Dive Brief:
- Law firms Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and A&O Shearman Sterling entered settlement agreements with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in which they agreed to curb diversity, equity and inclusion programs, the agency said in an April 11 press release.
- The news comes roughly one month after the EEOC Acting Chair Andrea Lucas sent letters to several law firms, including the four named Friday, inquiring into their DEI programs. Lucas gave a deadline of April 15, 2025, for each firm to respond to her letters, and EEOC said the letters precipitated the settlement agreements.
- The four firms “chose to voluntarily resolve matters with EEOC without admission of liability,” the agency said. Under the multi-year agreements, the firms “affirmed their commitment to lawful merit-based hiring, promotion, and retention” and agreed not to engage in unlawful discrimination nor label any lawful programs as “DEI.”
Dive Insight:
The agreements mark a striking concession from the firms, which effectively agreed to drop the “DEI” label from all lawful policies, programs and practices while also agreeing to compliance monitoring by EEOC.
In a separate statement Friday via Truth Social, President Donald Trump announced that the same four law firms had agreed to provide at least $500 million total in pro bono work and legal services for causes that support military members, veterans and emergency service workers and address antisemitism. Trump said that, as part of the firms’ EEOC agreement, the agency “will not pursue any claims” related to the issues identified in the settlements.
In her March 17 letters, Lucas asked each firm to provide a broad array of information on topics such as the application and selection criteria for diverse clerkship programs, the use of affinity groups, and the use of compensation practices applied to specific groups on the basis of their protected characteristics. The letters also sought clarification on whether the firms had ever excluded White or male candidates from specific opportunities or programs.
“We are hopeful these firms will be leaders in their industry by eliminating potentially unlawful DEI-based employment practices and returning to merit-based equal employment opportunity for all,” Lucas said in the agency’s April 11 release.
The settlements are part of a wholesale shift on the subject of DEI at EEOC since Trump’s inauguration. The agency published a pair of guidance documents last month defining which DEI programs might be considered unlawful under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, signaling out those programs that limit, segregate or classify workers and those that engage in harassment or retaliation based on sex or race.
Several former Democratic EEOC officials criticized those documents, writing in an April 3 statement that the agency ignored “important aspects of applicable law” and that its guidance on illegal DEI programs was “fraught with legal peril.”
Meanwhile, many large employers have already curtailed their internal DEI efforts in the face of potential litigation and social media criticism by the Trump administration and anti-DEI activists. Trump ordered federal agencies and the U.S. Department of Justice to submit a report by May 21, 2025, containing recommendations for encouraging private-sector companies to end DEI.
