On March 17, 2025, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") Acting Chair, Andrea Lucas, sent letters to 20 large law firms requesting information concerning each firm's diversity, equity, and inclusion ("DEI") related employment practices. These letters follow a March 6 executive order issued by President Trump which directed the EEOC to look at "large, influential, or industry leading law firms" for "compliance with race-based and sex-based non-discrimination laws."
The letters specifically demand that the law firms "fully identify all clients that have 'diversity requirements,' 'diversity preferences,' or any demographic-related requirements for matters, including but not limited to race or sex requirements for the employees staffed on their matters." The letters further seek information related to internships, fellowships, and scholarships offered by the law firms related to diversity efforts, as well as any hiring decisions in which the firm or a recruiter working for the firm sought "black, Hispanic or female candidates, 'diverse' candidates, or candidates of another particular race(s), ethnicities, or another protected characteristic."
These letters constitute the first major action from the EEOC targeting DEI programs. The EEOC is an agency tasked, in part, with investigating workplace discrimination claims, including those based on race, age and sex. Traditionally, the majority of those investigations have been focused on employment practices that exclude minorities. However, in a statement issued by Acting Chair Lucas, she cautioned that "[t]here is no 'diversity' exception" to Title VII's prohibition on employment discrimination.
According to Acting Chair Lucas, "[t]he EEOC is prepared to root out discrimination anywhere it may rear its head, including in our nation's elite law firms, . . . No one is above the law—and certainly not the private bar." The letters demand that the 20 law firms targeted provide their responses by April 15.
Although the EEOC's current DEI investigatory efforts have been aimed at law firms, all employers may be subject to the Trump Administration's scrutiny of DEI related employment practices and policies. The members of the KMK Labor and Employment Team are available to assist employers with any DEI-related questions.
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