On March 18, 2025, seven former Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) officials issued an open letter addressed to Acting Chair Andrea Lucas. This letter was written in response to information requests the Commission sent to 20 major law firms, as well as the subsequent press release, and details major concerns the former EEOC officials have with their legality.
The former EEOC officials who issued the letter are:
- Charlotte Burrows (former EEOC Chair and Commissioner)
- Jenny Yang (former EEOC Chair and Commissioner)
- Jocelyn Samuels (former EEOC Vice Chair and Commissioner)
- Chai R. Feldblum (former EEOC Commissioner)
- Karla Gilbride (former General Counsel)
- David Lopez (former General Counsel)
- Peggy R. Mastroianni (former Legal Counsel)
In the letter, the former officials state that EEOC does not have authority under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (Title VII) to request information from employers without a Commissioner charge that has been signed under oath. Even in the case that a Commissioner charge had been filed, Title VII law would require these charges be kept confidential so EEOC could pursue "cooperative compliance" and be prevented from "intimidating employers through public pressure before any finding of discrimination."
Additionally, these information requests may violate the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) because they were developed outside of the process required by the act, which includes a requirement to solicit comments from the public on new information requests.
The former EEOC officials also emphasize that no single member of the Commission, including the Chair, “...has the authority to unilaterally change the EEOC's longstanding position on employers' diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.” Further, the Commission has long recognized in Commission-voted documents that employers' equal employment opportunity efforts “do not make or encourage decisions to be made” based on protected classes.
The letter requests that Acting Chair Andrea Lucas withdraw the letters issued to “preserve the credibility of the Commission.”
DCI will continue to follow this developing situation and keep our clients and partner firms up to date.
