The Cost of Conflict: What Organizations Lose When Issues Go Unaddressed

The Cost of Conflict: What Organizations Lose When Issues Go Unaddressed

Legal Update and Educational Luncheon

Thursday, July 16, 2026: 10:45 am - 1:00 pm CT

** NEW LOCATION **

10:45 am to 11:00 am: Check-In

11:30 am to 1:00 pm Speaker Presentation

Legal Update

  Legal Presentation by John Hagan

The End of 'Reverse' Discrimination: DEI Risk After Ames and the 2026 Enforcement Wave

This is the most dominant HR-legal story for 2026 so far. The US Supreme Court unanimously decided in the case, Ames v. Ohio Dept. of Youth Services, that majority-group plaintiffs no longer need to show "background circumstances" and are now evaluated under the same McDonnell Douglas framework as everyone else. Stack that on the March 2025 EEOC/DOJ DEI guidance, EO 14173, the EEOC's June 4, 2026 National Enforcement Plan targeting preference-based programs, the June 9, 2026 DOJ OLC memo questioning disparate-impact liability, and live subpoena fights (Nike) — and HR now has a concrete audit problem.

Learning Objectives:

Explain the holding and reach of Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services (U.S. 2025) — including the Supreme Court's elimination of the "background circumstances" requirement — and articulate why majority-group plaintiffs now proceed under the same McDonnell Douglas framework as any other Title VII claimant.

Analyze how Ames and Muldrow v. City of St. Louis (2024) operate together to lower the threshold for discrimination claims, and distinguish Muldrow's "some harm" standard for discrimination from Burlington Northern's "materially adverse" standard for retaliation when advising managers.

Identify the 2026 federal enforcement posture and the tools driving it — Executive Order 14173, the EEOC/DOJ March 2025 guidance, the EEOC's National Enforcement Plan, administrative subpoenas, pre-suit leverage, and contractor/False Claims Act exposure — and assess what each means for an employer's day-to-day risk.

Distinguish lawful from unlawful DEI program design by applying the access-and-motivation test, recognizing higher-risk features (quotas, diverse-slate requirements, closed-access programs, group-blame training) and converting them to defensible, open-access, merit-based alternatives.

Apply a privileged DEI health check and documentation discipline — including contemporaneous, comparator-consistent records and a 90-day action plan — to position the employer to prevail at summary judgment and to account for Texas-specific overlays (TCHRA parallel claims, SB 17, at-will doctrine, E.D. Tex. venue).

John is an HR lawyer who represents employers and HR professionals. He has been practicing for 25 years. He is both a counselor to HR professionals and trial lawyer who defends them. He is past president of DallasHR, Mid Cities HR and Collin County. He is presently serving as Vice President of Programs at NTSHRM. His wife is a big-time federal prosecutor, and both of their sons are Eagle Scouts.

This program will be submitted for 1.5 SHRM PDC.  North Texas SHRM is recognized by SHRM to offer Professional Development Credits (PDCs) for the SHRM-CP or SHRM-SCP. For more information, visit the SHRM certification website at www.shrmcertification.org.

This program will be submitted for 1.5 General recertification credit hours toward aPHR™, aPHRi™, PHR®, PHRca®, SPHR®, GPHR®, PHRi™, or SPHRi™ recertification through HR Certification Institute® (HRCI®).

North Texas SHRM is recognized by SHRM to offer Professional Development Credits (PDC) for SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP® recertification activities.

HR Certification Institute’s® (www.HRCI.org) official seal confirms that North Texas SHRM meets the criteria for pre-approved recertification credit(s) for any of HRCI’s eight credentials, including SPHR® and PHR®.

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