NWLC files FOIA requests, demanding answers on EEOC changes

(Washington, D.C. April 15) — Today, the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) filed Freedom of Information Act requests to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) seeking information on recent actions that threaten the agency’s independence and undermine the enforcement of workers’ civil rights protections. 

As the primary federal agency responsible for enforcing workplace civil rights laws, the EEOC receives thousands of charges of discrimination each year and secures millions of dollars of relief for workers with substantiated complaints. Among other things, NWLC is seeking information related to:

  • President Trump’s unlawful and unprecedented dismissal of two EEOC commissioners.
  • The possible termination of leases on eight EEOC field offices targeted by the Department of Government Efficiency, which serve as the first point of contact for many workers seeking to report discrimination.
  • Reports that the EEOC has stopped processing all charges alleging discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Declining to process these charges is an abdication of the agency’s duties and creates uncertainty for workers about their avenues for seeking relief. 
  • The public letters that EEOC Acting Chair Andrea Lucas sent to 20 law firms seeking information about their diversity, equity, and inclusion practices, without any legal basis, and the so-called “settlement agreement” that EEOC announced with four of those firms on April 11, shortly after the firms also reached deals with the White House. 

“We are demanding answers about these lawless attempts to undercut enforcement of our civil rights protections,” said Katie Sandson, senior counsel for education and workplace justice at NWLC. “Workers facing discrimination and harassment turn to the EEOC – often when they’re at their breaking point – and should be able to trust that the agency will enforce their rights and protect them. Any effort to weaponize this agency to win political points is unconscionable.”

If you would like to speak to Katie Sandson, or other workplace justice experts at NWLC, please reach out to [email protected].