Dive Brief:
- The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People sued the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Monday, alleging the agency flouted the requirements of a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the organization (NAACP v. EEOC).
- NAACP submitted a FOIA request to the agency on March 9, according to the complaint, seeking eight categories of records. It also sought a waiver of fees associated with the search, arguing the search has no commercial purpose and is likely to be in the public interest.
- EEOC denied NAACP’s request to waive fees and placed the request “on hold” pending a search fee estimate, per the complaint. “EEOC has attempted to use the improper fee waiver denial to delay and obstruct the NAACP’s access to records due to be released under the FOIA,” NAACP asserted.
Dive Insight:
NAACP’s query was spurred in part by Chair Andrea Lucas’ solicitation of discrimination charges from White men last December, the complaint said.
That event “raised significant questions and received critical media coverage about whether the EEOC, the federal agency charged with enforcing the nation's workplace anti-discrimination laws, was administering its charge-handling functions in a manner that treats charging parties differently based on race and sex,” NAACP said.
The organization asked for a variety of records related to internal communications about discrimination claims, modifications to types of data the agency collects, the number of charges coded with “DEI,” communications related to Lucas’ solicitation of claims from White men, and more.
EEOC allegedly denied NAACP’s request to waive fees because it failed to “articulate with reasonable specificity [its] intention and ability to disseminate the requested information.” NAACP appealed the decision on June 3, arguing a waiver was warranted because the request was “made solely for the purpose of informing the public and contributing to transparency and accountability in government.”
As of the lawsuit’s filing, NAACP said it had not received a response to its appeal. NAACP alleges EEOC failed to conduct adequate searches for responsive records and wrongfully withheld nonexempt responsive records, with both actions in violation of the Freedom of Information Act.
NAACP has requested a court order requiring EEOC to conduct the requested searches within 20 days.
EEOC’s focus on majority-group complaints and close adherence to the Trump administration’s priorities has drawn some criticism, including from former leaders of the agency. Lucas in May characterized the change as a “widening” of the agency’s aperture and a rebalancing, noting that EEOC has not recovered a single dollar for a White man facing discrimination in over a decade.
Earlier that month, the agency filed a high-profile lawsuit against The New York Times to address that absence, alleging the media company discriminated against a White male when it refused to promote him and allegedly hired a less-qualified woman of color instead. The New York Times has denied the allegations, saying it did not consider race or gender and that it hired the most qualified candidate.
EEOC did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
