Equal Employment Opportunity Commission head asks white men to report discrimination
The head of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is encouraging white men to file a complaint with the federal agency if they believe they have been discriminated against on the job because of their race or gender.
On Wednesday, EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas posted a direct-to-camera video to social media, asking: “Are you a white man who has been discriminated against at work because of your race or gender? You may have a claim to recover money under federal civil rights laws. Contact the EEOC as soon as possible. There are generally strict deadlines for filing a claim.”
Lucas’ video was reposted by Vice President JD Vance, who in another post called DEI programs “discriminate primarily against white men.” It has been viewed at least 5 million times on X since she first posted it.
President Donald Trump denounced diversity, equity and inclusion during his presidential campaign and signed executive orders aimed at cracking down on them on his first day in office. He also named Lucas acting chairman of the EEOC. She officially became president last month.
The EEOC’s website includes a page titled “What to Do If You’re Experiencing DEI-Related Discrimination at Work,” reflecting the agency’s focus on combatting efforts to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion.
The EEOC was established in 1965 to enforce Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Its five-member bipartisan commission investigates complaints of workplace discrimination, and a claim must be filed with the EEOC before an employee can sue an employer in federal court.
Former EEOC Commissioner Chai Feldblum, who was appointed by President Barack Obama and served for nearly 10 years, said she was “seriously disconcerted” by Lucas’ video, saying it went beyond the agency’s role.
“The EEOC does not seek discrimination,” she told NBC News. “He is there to respond to the accusations that come. »
Feldblum said the EEOC sometimes releases information about its interpretation of the law. For example, when the agency decided that discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity was a form of sex discrimination, it released updated information.
However, the agency did not broadcast a message encouraging people who were discriminated against because of their sexual orientation to file complaints.
“We would disseminate information,” she said. “We would not seek charges.”
It’s the latest action in what Feldblum called “very serious problematic actions” the agency has taken since President Trump took office for the second time.
Days into his second term, the president fired EEOC commissioners Charlotte Burrows and Jocelyn Samuels, both Democrats, well before their terms ended. Samuels filed a lawsuit against the administration, which was put on hold pending the Supreme Court’s ruling on Trump’s firing of an employee at another independent agency.
Feldblum was also asked to resign from another commission — Ability One, a federal agency that creates jobs for people with disabilities, to which she was appointed by President Joe Biden — just a day into the second Trump administration. She has since co-founded a group called EEO Leaders, made up of lawyers and former EEOC commissioners, including Burrows and Samuels, who aim to counter what they call “misleading legal information” coming from the current EEOC.
Lucas’ EEOC biography says she wants to eliminate “unlawful DEI-motivated racial and gender discrimination,” “anti-American national origin discrimination” and defend the “biological and binary reality of sex.”
