Trump Civil Rights Agencies Outline DEI-Linked Job Bias (1)

The EEOC and Department of Justice issued informal guidance outlining what could constitute discriminatory diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, adding to the Trump administration’s broad efforts to eradicate those policies in the public and private sectors.

The two civil rights agencies, which enforce federal anti-discrimination laws, released a joint document that directs job applicants and employees on what to do if they encounter DEI discrimination at work. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission separately launched a more detailed question-and-answer website.

The guidance comes two days after the EEOC announced it’s investigating diversity practices at 20 large law firms—part of the Trump administration’s wider anti-DEI agenda.

The documents come after President Donald Trump signed a suite of executive orders targeting DEI policies the administration said are unlawful and discriminatory shortly after his Jan. 20 inauguration.

On March 6 he signed an executive order targeting Perkins Coie and directing an investigation into other law firms’ DEI practices, which Lucas followed with a letter to more law firms on March 17.

ERGs, Mentorship Programs

The joint technical assistance document acknowledges that DEI is a “broad term that is not defined” in Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. But it said that DEI policies may be unlawful if they are “motivated —in whole or in part—” by an employee’s protected characteristic, such as race or sex.

The agencies said DEI-related discrimination includes limiting Employee Resource Groups or other affinity groups to employees based on their race, sex, or other protected characteristics, in addition to setting unlawful quotas based on those characeristics.

It could also include excluding workers from trainings or mentorship programs, they said.

“Far too many employers defend certain types of race or sex preferences as good, provided they are motivated by business interests in ‘diversity, equity, or inclusion.’ But no matter an employer’s motive, there is no ‘good,’ or even acceptable, race or sex discrimination,” Lucas said in a statement.

DEI trainings could also create a “hostile work environment” in violation of Title VII, the EEOC said on its question-and-answer page.

Unlike a formal EEOC guidance, the commission doesn’t need to vote on a technical assistance document, so Lucas had the ability to publish the information as part of a unilateral decision. The commission currently lacks a quorum to hold a vote after Trump fired two Democratic commissioners Jan. 28.