Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, INDUSTRY NEWS, TRENDS—EEOC sends letters to 20 law firms demanding DEI information, (Mar 18, 2025)
Organizations Mentioned:Cooley, LLP | Debevoise & Plimpton, LLP | Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, LLP | Goodwin Procter, LLP | Hogan Lovells, LLP | Kirkland & Ellis, LLP | Latham & Watkins, LLP | McDermott Will & Emery, LLP | Milbank, LLP | Morgan Lewis & Bockius, LLP | Morrison & Foerster, LLP | Perkins Coie, LLP | Reed Smith, LLP | Ropes & Gray, LLP | Sidley Austin, LLP | Simpson Thacher | Skadden Arps | White & Case, LLP | Wilmer Hale, LLP
By Brandi O. Brown, J.D.
“The EEOC is prepared to root out discrimination anywhere it may rear its head, including in our nation’s elite law firms,” claims Acting Chair Andrea Lucas. “No one is above the law—and certainly not the private bar.”
On Monday, the EEOC’s Acting Chair Andrea Lucas announced that she sent letters to 20 law firms stating that she is “concerned” about their diversity and inclusion employment practices, is seeking responses to certain questions, and is instructing them to “[p]lease also preserve all relevant records.” She appears to cast aspersion on the fact that several of the firms have “publicly touted” their diversity goals and programs.
Lucas’s letters state that she is “concerned that [the law firm’s] ‘diversity and inclusion’ or other employment programs, policies, and practices may entail unlawful disparate treatment in terms, conditions, and privileges of employment, or unlawful limiting, segregating, and classifying based—in whole or in part—on race, sex, or other protected characteristics, in violation of Title VII.”
The law firms that received these letters include the following: A & O Shearman; Debevoise & Plimpton LLP; Cooley LLP; Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP; Goodwin Procter LLP; Hogan Lovells LLP; Kirkland & Ellis LLP; Latham & Watkins LLP; McDermott Will & Emery; Milbank LLP; Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP; Morrison & Foerster LLP; Perkins Coie; Reed Smith; Ropes & Gray LLP; Sidley Austin LLP; Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP; Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP; White & Case LLP; and WilmerHale.
“The EEOC is prepared to root out discrimination anywhere it may rear its head, including in our nation’s elite law firms,” said Lucas. “No one is above the law—and certainly not the private bar.”
Also, the release states that the EEOC has established a method by which DEI whistleblowers can submit information.
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