U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

04/25/2025

A pending federal lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleges that Kickback Jack’s restaurants in North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia discriminated by failing or refusing to hire male applicants who applied to non-managerial front-of-house positions, including server, bartender and host/hostess positions, since December 2019. These alleged employment practices violate federal civil rights laws.

If you applied and were denied a position, contact the EEOC at [email protected] or (984) 900-5910.

04/11/2025

Today 4 “BigLaw” firms settled with the EEOC following letters sent by regarding their DEI practices. These firms affirmed their commitment to lawful merit-based hiring and more: https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/eeoc-settlement-four-biglaw-firms-disavow-dei-and-affirm-their-commitment-merit-based

WASHINGTON – Four of the world’s largest law firms—Kirkland & Ellis

03/26/2025

President Donald J. Trump has renominated Acting Chair Andrea R. Lucas to another five-year term at the EEOC.

In the first 60 days of Acting Chair Lucas’s leadership, the EEOC has made significant progress towards the goal of restoring evenhanded enforcement of employment civil rights laws for all Americans.

Significant actions include:
- combating DEI-related discrimination in our nation’s elite law firms; https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/eeoc-acting-chair-andrea-lucas-sends-letters-20-law-firms-requesting-information-about-dei - developing resources to help workers and employers understand DEI-related discrimination with the Justice Department (DOJ); https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/eeoc-and-justice-department-warn-against-unlawful-dei-related-discrimination
- promising to hold universities accountable for antisemitism on campus workplaces; https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/eeoc-acting-chair-promises-hold-accountable-universities-and-colleges-antisemitism-campus
- focusing the EEOC on protecting American workers from anti-American bias; andhttps://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/eeoc-acting-chair-vows-protect-american-workers-anti-american-bias
- restoring the EEOC’s role of protecting women in the workplace by removing gender ideology. https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/removing-gender-ideology-and-restoring-eeocs-role-protecting-women-workplace

Read more here: https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/president-trump-renominates-andrea-r-lucas-eeoc

03/19/2025

DEI at work. Do you know what to do if you experience or have experienced unlawful DEI-related discrimination at work? A new EEOC resource helps you identify and report unlawful DEI. https://www.eeoc.gov/wysk/what-you-should-know-about-dei-related-discrimination-work

02/06/2025

Here’s what you need to know about the EEOC’s operating status.

✔ The EEOC is still open for business.
✔ The EEOC is still accepting charges of employment discrimination.
✔ The EEOC is still enforcing federal laws that prohibit workplace discrimination.

Under the leadership of Acting Chair Andrea Lucas, the EEOC remains open for business and fully committed to protecting the civil rights of all Americans, advancing individual equal opportunity for all, and relentlessly combatting private sector and public sector discrimination.

EEOC’s new WYSK answers recent questions about the agency’s status. https://www.eeoc.gov/wysk/state-eeoc-and-frequently-asked-questions

01/29/2025

EEOC Acting Chair Andrea Lucas announced that the agency is returning to its mission of protecting women from s*xual harassment and s*x-based discrimination in the workplace by taking the following immediate actions.

- Prioritized compliance, investigations, and litigation to defend the biological and binary reality of s*x and related rights, including women’s rights to single-s*x spaces at work.

- Removal of the agency’s “pronoun app,” a feature in employees’ Microsoft 365 profiles, which allowed an employee to opt to identify pronouns, content which then appeared alongside the employee’s display name across all Microsoft 365 platforms, including Outlook and Teams. This content was displayed both to internal and external parties with whom EEOC employees communicated.

- Ended the use of the “X” gender marker during the intake process for filing a charge of discrimination.

- Directed the modification of the charge of discrimination and related forms to remove “Mx.” from the list of prefix options.

- Commenced review of the content of EEOC’s “Know Your Rights” poster, which all covered employers are required by law to post in their workplaces.

- Removed materials promoting gender ideology on the Commission’s internal and external websites and documents, including webpages, statements, social media platforms, forms, trainings, and others. The agency’s review and removal of such materials remains ongoing. Where a publicly accessible item cannot be immediately removed or revised, a banner has been added to explain why the item has not yet been brought into compliance.

“Because of biological realities, each s*x has its own, unique privacy interests, and women have additional safety interests, that warrant certain single-s*x facilities at work and other spaces outside the home. It is neither harassment nor discrimination for a business to draw distinctions between the s*xes in providing single-s*x bathrooms or other similar facilities which implicate these significant privacy and safety interests. And the Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock v. Clayton County does not demand otherwise: the Court explicitly stated that it did ‘not purport to address bathrooms, locker rooms, or anything else of the kind,” said Acting Chair Lucas.

