July 09, 2026
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Category: Agency Enforcement

EEOC Regulatory Agenda Focuses On Rescission Of Longstanding Guidance And Reporting Requirements

The EEOC's new regulatory agenda includes seven significant initiatives, most of which would rescind existing guidance, reporting requirements, or interpretive rules. Key items include rescission of EEO-1 reporting requirements, rescission of most or all of the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (UGESP), and revisions to the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act regulations. Several items on the EEOC’s agenda involve employer...
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July 06, 2026
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Category: Agency Enforcement

EEOC Seeks Comment On Draft Strategic Plan For FY 2026–2030

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has released a draft Strategic Plan for FY 2026–2030 that retains the agency’s three overarching goals: enforcement, outreach and training, and organizational excellence. The draft includes detailed performance metrics covering investigation quality, litigation outcomes, systemic enforcement, intake improvements, outreach activities, and stakeholder satisfaction. Unlike the EEOC’s National Enforcement Plan (NEP), which sets substantive enforcement priorities, the Strategic...
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July 01, 2026
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Category: Agency Enforcement

EEOC Rescinds Longstanding Affirmative Action Guidance

The EEOC has rescinded two longstanding agency documents that for decades guided its evaluations of employers’ affirmative action initiatives. The agency now says the guidance was inconsistent with Title VII and Supreme Court precedent. The rescinded documents are: the 1979 Guidelines on Affirmative Action Appropriate Under Title VII, which set out the agency’s framework for evaluating voluntary affirmative action plans;...
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June 23, 2026
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Category: Agency Enforcement

DOL Rescinds WIOA Outreach Mandate, Signals Narrower View of Nondiscrimination

The Department of Labor has rescinded a regulation that required recipients of Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) funds to conduct affirmative outreach to specific demographic groups. DOL concluded that it lacked statutory authority to mandate such outreach and that nondiscrimination laws do not require proactive efforts to expand participation based on protected characteristics. DOL drew a sharp distinction between...
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June 09, 2026
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Category: Agency Enforcement

DOJ Opinion Letter Questions EEOC Disparate Impact Framework and Uniform Guidelines

A new Justice Department opinion letter that sharply criticizes the EEOC's disparate impact guidance sets the stage for significant policy shifts at the agency. The opinion letter, from the DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), concludes that the EEOC’s interpretations of Title VII disparate impact liability are unconstitutional because they “contemplate liability based on disparate effects alone, without regard to...
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June 05, 2026
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Category: Agency Enforcement

EEOC’s New Enforcement Plan Signals Shift In Priorities

The EEOC adopted a new National Enforcement Plan June 4 that signals a significant shift in its priorities toward intentional discrimination claims and away from disparate impact cases. The NEP confirms that the EEOC will devote greater attention to employers’ recruiting, hiring, promotion, and DEI-related practices. The NEP’s enforcement priorities include scrutiny of: job ads that refer to race or diverse...
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June 02, 2026
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Category: Agency Enforcement

EEOC Moves To Rescind 1979 Affirmative Action Interpretive Guidance

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has asked OMB to approve a measure that would rescind the agency’s 1979 guidance on when Title VII permits voluntary affirmative action. The guidance, codified at 29 CFR Part 1608, outlines when employers may adopt voluntary affirmative action plans for women and minorities. Most employers that adopted affirmative action plans for women and minorities did so...
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May 19, 2026
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Category: Discrimination and Harassment

Tenth Circuit Rejects Hostile Work Environment Claim Based On Single DEI Training

A single mandatory DEI training did not plausibly create a hostile work environment, the Tenth Circuit recently ruled. Its decision in Young v. Colorado Department of Corrections affirmed the dismissal of Title VII and Section 1981 claims. The plaintiff employee alleged that the training’s focus on systemic racism was discriminatory toward white employees, but the court held that the complaint failed...
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May 14, 2026
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Category: Discrimination and Harassment

EEOC Targets Vendor Hiring Assessments That May Trigger Retaliation Concerns

An employer cannot avoid accountability for problematic pre-employment assessments by outsourcing applicant screening to outside vendors, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has signified. In a subpoena enforcement action, the EEOC asked a federal court to compel a third-party vendor to produce information about pre-offer suitability assessments that it administered for a public employer.   Pre-employment screening assessment items that reference prior complaints, EEOC activity, or legal proceedings are not automatically unlawful, but they are likely to draw scrutiny because they could deter applicants from...
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May 05, 2026
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Category: Agency Enforcement

House Appropriators Seek Nearly 13 Percent Cut From EEOC’s Budget

The House subcommittee responsible for funding the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has recommended steep cuts in the agency’s budget, a sharp contrast from the more than $20 million increase sought by the Administration. The panel has advanced spending legislation for fiscal year 2027 that would slash $55.8 million from the EEOC’s budget, a 12.9 percent cut from its current funding of...
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