A Year After Trump's Election, a Look at Pushback From GCs, Companies
In the year since Trump's election, companies and their GCs have been vocal about opposing several of his policies, often using the courts to make their point.
November 06, 2017 at 05:44 PM
3 minute read
President Donald Trump. Courtesy Photo: The White House.
Since winning the White House one year ago this week, President Donald Trump's actions have energized numerous groups, including the general counsel of major companies that have gone to court to oppose him on several key issues. This list shows the fight usually involves human rights. From opposing Trump's actions on immigration to supporting LGBTQ rights, here's a quick look at the most significant ways GCs and their corporations have taken anti-Trump legal stances so far this year:
* MARCH: More than 120 companies signed friend-of-the-court briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court opposing Trump's executive order banning travel from six predominantly Muslim countries. Many of the signers were tech companies, including Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Google Inc.
* MARCH: More than 50 companies filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of a sex discrimination claim filed by a transgender teenager. After the Trump administration changed policies on transgender rights and announced it would oppose the teenager, the Supreme Court removed the case from its hearing docket.
* JUNE: More than 50 major companies filed an amicus brief urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York to agree that protection for gays and lesbians is implicit in the Civil Rights Act. In this case Trump's Department of Justice is backing an employer who fired a gay worker, and argues that the law does not apply to sexual orientation.
* SEPTEMBER: More than 300 entrepreneurs and business leaders, including 18 general counsel, signed an open letter to Congress urging the reversal of Trump's decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The program allowed hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants, called “Dreamers,” to come forward, become educated and hold jobs without fear of being deported.
* SEPTEMBER: Brad Smith, chief legal officer at Microsoft, published a statement saying his company would “vigorously defend the legal rights of all Dreamers.” And if the government tries to deport Dreamers who are employees, the company “will provide and pay for their legal counsel … [and] we will be by their side” in court.
* OCTOBER: In a letter sent to Congress, more than 100 human resource chiefs and companies urged support for legislation to continue DACA. Companies represented included IBM Corp., CVS Health and General Electric Co.
* NOVEMBER: Some 108 companies filed a friend-of-the-court brief alleging that DACA's repeal would be arbitrary and capricious and that it would inflict significant harm on U.S. companies and the economy. The suit is pending in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco.
* NOVEMBER: Microsoft teamed up with Princeton University and a Princeton student to file a lawsuit of their own challenging Trump's decision to end DACA. The suit is pending in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
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