Law Firms
EEOC data requests to law firms were not mandatory, agency says in court filing
Andrea Lucas is the acting chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (Photo by Mariam Zuhaib/The Associated Press)
A letter to 20 BigLaw firms seeking detailed information about diversity-program applicants and other attorney job seekers constituted “informal information gathering” rather than a mandatory demand, according to a court filing by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Most of the 20 law firms did not provide any information requested by the EEOC, and those that did reply did not include identifying information about any specific individual, according to the July 31 EEOC filing seeking to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the information gathering. Three anonymous law students are the plaintiffs.
Any information provided to the EEOC did not include individual names, phone numbers, email addresses or other contact information, the motion says, and as a result, the law students who sued lack standing.
And if the plaintiffs were found to be injured, any harm would be caused by independent decisions of law firms receiving the letters, rather than the EEOC request, according to the motion.
Law.com has a report on the filing.
The March 17 letters by EEOC acting chair Andrea Lucas expressed concerns about the firms’ diversity hiring practices, saying they may amount to discrimination that violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The student plaintiffs had alleged the EEOC acted beyond its authority when it demanded sensitive personal information about the law firms’ applicants and employees dating back six to 10 years. The students applied to or worked at one or more of the law firms.
In their Aug. 14 reply to the EEOC’s motion, the student plaintiffs say the EEOC defendants “attempt to minimize their conduct—an implicit acknowledgment that they have overstepped.”
The agency’s position, the students say, is an attempt to bypass statutory requirements for a formal charge of discrimination before an investigation can begin “simply by calling an investigation something else.”
According to Law.com, Goodwin Procter “is the only law firm known to have submitted voluminous hiring data to the EEOC.” The firm did not provide applicant names, however.
Six of the targeted law firms resolved the EEOC requests for information when they reached pro bono deals with President Donald Trump, Law.com reports. Those firms are: Kirkland & Ellis; A&O Shearman; Latham & Watkins; Milbank; Simpson Thacher & Bartlett; and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom.
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