Read the full announcement: https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/removing-gender-ideology-and-restoring-eeocs-role-protecting-women-workplace.

01/16/2025

Kane’s Furniture to pay nearly $1.5M in EEOC s*x discrimination lawsuit. Kane’s Furniture implemented a discriminatory policy of not hiring female applicants for driver and warehouse positions at their distribution center or any of their eighteen retail locations across Florida, the suit charged. https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/kanes-furniture-pay-nearly-15-million-eeoc-s*x-discrimination-lawsuit

For more information on s*x discrimination, please visit www.eeoc.gov/s*x-based-discrimination.

01/14/2025

EEOC research finds improved Asian American representation but underrepresentation in federal leadership. The new report summarizes federal workforce data for Asian Americans in FY 2020.

WASHINGTON – The U.S.

01/13/2025

“Women have a right to a workplace without harassment. The EEOC welcomes the opportunity to work with employers who want to ensure their workers are free from a s*xually hostile work environment.” -Delner Franklin-Thomas, district director of the EEOC’s Memphis District Office

Prestigious Placement and Prosero to pay $215,000 to settle an EEOC lawsuit. A male lead at a Memphis warehouse subjected female employees to unwelcome s*xual comments, the suit charged. When two of the female employees complained to supervisors, they were ignored and later fired for performance issues.

MEMPHIS, Tenn.

01/09/2025

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01/09/2025

Today, we honor and remember President Jimmy Carter. A champion for human rights, President Carter left a powerful mark on the EEOC. Under President Carter, Eleanor Holmes Norton was nominated and confirmed as the first woman to chair the Commission. Carter’s administration also made significant changes to how the agency operates, consolidating enforcement responsibility from 17 different agencies and departments to three, including the EEOC. During his administration, the EEOC also was given responsibility to enforce the Equal Pay Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and the new amendment to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act – the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978.

The end of Carter’s time on office saw the agency contract for the first time with Tribal Employment Rights Offices (TEROs).

President Carter’s time working with the agency left an unforgettable impact. The EEOC was forever changed after his administration, and his mark will be remembered.

📷: The Carter Center

01/07/2025

The “Know Your Rights” poster summarizes EEOC-enforced laws in simpler terms and explains in plainer language how employees or applicants can file a charge if they believe that they have experienced discrimination. https://www.eeoc.gov/poster

12/10/2024

This month, we remembered the 69th anniversary of the start of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, an important event in the Civil Rights Movement. In this video, students Alec and Jack created a project that shows the story of the boycott and how it helped lead to the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Do you have a K-12 student who enjoys writing, drawing, singing, or dancing? The EEOC is inviting students to send in original art to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The contest is open to all K-12 students in the United States. All entries must be submitted by January 20, 2025, at 9:00 pm Eastern time.
For more details and how to enter, visit www.EEOC.gov. Direct link: https://www.eeoc.gov/history/60th-anniversary-1964-civil-rights-act-art-contest-visual-performing-literary-and-media

12/10/2024

Maryland Department of Health’s Thomas B. Finan Center to pay $270,000 in EEOC s*x discrimination lawsuit. Finan paid a less tenured and less experienced male recreation therapist higher wages than it paid to his four female counterparts, even though the females had greater experience, the suit charged. Their requests to Finan to equalize their pay were ignored.

BALTIMORE – The Thomas B.

12/09/2024

K-12 students across the country are invited to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the landmark Civil Rights Act through original art projects.

Drawings - Paintings - Songs - Photography - Dance
We encourage submissions in all mediums.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes it illegal for employers to discriminate against or harass someone on the basis of race, color, religion, s*x (including pregnancy, s*xual orientation, and gender identity), or national origin in employment. The law also makes it illegal for employers to retaliate against a person because the person complained about discrimination or harassment.

-Elementary School Prompt (K-5): What does it mean for everyone to have an equal chance?

-Middle School Prompts (6-8): Before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed, employers frequently segregated their workplaces by and hired based on race, color, national origin, religion, or s*x. Option 1: How did the Civil Rights Movement change workplaces? Option 2: What should workplaces be like today?

-High School Prompts (9-12): Option 1: Reflect on the ideals, values, and/or rights embodied in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Option 2: What is a lasting legacy of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s?

Follow the link to access submission guidelines. https://www.eeoc.gov/history/60th-anniversary-1964-civil-rights-act-art-contest-visual-performing-literary-and-media

12/06/2024

Many companies have started to use automated systems or AI in the workplace. Know your rights as an employee when it comes to artificial intelligence and your job! Learn more at https://eeoc.gov/ai.