Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, EXPERT INSIGHTS—DOL—EEOC partnership expands coordinated enforcement on national origin discrimination under ‘Project Firewall’, (Dec 4, 2025)

By T. Scott Kelly, Bernhard Mueller and Nonnie Shivers of Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart

On November 24, 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced a formal partnership with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) under Project Firewall to intensify enforcement against employers engaging in unlawful national origin discrimination, including hiring practices that disadvantage American workers.

The DOL's announcement comes on the heels of new EEOC anti-American bias educational materials and underscores federal agencies' enhanced data sharing, aligned enforcement tools, and coordinated guidance to deter discriminatory hiring, particularly where job postings or screening practices may prefer nonimmigrant visa holders (such as H-1B) over qualified U.S. workers.

Quick Hits

• The EEOC, the DOL, the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services are coordinating efforts related to national origin discrimination and anti-American bias.

• As part of Project Firewall, the DOL and EEOC plan to share data, align enforcement tools, and facilitate referrals addressing discriminatory hiring and potential H-1B program abuses.

• Given this coordination, employers may see and potentially should anticipate inquiries or involvement from more than one agency investigating alleged national origin discrimination or anti-American bias.

The new formal partnership builds on the EEOC's recent technical assistance and educational updates, which emphasize that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects all workers—including American workers—from national origin discrimination.

That one-page guidance from the EEOC states that potential business rationales, such as labor costs, customer preferences, or stereotypes, do not justify discriminatory practices. Additionally, the EEOC's one-pager and updated national origin resources flag several high-risk areas: visa-status preferences in job ads (e.g., "H-1B only" or "H-1B preferred"); disparate treatment in application and promotion processes that make it harder for U.S. workers to advance; and retaliation or harassment tied to national origin. Notably, the EEOC's recent materials previewed a multiagency enforcement posture—now reinforced by the DOL's Project Firewall announcement.

Project Firewall operationalizes that multiagency approach by facilitating information sharing "as permitted by law," clarifying employer obligations, and aligning enforcement pathways so that potential Title VII violations can proceed in tandem with DOL actions addressing H-1B misuse and related program compliance. The partnership also involves the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), signaling a whole-of-government focus on practices that may prefer foreign workers or visa holders over qualified Americans.

Next Steps

In light of the federal enforcement agency coordination, employers may wish to assess how their recruiting and hiring practices reference or rely on visa status, particularly where postings or screening criteria could be perceived as favoring nonimmigrant visa holders. Employers might also consider reviewing their practices against the themes noted in recent EEOC technical assistance and determining whether conducting attorney-client privileged audits of selection, promotion, and pay practices can help ensure practices are neutral, job-related, and applied consistently. Training appropriate stakeholders on Title VII's protections as they relate to national origin, as well as creating and maintaining contemporaneous documentation of merit-based and legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons, can assist in responding to agency questions that may arise.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

T. Scott Kelly, Bernhard Mueller and Nonnie Shivers

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart

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