As the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) sharpens its focus on DEI, the agency is making the rounds to educate and inform employers of the EEOC’s current approach to enforcement. See 42 U.S.C. § 2000e–2(m) (providing for liability “even though other factors also motivated the practice”); EEOC Race Discrimination Guidance (“Title VII is violated if race was all or part of the motivation for an employment decision.”). Id.; see EEOC Race Discrimination Guidance, Part 15-VII(B)(4) (“Informal workplace networks can be just as important to an organization as official job titles and reporting relationships. Thus, an employee’s success may depend not only on his or her job duties, but also on his or her integration into important workplace networks. Employers cannot allow racial bias to affect an employee’s ability to become part of these networks.”); see also id., Example 25 and n. “Pre-employment questions about race can suggest that race will be used as a basis for making selection decisions. Executing “diverse slate” policies also can require employers to ask or otherwise obtain pre-employment information about race, or another protected characteristic.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has intensified its scrutiny of DEI initiatives leading to litigation and subpoena enforcement efforts, and companies must navigate an increasingly complex patchwork of sometimes conflicting state and federal requirements. Federal contractors and subcontractors, in particular, face new certification requirements and heightened risk of potential False Claims Act (FCA) liability. If you would like to discuss becoming a client, please contact one of our attorneys to arrange for a meeting or telephone conference. For more information about our cookie policy and the information we collect, please review our Privacy Statement.
Some schools are removing the word “diversity” from titles of offices and jobs; some are closing campus spaces set up for students according to identity; some are ending diversity training; and some have stopped asking all faculty and staff members for written affirmations of their commitment to diversity. Of those who said it did have an impact, a majority in almost all demographics said DEI had “benefited” their job rather than “hindered” it. A 2025 poll by Axios found that more than 50% of Americans across all demographics surveyed said that DEI initiatives had made “no impact” on their jobs. A September 2024 poll by the Human Rights Campaign found that 80% of LGBTQ Americans would boycott a company that repealed its DEI programs and 19% would quit their job if their place of employment did. In January 2025, Donald Trump signed an executive order requiring U.S. military academies to end affirmative action in admissions; the order was implemented the next month. While some believe DEI included in school curriculums are favoring one identity or community over another, there have been arguments that DEI in schools can be beneficial for student development, as shown by research, finding that student participation in DEI practices can improve overall achievement levels.
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With some states moving to remove the protected characteristic of gender identity from their antidiscrimination laws, employers operating across jurisdictions face added complexity and should prioritize clarity in their training programs. Guidance from a coalition of 16 state attorneys general underscores the importance of continuing nondiscriminatory DEI efforts, https://magzinenews.com/digest/boost-accuracy-with-biometric-attendance-systems/ reinforcing these programs as a risk mitigation strategy. For organizations to remain compliant, it’s essential that they revisit their DEI strategies and audit risk exposure.
(a) For the purposes of this order, “racially discriminatory DEI activities” means disparate treatment based on race or ethnicity in the recruitment, employment (e.g., hiring, promotions), contracting (e.g., vendor agreements), program participation, or allocation or https://nutritioninpill.com/looking-on-the-bright-side-of-experts/ deployment of an entity’s resources. Specifically, DEI activities impose artificial costs in hiring, promotion, and operations by precluding implementation of merit-based principles; creating excessive workforce turnover by elevating immutable characteristics over job performance; and jeopardizing the sort of employee collaboration and problem-solving that is essential to fostering efficient and high-quality work. DEI activities are not only unethical and often illegal, but also cause inefficiencies, waste, and abuse within entities that engage in such practices. Despite this progress, some entities continue to engage in DEI activities and often attempt to conceal their efforts to do so. As employers move into this new enforcement landscape, it is helpful to remember that the enforcement focus is not on “DEI” as a concept — it’s on unlawful discrimination, whatever the label. Emphasizing recent Supreme Court rulings, the EEOC rejects any effort to inject a “diversity exception” to law prohibiting discrimination based on race or sex.
