On August 12, a federal district court dismissed the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) subpoena enforcement action against Nike at the EEOC’s request. The EEOC said Nike had provided it with the information it sought between March and August. The lawsuit was filed in the Eastern District of Missouri in February after the original charge was filed in Oregon in May 2024, with the probe initially investigated by the San Francisco EEOC office.
EEOC Drops Demand for Jewish Staff List
On July 23, the EEOC and the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) agreed to settle the subpoena enforcement action demanding the university provide information on faculty involved in Jewish Studies and campus programs. The EEOC agreed not to take any further measures to enforce the subpoena seeking staff contact information, and UPenn is dropping its appeal to the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals. Finally, the EEOC agreed not to enforce the federal district court’s order that granted most of its request.
Anti-DEI Group Files Complaint Against Big Law Firms
Americans for Equal Opportunity (AEO)—an advocacy group opposed to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)—filed a discrimination charge asking the EEOC to investigate an education nonprofit and 14 law firms for allegedly providing preferential treatment for Muslim or Middle Eastern applicants. AEO claimed the nonprofit Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO) discriminated against candidates based on their race, color, national origin, religion, and sexual orientation on behalf of members who unsuccessfully applied for fellowships. SEO places incoming law students in summer internships. AEO also filed an EEOC charge against SEO in February 2025.
EEOC Sues University Over Alleged DEI Training Firing
The EEOC sued Washington University in St. Louis over the alleged firing of a Black employee for objecting to mandatory DEI training that separated her from colleagues based on race. Amega Thaier complained internally and then filed a complaint with the EEOC. She was terminated a few months after her complaint.
EEOC to Overhaul Federal EEO Process
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the EEOC have proposed to eliminate key steps in the current federal EEO process, including the right of the complainant to request a hearing before an EEOC judge. The new proposal would have all investigations end in a final agency decision with the employees still having the right to file a complaint in federal district court. The complaint process would move from the EEOC to the agency where the alleged discrimination occurred. The plan would remove the right to have class complaints, which the EEOC suspended last year. The proposal will be published in the Federal Register in September.
Settlements
TCI of Alabama will pay $2.6M to settle an EEOC lawsuit that alleges it refused to hire female laborers beginning in 2006. When the company began to outsource its labor staffing, it directed the third-party agencies to refer only male applicants. In addition to the monetary damages for affected women, the company will fire a Title VII coordinator, provide mandatory antidiscrimination training to managers and employees, notify all staffing agencies not to comply with discriminatory requests, and post a notice to employees on the settlement and how to report future discrimination.
Battelle agreed to pay $5M to settle EEOC religious and disability discrimination charges over the company’s mandatory COVID vaccine policy. The company will provide back pay and compensatory damages to more than 100 workers and will train HR personnel on religious and disability-related accommodation request policies.
Bouchon and Thomas Keller Restaurant Group will pay $2M to settle an EEOC sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit. The complaint alleged that since 2018 male supervisors and employees had subjected female and male employees to sexual harassment.
H. Juanita Beecher is an attorney with FortneyScott in Washington, D.C. You can reach her at nbeecher@fortneyscott.com.