Proposed rescission could remove a decades-old regulatory protection for certain employer affirmative action plans as the EEOC intensifies scrutiny of race- and sex-based workplace policies, including claims involving white men.
WASHINGTON | The Trump administration is moving to dismantle a nearly 50-year-old Equal Employment Opportunity Commission rule governing voluntary affirmative action, a significant shift that could alter how employers defend certain workplace programs and further intensify the administration's campaign against diversity, equity and inclusion policies.
EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas proposed May 27 that the commission rescind its rule titled “Affirmative Action Appropriate Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,” according to the information provided for this article.
The distinction is important: Title VII protects employees and applicants from discrimination based on race and sex regardless of the individual's race or sex. The controversy centers not on whether white men can bring discrimination claims — they already can — but on what legal and regulatory protections remain available to employers using narrowly tailored affirmative action programs.
