Equal Employment Opportunity Commission targets law firms over DEI practices

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has sent letters to 20 top law firms demanding information about their employment practices, a sign it plans to target their diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs.

The letter from acting EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas, appointed by President Trump the day after his inauguration, said firms’ efforts to diversify their workforce could violate employment laws.

“The EEOC is prepared to root out discrimination anywhere it may rear its head, including in our nation’s elite law firms,” Lucas said in a statement.

“No one is above the law — and certainly not the private bar.”

The letter is the first major action from the EEOC targeting DEI programs, coming at a time where Trump critics fear the administration will turn the agency on its head. The commission was designed to investigate workplace discrimination claims, including those based on race, age and sex. Many of those complaints have traditionally focused on employment practices that exclude minorities.

It also comes as the Trump administration has singled out law firms for their past work, using executive orders to strip a security clearance from one attorney at Covington & Burling. A broader order targeting Perkins Coie stripped the firm’s clearances and included language that would largely bar its attorneys from federal buildings. Perkins Coie has sued over the executive order.

While Covington & Burling was not among the 20 firms contacted by the EEOC, Perkins Coie was, and the firm did not respond to a request for comment.

Trump on his first full day in office signed an executive order directing Attorney General Pam Bondi to organize a list of private-sector companies that are among “the most egregious and discriminatory DEI practitioners.”

Other actions taken by Lucas since her appointment include a directive to focus its gender discrimination work on “defend[ing] the biological and binary reality of sex and related rights, including women’s rights to single-sex spaces at work.”

She also said she would work to “protect American workers from anti-American bias” and accused some employers of having “policies and practices preferring illegal aliens.”

Topics

Private equity wants a larger piece of the $12.5 trillion workplace retirement plan market

With the new Trump administration, private equity firms see a greater opportunity in the $12.5 trillion in assets in employer-sponsored retirement plans.
CNBC - Mar. 11
Law firm sues Trump administration after executive order targeting its attorneys

Perkins Coie has filed suit against the Trump administration over an executive order that targeted the firm for its work representing Clinton's 2016 campaign.
ABC News - Mar. 11
Trump Targeting Law Firms Raises Constitutional Concerns

The way Trump targeted the firms could go against of the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment.
Inc. - Mar. 9
Judge blocks 'unlawful' Trump order targeting Clinton 2016 law firm

A federal judge entered an emergency order barring the Trump administration from implementing parts of its executive order targeting the law firm Perkins Coie.
ABC News - 6d
Best Employers: UK

In this report, we highlight the FT’s ranking of the 500 best employers in the UK. Plus: employers rethink what makes a workplace desirable; healthcare pay lags behind worker commitment; ...
Financial Times - Mar. 10
Trump’s battle with Washington law firm Perkins Coie, explained

The battle between President Trump and a prominent Washington law firm has taken a new turn this week, as a judge intervenes to pause Trump’s actions. The controversy kicked off when Trump targeted ...
The Hill - 4d
Trump signs executive order targeting 3rd law firm

President Donald Trump signed an executive order suspending security clearances of Mark Pomerantz and those who work at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison.
ABC News - 3d
Judge blocks parts of Trump executive order targeting law firm Perkins Coie

U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell issued a temporary restraining order that stops three parts of Trump's executive order from being implemented against the law firm Perkins Coie.
CBS News - 6d
Trump’s Big Law crackdown sends chill through legal industry

Executive orders encompass firms’ diversity policies as well targeting those who acted for his opponents
Financial Times - 6d