In today’s News and Commentary, a federal judge declines to block New Jersey’s cannabis labor peace requirements, the EEOC issues a proposed rescission of a rule protecting companies that voluntarily implement affirmative action plans, and Connecticut’s governor ratifies an AI law requiring employers to give notice about their use of AI in employment decision-making.

On Wednesday, Judge Michael A. Shipp of the US District Court for the District of New Jersey issued an unpublished opinion declining to issue a preliminary injunction to block enforcement of a New Jersey law that requires cannabis companies to sign labor peace agreements and bargain with unions in order to qualify for a license. The injunction was sought by Curaleaf Holdings, a British Columbia corporation, and Curaleaf NJ, a Delaware corporation. Curaleaf had signed an initial labor peace agreement with the United Food and Commercial Workers union in 2022, but the parties were unable to agree to new terms ahead of the agreement’s expiration in April 2025. As a result, Curaleaf incurred a $610,000 fine, for which the company sought a preliminary injunction. However, the court found that the “unexplained and tremendous delay” between the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission’s issuance of the violation notice in May 2025 and subsequent enforcement notice in August, and the filing of Curaleaf’s complaint and motion for a preliminary injunction in October 2025, “alone is fatal” to Curaleaf’s motion and reason for the court to find no irreparable harm. Judge Shipp declined the commission’s motion to dismiss Curaleaf’s complaint, finding that Curaleaf demonstrated a likelihood of success on the merits that the NLRA preempts the New Jersey state law.

Also on Wednesday, the EEOC submitted a notice of proposed rescission for the agency’s 1979 interpretive rule “Affirmative Action Appropriate Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.” The regulation was passed to provide clarity and protection for companies voluntarily seeking to implement affirmative action plans in response to “reverse discrimination” challenges raised as inconsistent with Title VII due to employment actions accounting for race, sex, or national origin. The interpretive rule stated that Congress’s purpose in enacting Title VII was to improve the “economic and social conditions of minorities and women by providing equality of opportunity in the workplace,” and that as a result employers should take voluntary action “to correct the effects of past discrimination” without awaiting litigation. Affirmative action plans adopted in good faith and in conformity with EEOC guidelines were protected against Title VII liability under this regulation. Elimination of this rule is expected to bolster lawsuits challenging DEI initiatives.

On Friday, it was announced that Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont has signed SB 5 An Act Concerning Online Safety, a bipartisan bill that was passed by the state legislature on May 1, 2026. The sweeping new law includes a section requiring that businesses notify employees and job applicants about the company’s use of automation in employment decisions. This includes notice about the sources and types of personal data that are factored into decisions. The law puts Connecticut alongside California, Colorado, and Illinois as one in a handful of states putting safeguards in place regarding employers’ use of AI tools in hiring and firing. The Connecticut law further makes it mandatory for employers to notify the state’s Labor Department if a mass layoff or plant closure results from the adoption of AI or other automation tools.