Overview
- The EEOC issued a new National Enforcement Plan on June 4, 2026, replacing its prior strategic plan and prioritizing disparate-treatment (intentional discrimination) claims over disparate-impact theories.
- The Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel issued a nonbinding opinion on June 9, 2026, questioning the constitutionality of the EEOC’s disparate-impact guidelines and providing legal cover for the agency’s shift in emphasis.
- The NEP explicitly flags policies labeled or framed as DEI as likely enforcement targets and gives examples such as race- or sex-based selection criteria, diversity statements, demographic hiring goals, and incentive pay tied to demographic outcomes.
- The plan centralizes enforcement by allowing the agency to reassign matters across districts and to open Commissioner-initiated investigations without a private complainant, increasing the chance of subpoenas, test cases, and cross-district probes.
- Employers—especially health care organizations and federal grant recipients—are advised to audit hiring, promotion, compensation, DEI communications, and grant certifications, because the NEP raises the odds of investigations even though it does not change underlying anti-discrimination statutes and courts will ultimately decide legal limits.