EEOC Chair Moves to Scrap 50-Year Affirmative Action Rule as DEI Crackdown Widens
Updated
Updated · The Intercept · Jun 16
EEOC Chair Moves to Scrap 50-Year Affirmative Action Rule as DEI Crackdown Widens
2 articles · Updated · The Intercept · Jun 16
Summary
Andrea Lucas on May 27 proposed rescinding the EEOC’s nearly 50-year-old affirmative action rule, a previously unreported step that would remove agency-backed cover for some employers’ race-conscious remedial hiring.
The rule has complicated Lucas’s push to sue on behalf of white men and cast DEI efforts as illegal discrimination, including cases against the New York Times and Coca-Cola and probes of Nike and Northwestern Mutual.
Coca-Cola has already cited the rule in seeking dismissal of the EEOC’s lawsuit, and former commissioner Jocelyn Samuels said scrapping it could strip employers of a potential defense.
Supreme Court precedents from 1979 and 1987 still permit narrow workplace affirmative action under Title VII, meaning the EEOC cannot by itself erase that legal framework even as DOJ argues the guidelines are unconstitutional.
The move follows the EEOC’s replacement of its 2028 strategic plan with a National Enforcement Plan that prioritizes DEI scrutiny and drops support for lawful employer diversity programs.