process,” violating the constitution’s separation of powers as well as Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, EEOC said. The EEOC also claimed that the plaintiffs’ asserted injuries could not confer standing to sue and that the agency’s alleged “Trans Exclusion Policy” is neither a discrete nor final action under the Administrative Procedure Act, contrary to the plaintiff’s claims. The commission asked the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland to dismiss the complaint. Source: HR Dive 10/20/25
Update on California’s No Robo Bosses Act: The law was vetoed. S.B. 7, also known as the No Robo Bosses Act, was vetoed and sent back to state lawmakers. Governor Newsome expressed concern in a letter to state lawmakers that the bill's provisions were overly restrictive and lacked specificity. "Rather than addressing the specific ways employers misuse this technology, the bill imposes unfocused notification requirements on any business using even the most innocuous tools," Newsom said. "This proposed solution fails to directly address incidents of misuse." The governor added that the measure carried "overly broad restrictions" on employers' use of automated decision systems tools. Source: Law360 10/14/25
New California law targets AI suppliers: California has a new law that will force major AI companies to reveal their safety protocols – marking the end of a lobbying battle with big tech companies like ChatGPT maker OpenAI and Meta and setting the groundwork for a potential national standard. The measure, SB 53, requires some AI developers to publicly disclose their safety and security protocols. It also creates a way for companies and the public to report major safety incidents to the state. The law includes whistleblower protections for AI workers and lays the groundwork for a state-run cloud computing cluster dubbed CalCompute. Some of the bill’s provisions are a policy first anywhere in the world. For example, the law requires public disclosure of security plans and protocols, while the EU AI Act requires such measures to be privately sent to governments. Meanwhile in Congress, Republican Senator Ted Cruz has spearheaded an effort to freeze state AI legislation, vowing to revive the effort after it initially failed to make it into the megabill passed over the summer. Other members of Congress have separately discussed crafting a national AI safety framework with potential carve-outs for state rules. Source: Politico 9/29/25
California requires new employee notice: SB 294 was signed into law. The law requires employers in California to provide a stand-alone written notice of worker rights to each new employee when hired, and annually to all current employees. It also requires the Labor Commissioner to develop and annually update a template notice and related educational materials for California employees and employers. This bill takes effect on January 1, 2026, and requires a template notice to be available on or before that date. Employers have until February 1, 2026, to provide the notice to employees and thereafter provide it annually. Under the law, employers must also allow employees to designate an emergency contact to be notified if the employee is arrested or detained at work or during work hours, and the employer has actual knowledge of the event. This part of the law must be implemented with all current employees by March 30, 2026. The Labor Commissioner and public prosecutors are authorized to enforce the law. Employers who fail to comply may face civil penalties of up to $500 per employee for each violation, and up to $10,000 per employee for certain violations (e.g., failure to notify emergency contacts). Employees, the Labor Commissioner, or public prosecutors may recover penalties, but employers are not subject to duplicative penalties. Source: Jackson Lewis 10/13/25
Have you been catfished? According to a Monster report from September, most workers think so: 79% of respondents said they have been deceived into taking a job that didn’t match the recruiter’s description. “For employers, it often looks like overselling company culture, benefits, or role expectations,” Monster researchers said. More specifically, about half of survey-takers said their on-the-job responsibilities were misrepresented. About 1 in 5 said the workplace culture was different than expected. When job board Greenhouse interviewed talent in the U.K. in 2023, 57% said they had been ghosted by an employer after a job interview. Later that year, Glassdoor also put out a report stating that instances of ghosting had more than doubled since the pandemic began. By 2024, the majority of hiring managers confessed to ghosting job-seekers. Interestingly enough, most employees (67%) believe they work with at least one person who lied about their qualifications. Source: HR Dive 9/18/25
OpenAI alternative to LinkedIn: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has revealed plans to launch a LinkedIn-style job platform and a companion AI certification program that could help millions find jobs. Altman unveiled the initiative during a high-profile dinner at the White House, alongside other major tech CEOs. He confirmed the launch of the AI-powered job matching platform and the certification program aimed at training 10 million Americans by 2030. The company says its job site will be designed to reshape how companies find talent in an increasing AI-driven workforce. The initiative to develop a new AI-forward job platform and certificate program marks a major expansion into hiring, credentialing and workforce development that could, once again, put OpenAI in direct competition with some of its biggest allies. The upcoming OpenAI Jobs Platform will use large language models to match employers with AI-literate candidates. This will include those with entry-level skills to mid-career prompt engineers and senior enterprise automation experts. This initiative could support companies in discovering and hiring talent that understands AI in real world contexts. The platform will also cater to small businesses, nonprofits and state governments looking to modernize their hiring pipelines using generative AI. Source: Tom’s Guide 9/5/25