US equal opportunity commission demands 20 law firms disclose DEI employment practices

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is requesting data from 20 law firms about employment practices to increase diversity, equity and inclusion, which the federal agency warns may be illegal.

The commission's acting chair, Andrea Lucas, sent letters to the firms seeking detailed information on DEI programs that may be in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin.

Some of the companies have made legal challenges to President Donald Trump's policies targeting DEI or have connections to his political opponents. Perkins Coie; Hogan Lovells; Ropes & Gray; and WilmerHale are among the firms currently representing plaintiffs in lawsuits against the Trump administration.

Lucas said some of the firms had made public statements expressing their commitment to diversity in their workforces. At least two of the firms had numerical goals for recruiting lawyers based on their race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and gender identity.

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She expressed concern that the firms' employment practices "may entail unlawful disparate treatment in terms, conditions, and privileges of employment, or unlawful limiting, segregating, and classifying" based on race, sex and other protected characteristics.

"The EEOC is prepared to root out discrimination anywhere it may rear its head, including in our nation’s elite law firms," Lucas said in a statement. "No one is above the law—and certainly not the private bar."

The letters requested information about the internships, scholarships and fellowships the firms offer to law students, as well as the firms' hiring and compensation practices.

Lucas also asked for the name, sex and race of every lawyer who has worked at or applied for a job at the firms since 2019 and if each of them participated in diversity programs.

Some of the information was asked to be included in a "searchable Excel spreadsheet."

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The EEOC can investigate companies' employment practices and file lawsuits over allegations of discrimination, but only after a worker or one of the agency's five commissioners brings a formal complaint. The agency gave no indication that Lucas had filed complaints against any of the firms.

Trump has sought to eliminate DEI programs across the country, including in the federal government, higher education and the private sector.

The president has also taken action against high-profile law firms over their DEI practices.

Trump issued executive orders this month targeting Perkins Coie as well as Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison over the two firms' alleged discriminatory internal diversity policies and previous work for his political opponents. The orders revoked security clearances for lawyers at the firms and restricted their government access and federal contracting work.

The order targeting Perkins Coie also directed Lucas to "review the practices of representative large, influential, or industry-leading law firms" even though the commission was designed to operate independently of the White House.

Perkins Coie sued on allegations that the order violated its rights under the U.S. Constitution. A judge temporarily blocked parts of the order last week.

Some companies have previously adopted policies to encourage diversity from their outside law firms.

Lucas, in the letters, asked law firms to identify clients since 2019 that have had "diversity requirements" or stated preferences for employee staffing. She also asked for the firms' actions in response to the client requirements, including producing related documents.

Reuters contributed to this report.