Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, EXPERT INSIGHTS—What employees should know about recent developments at the EEOC, (Aug 6, 2026)

Law Firms Mentioned:Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight

By Susannah R. Cohen and Kate Mueting of Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC" or "Commission") has been busy the last few weeks. The Commission has changed certain regulations and announced priorities for the agency through 2030. If you're an employee thinking about filing a discrimination charge with the EEOC, or if you have a charge already pending, here is what actually changed, what didn't, and what it means for you.

Rescinding Affirmative Action Guidance

On June 30, the EEOC announced that it had rescinded two documents that had governed voluntary workplace affirmative action plans for the last several decades: interpretive guidelines on "Affirmative Action Appropriate Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964" and the related section of its compliance manual. These documents provided guidance to employers on how to implement voluntary affirmative action plans.

In announcing this decision, EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas noted that "Title VII's protections apply equally to all American workers," consistent with other statements she has made linking Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion ("DEI") initiatives to discrimination against members of majority groups. The announcement also linked the move to the Supreme Court's 2025 decision in Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services, which eliminated a heightened evidentiary bar that some courts had applied to majority-group plaintiffs.

Importantly, this move does not actually alter Title VII or Supreme Court cases allowing narrowly tailored voluntary affirmative action plans. Plans that seek to diversify candidates by, for example, broadening recruitment efforts and insisting that selection decisions be justified based on clear job-related metrics are permissible.

Pursuing a Deregulatory Agenda

The EEOC's newly released regulatory agenda lists ten proposed actions, several already at the final-rule stage. Among these proposed actions is rescinding the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures, the framework that employers have used since 1978 to defend hiring tests, background checks, and other screening tools that could produce uneven outcomes across race or sex. This move is part of this Administration's retreat from "disparate impact" theories of discrimination—that is, claims based a neutral policy that still produces discriminatory results.

The agency also announced its intent to end the annual EEO-1 demographic data collection. Since the 1960s, the agency has used these surveys to collect data from large employers about workforce demographics. This data helps expose trends in the racial and gender makeup of certain industries and has been used by plaintiffs in discrimination cases.

Again, if implemented, none of these rules would change the underlying federal statutory law. What's changing is EEOC's interpretations and priorities, the paper trail employers must generate, and in the case of EEO-1 data, some of the statistical evidence that has historically helped identify patterns of discrimination.

Identifying Priorities through 2030

On July 1, the Commission released a draft Strategic Plan for fiscal years 2026 to 2030, opening it for public comment through July 19. This Plan announces the agency's long-term priorities by setting goals and performance targets for the agency. For example, the Plan identifies as goals applying its enforcement powers strategically and improving processes with technology. This draft Strategic Plan follows the EEOC's June 4 rescission of the prior Strategic Plan and adoption of a new National Enforcement Plan that runs from 2025 to 2029. The National Enforcement Plan identified the following items as Chair Lucas's priorities: (A) remedying DEI-related race and sex discrimination; (B) protecting American workers from anti-American national origin discrimination; (C) defending women's rights to single-sex spaces at work and workers' rights to express the binary nature of sex; and (D) protecting workers' religious liberty rights to receive religious accommodations and be free from religious discrimination, harassment, and related retaliation."

Importantly, these plans simply announce the EEOC's priorities—they do not actually change employers' obligations under civil rights laws.

What This Means If You're Considering Making an Employment Claim

Document your own evidence now. With EEO-1 reporting on the chopping block, some of the statistical tools the plaintiffs have used to prove patterns of discrimination may become harder to access. Keep your own records of information like pay or treatment comparators, concerning communications, performance reviews, and anything else that could show discrimination or retaliation.
The EEOC is focused on intentional discrimination claims. The EEOC is more likely to activity pursue your claim if it involves claims based on comments, decisions, or patterns suggesting someone intentionally acted against you based on a protected characteristic.
Consider weighing in on the draft strategic plan. The public comment period runs through July 19, 2026, and can be found at this link.

Susannah R. Cohen and Kate Mueting

Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight

17 State Street

Suite 3700

New York, NY

10004

United States

Tel.: +1 646 679 1364

E-mail: Akonstantin@sanfordheisler.com

URL: www.sanfordheisler.com/

Attorneys: (Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight).

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