New Lawsuit Demands EEOC Records on White Men’s Discrimination Complaints

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 8, 2026

Media Contacts 
Communications@naacpnet.org 
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LCrawford@lawyerscommittee.org

WASHINGTON – Today, the NAACP, represented by Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law and Lawyers for Good Government, filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for records concerning the agency's solicitation of discrimination complaints by white males related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. The Lawyers' Committee initially submitted the FOIA request on March 9 with an April 20 deadline for the EEOC's response. The civil rights organizations sought the records to shed light on whether the EEOC is treating complainants differently based on their race or sex.

The EEOC failed to provide any responsive documents or a determination on the request. The EEOC's failure to respond allows the NAACP to file a lawsuit asking a court to require the agency to produce responsive records.

The Lawyers' Committee and NAACP sought the information based on significant concerns over the EEOC's focus on investigating discrimination complaints brought by white men.

While anti-discrimination laws protect all individuals, including white men who file EEOC complaints, the actions of the chair mirror the administration's larger strategy of dismantling efforts to advance Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion by casting related initiatives as harmful toward white men. 

"The administration's campaign to eliminate DEI initiatives weaponizes a false, divisive narrative and risks ignoring the lived experiences of Black people and other workers who may encounter workplace discrimination," said Shaylyn Cochran, deputy executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. "Chair Lucas's statements suggesting that the EEOC is prioritizing claims brought by white men feed this narrative and have the potential to fracture workforces and impede progress. All the while, attacks on DEI distract and conceal the actual, systemic drivers of disenfranchisement impacting the working poor and other vulnerable communities — especially, discrimination,  stagnant wages, weakened labor unions, and eroded workplace protections."

Contrary to the administration's misrepresentations about DEI, lawful diversity, equity and inclusion practices are not about dictating hiring decisions or filling quotas. These are programs and practices that help ensure employers are fulfilling their civil rights duties and creating safe workspaces. DEI practices convey the view that the exclusion of historically disadvantaged groups is undesirable. They are designed to eliminate barriers to economic opportunity for everyone, rather than only some, so that qualified people are not shut out of job opportunities.

"The EEOC was created to uphold civil rights laws and ensure equal protection against workplace discrimination — not to advance a political agenda," said Kristen Clarke, General Counsel of the NAACP. "The agency's failure to respond to this FOIA request raises serious concerns about transparency and whether its enforcement priorities are being shaped in a way that undermines protections for those who have historically faced the greatest barriers, including Black workers. The public deserves answers about how these decisions are being made."

Yet the EEOC, under Chair Andrea R. Lucas, has systematically maligned DEI protections to push the myth that these protections equate to rampant anti-white male discrimination in the workplace. Chair Lucas in March 2025 sent  letters to 20 law firms requesting comprehensive and detailed information about their "DEI-related employment practices," which spurred a lawsuit and an ethics complaint against Lucas. The Chair's decision to highlight anti-white male discrimination falls in line with the larger push under the administration to dismantle civil rights protections, including lawful DEI measures. This includes the president's issuance of anti-DEI executive orders within the first two days of office and the gutting or weaponizing of the Offices for Civil Rights across federal agencies. 

"The EEOC was established by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to enforce federal anti-discrimination protections equally and fairly," said Katy Yorker, director of the Economic Justice Project at the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. "The EEOC's failure to produce records related to its decision to highlight discrimination claims by white men or its classification and handling of discrimination complaints is troubling and shows a total disregard for the public's right to information. With this lawsuit, the Lawyers' Committee and NAACP seek transparency." 

"The public has a right to understand how and why the EEOC is setting its enforcement priorities, particularly when those priorities could reshape how workplace discrimination laws are interpreted and enforced across the country," said Amy Powell, litigation director at Lawyers for Good Government. "Transparency is not optional. If the government is making significant policy decisions that affect millions of workers, the public deserves access to the records that informed those decisions." 

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About the NAACP

The NAACP advocates, agitates, and litigates for the civil rights due to Black America. Our legacy is built on the foundation of grassroots activism by the biggest civil rights pioneers of the 20th century and is sustained by 21st century activists. From classrooms and courtrooms to city halls and Congress, our network of members across the country works to secure the social and political power that will end race-based discrimination. That work is rooted in racial equity, civic engagement, and supportive policies and institutions for all marginalized people. We are committed to a world without racism where Black people enjoy equitable opportunities in thriving communities.

NOTE: The Legal Defense Fund – also referred to as the NAACP-LDF - was founded in 1940 as a part of the NAACP, but now operates as a completely separate entity.

About the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law: Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to mobilize the nation's leading lawyers as agents for change in the Civil Rights Movement. Today, the Lawyers' Committee uses legal advocacy to achieve racial justice, fighting inside and outside the courts to ensure that Black people and other people of color have the voice, opportunity, and power to make the promises of our democracy real. The Lawyers' Committee implements its mission and objectives by marshaling the pro bono resources of the bar for litigation, public policy, advocacy and other forms of service by lawyers to the cause of civil rights.