In recent years, the international community has increasingly focused on the importance of respecting human rights in corporate activities. This trend was driven in part by the United Nations’ adoption of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in 2011, which accelerated the global movement towards holding companies accountable for human rights violations.

On March 14, 2025, in a late Friday decision, a panel of judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled that, for the time being, the Trump Administration is permitted to enforce Executive Orders (EOs) 14151 (Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing) and 14173 (Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity), which prohibit Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) (also referred to as Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility, or DEIA in the EOs) efforts within the federal government and by federal contractors, respectively.

Almost immediately upon taking office, President Donald Trump issued a series of executive orders that signaled a seismic shift in federal policy on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and/or Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA).