In today’s news and commentary, the Ninth Circuit upholds a preliminary injunction against the Trump Administration, a federal judge vacates parts of the EEOC’s pregnancy accommodation rules, and video game workers reach a tentative agreement with Microsoft. 

In a 2-1 decision issued on Friday, the Ninth Circuit upheld a preliminary injunction against the Trump Administration in AFGE v. Trump. The plaintiffs, a large coalition of unions, non-profits, and local governments, filed a broad challenge to EO 14210, which sought to terminate federal workers across 20 agencies in a “critical transformation of the Federal bureaucracy.” On May 22, U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston issued a preliminary injunction, writing that the president could only restructure agencies with Congressional authorization. Two Circuit judges agreed that EO 14210 “far exceeds the president’s supervisory powers,” rejecting the government’s motion to stay the injunction. For now, the order prevents large-scale terminations across the federal government from proceeding. 

In Louisiana, a federal judge struck down regulations by the EEOC that categorized abortion as a pregnancy-related condition. The regulations implemented the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act of 2022, which requires employers to provide time off for medical appointments and other accommodations for pregnancy related conditions. The district court found that the EEOC’s rule implicated the major questions doctrine. The Trump Administration is unlikely to appeal the ruling, especially after President Trump fired two of the EEOC’s Democrat-appointed Commissioners. 

Meanwhile, the Communications Workers of America announced that a union of ZeniMax video game employees has reached a tentative agreement with Microsoft, which acquired ZeniMax in 2021. If the contract is signed, it would be the first union contract in the gaming industry, and Microsoft’s first union contract in the United States. The contract includes provisions for a 13.5% pay raise on July 1, incorporates terms around the use of artificial intelligence, and institutes minimum pay for different categories of jobs. Union members are scheduled to vote on the contract on June 20. Since ZeniMax workers joined to form Microsoft’s first official U.S. union in 2023, a large number of other Microsoft employees have also unionized.