By Vin Gurrieri

A Sixth Circuit panel split over a challenge to a school district's policy banning students from misgendering each other, the Labor Department issued guidance outlining the process for federal contractors to expedite the resolution of bias claims and New Hampshire joined the list of states that ban hair-based discrimination. Here, Law360 catches you up on three developments that flew under the radar. 

By Emmy Freedman

A new law in Puerto Rico makes it illegal to discriminate against people who wear their hair in braids, twists or any style associated with a particular race, bringing the commonwealth in line with about two dozen mainland states with similar statutes.

By Grace Elletson

An Alabama federal judge denied Thursday a Black former mail clerk's request that she be given her old job back after an $800,000 jury verdict finding a staffing agency fired her for complaining about biased hairstyle policies, saying that returning to a temporary gig wouldn't make sense.

By Anne Cullen

A Texas state judge recently ruled that a school district's policy barring a Black student from wearing locs did not violate a state law prohibiting discrimination based on hairstyles tied to race. However, experts said employers shouldn't interpret that decision as a sign that restrictive grooming policies will pass muster.

By Amanda Ottaway

Workplace discrimination experts say they will be keeping a close eye in the new year on artificial intelligence, the tension between religious rights and bias law, employer diversity programs and a bevy of novel legal protections. Here are four discrimination issues to watch.

By Benjamin Morse

Employers are barred from discriminating against workers based on their hairstyle or hair texture under an ordinance passed this week in Lawrence, Kansas.

By Benjamin Morse

Two lawmakers in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives introduced a bill that would stop employers from discriminating against workers based on their hairstyle or hair texture.

By Benjamin Morse

Michigan is barring employers from discriminating against workers based on their hair texture and style under a bill signed into law Thursday by Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. 

By Benjamin Morse

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill prohibiting employers from engaging in race-based hair discrimination, following 20 states that have adopted similar measures.

By Vin Gurrieri

CROWN Act legislation outlawing race-based hair discrimination has gained momentum since California became the first state to adopt such a law nearly five years ago, with numerous states and municipalities enacting their own variation and over a dozen more states considering bills. Here, find more information about Law360's new CROWN Act Tracker that includes an interactive, nationwide map that shows where variations of the law exist.

By Emmy Freedman

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs signed an executive order prohibiting state agencies from discriminating against workers who wear their hair in braids, twists or any style associated with a particular race.

By May Olvera

Legislation to protect workers against race-based hairstyle discrimination cleared the Minnesota Senate, leaving the Democratic governor's signature as the only remaining hurdle to the bill becoming law.

By Celeste Bott

Legislation taking effect this year in Illinois includes changes to leave law with which Prairie State employers should be ready to comply, which attorneys say reflects a growing trend to give employees more time off to deal with personal crises.

By Anna Sanders

Even as more attorneys of color wear braids, locs and other natural hairstyles at work, many say they're still fighting pressure to conform to racist standards of beauty and professionalism in the legal industry.

By May Olvera

Employers in Tennessee are prohibited from discriminating against workers based on hairstyles like braids and locs under a new law that kicked in this month.

By Vin Gurrieri

Although Democrats in the House have pushed through numerous parts of President Joe Biden's ambitious pro-worker agenda, including bills significantly expanding civil rights protections for American workers, the fate of those legislative proposals remains cloudy in an evenly divided Senate. Here, Law360 looks at five bills employers should keep tabs on in the second half of 2022.

By Iván Resendiz Gutierrez and Rebecca Schach

Given the U.S. House of Representatives’ recent passage of a bill that would ban race-based hair discrimination in workplaces, as well as the proliferation of similar legislation in states, employers should review their grooming and appearance policies to ensure they are facially neutral and to eliminate any proxies for race, say Iván Resendiz Gutierrez and Rebecca Schach at Miller Nash.

By Bill Dugan, Damiya Park and Remy Snead

As employees returning to in-person work may be rusty when it comes to interacting with others in the same physical space, employers should work to prevent instances of discrimination and harassment between workers by taking steps such as updating policies and providing regular training, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

By Patrick Hoff

A bill that would prohibit race-based hair discrimination in the workplace passed the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday and headed to the Senate, just days after the White House threw its support behind the legislation.

By May Olvera

President Joe Biden's administration threw its support Tuesday behind a bill that would protect workers against race-based hair discrimination, a Democratic-sponsored measure that failed to clear the House of Representatives this month.