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Kris D. Meade

Partner | He/Him/His
Partner | He/Him/His
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Areas of Focus

Overview

Compliance with employment laws and regulations is always a challenge — particularly when an employer’s workforce is highly skilled, mobile, and innovation-focused. With an emphasis on technology, consulting, health care, higher education, and other information-driven industries, Kris works with boards of directors and senior corporate leadership to achieve their business goals through development of effective strategies focused on critical areas, including pay equity, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning in making employment decisions, developing and maintaining diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs that comply with federal law, and retention of top talent. With regard to DEI, Kris has been conducting full assessments of client DEI programs, including employment programs and supplier diversity programs, to ensure compliance with the Executive Orders (EOs) issued by the current administration, with a particular focus on ensuring clients can certify compliance with all federal anti-discrimination laws.

Kris has decades of experience as a trusted advisor to leading multinational corporations and is a highly regarded labor and employment thought leader. With equal facility, he collaborates with senior executives, regulators, employee representatives, labor economists, and industrial and organizational psychologists to help businesses develop, implement, and manage forward-thinking, proactive employment policies and initiatives.

Among other issues, Kris conducts assessments of DEI programs following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the Harvard/UNC cases and in light of the Trump Administration's executive orders; gender‐, race‐ and age‐based claims of systemic discrimination; environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives; human capital reporting requirements; the use of AI and predictive analytics tools in hiring, training, promotion, and other employment processes; privacy standards and frameworks; and legislative advocacy and policy development.

Based in Washington, D.C., Kris has developed highly effective relationships with federal and state regulators across the country. Believing that action must be based on information, Kris has authored hundreds of articles, client alerts, and blog posts and speaks frequently before industry and legal groups on labor and employment regulation, compliance, litigation, and strategy.

Kris serves as a member of the Firm's Management Board, as co-chair of Crowell’s Regulatory and Policy Department, and co-chair of the Labor and Employment Group.

Career & Education

    • The George Washington University Law School, J.D., honors
    • University of Michigan, B.A., summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa
    • The George Washington University Law School, J.D., honors
    • University of Michigan, B.A., summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa

    • District of Columbia
    • Maryland
    • District of Columbia
    • Maryland

Kris's Insights

Client Alert | 3 min read | 06.12.26

DOJ Guidance Backs Away From Disparate Impact Liability

On June 9, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a formal opinion concluding that the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission’s (EEOC) existing interpretations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) disparate-impact liability, including the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (UGESP), are unconstitutional. According to the opinion, EEOC’s prior interpretations contemplate liability based on disproportionately adverse effects alone, without regard to an employer’s likely intent, rather than treating disparate impact as an evidentiary mechanism to “smoke out” intentional discrimination. DOJ found that this approach functions as a “qualified racial-proportionality mandate” that places “a racial thumb on the scales, often requiring employers to evaluate the racial outcomes of their policies, and to make decisions based on (because of) those racial outcomes.” The opinion fulfills one mandate of Executive Order 14281, which rejected disparate-impact liability insofar as it “creates a near insurmountable presumption that unlawful discrimination exists wherever there are any differences in outcomes among different [demographic groups].”...

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Recognition

  • Chambers USA: Labor and Employment, District of Columbia, 2020–2026
  • The National Law Journal: Crisis Leadership Trailblazer, 2021
  • The Best Lawyers in America: Litigation - Labor and Employment, Washington, D.C., 2022–2026

Kris's Insights

Client Alert | 3 min read | 06.12.26

DOJ Guidance Backs Away From Disparate Impact Liability

On June 9, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a formal opinion concluding that the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission’s (EEOC) existing interpretations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) disparate-impact liability, including the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (UGESP), are unconstitutional. According to the opinion, EEOC’s prior interpretations contemplate liability based on disproportionately adverse effects alone, without regard to an employer’s likely intent, rather than treating disparate impact as an evidentiary mechanism to “smoke out” intentional discrimination. DOJ found that this approach functions as a “qualified racial-proportionality mandate” that places “a racial thumb on the scales, often requiring employers to evaluate the racial outcomes of their policies, and to make decisions based on (because of) those racial outcomes.” The opinion fulfills one mandate of Executive Order 14281, which rejected disparate-impact liability insofar as it “creates a near insurmountable presumption that unlawful discrimination exists wherever there are any differences in outcomes among different [demographic groups].”...

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Insights

Client Alert | 3 min read | 06.12.26

DOJ Guidance Backs Away From Disparate Impact Liability

Firm News | 7 min read | 06.04.26

Crowell & Moring Secures Top Rankings in Chambers USA 2026

Client Alert | 5 min read | 06.04.26

EU Pay Transparency Directive: The Transposition Deadline is Looming — What Now?

Blog Post | 04.22.26

FAR Council Issues Deviation Implementing EO 14398 With FAR 52.222-90 — DEI Restrictions on Federal Contractors

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Practices

Industries

Kris's Insights

Client Alert | 3 min read | 06.12.26

DOJ Guidance Backs Away From Disparate Impact Liability

On June 9, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a formal opinion concluding that the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission’s (EEOC) existing interpretations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) disparate-impact liability, including the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (UGESP), are unconstitutional. According to the opinion, EEOC’s prior interpretations contemplate liability based on disproportionately adverse effects alone, without regard to an employer’s likely intent, rather than treating disparate impact as an evidentiary mechanism to “smoke out” intentional discrimination. DOJ found that this approach functions as a “qualified racial-proportionality mandate” that places “a racial thumb on the scales, often requiring employers to evaluate the racial outcomes of their policies, and to make decisions based on (because of) those racial outcomes.” The opinion fulfills one mandate of Executive Order 14281, which rejected disparate-impact liability insofar as it “creates a near insurmountable presumption that unlawful discrimination exists wherever there are any differences in outcomes among different [demographic groups].”...

View All Insights