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Agency says it’s still ‘open for business’

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Don’t believe the reports you may have heard that the federal government is no longer enforcing workplace discrimination laws – the reports aren’t accurate.

In fact, a newly released memo from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) emphatically states that the independent agency is still “open for business.”

Titled “The State of The EEOC and Frequently Asked Questions,” the memo acknowledges that the agency no longer has a quorum because two commissioners have been fired. However, the lack of a quorum won’t stop the EEOC from vigorously enforcing antidiscrimination laws, according to the document.

“The lack of a quorum of commissioners doesn’t impact the intake, processing, investigation, or resolution of charges of discrimination, nor does it impact the notices of right to sue,” reads the memo, which also indicates that the agency will continue to accept bias complaints.

The memo further states that an agency resolution passed in 2021 provides limited authority for the filing of EEOC lawsuits.

Your bottom line: Despite the upheaval in Washington, you still have a legal duty to root out workplace bias, and the EEOC still plans to pursue lawsuits against companies it believes are trampling on the rights of employees.

How will the priorities of the EEOC change under the Trump administration?

A recent memo from acting chair Andrea Lucas provides a few clues. First, according to the memo, the EEOC will roll back the gender-identity agenda of the previous administration. According to Lucas, the EEOC now defines sex as a person’s immutable biological classification as male or female; the concept of gender identity is too subjective, said Lucas. That means, for instance, that the EEOC is unlikely to pursue legal action against companies that insist men and women use bathrooms consistent with their biological sex.

Lucas also said the EEOC will no longer enforce the gender-identity section of the agency’s “Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace,” which was released last year by the previous administration.

(From the February 14, 2025, issue of HR Manager’s Legal Alert for Supervisors. To start your no-obligation trial subscription to the publication right now, please click here.)