In a dramatic move that has sparked debate across the political spectrum, Andrea Lucas, chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, posted a call-out on X urging white men to come forward if they have faced race or sex discrimination at work.
Lucas’s Social Media Campaign
On Wednesday evening, Lucas posted a video of herself with the headline: “Are you a white male who has experienced discrimination at work based on your race or sex? You may have a claim to recover money under federal civil rights laws,”. The post urged eligible workers to reach out to the agency “as soon as possible” and linked to the EEOC’s fact sheet on “DEI-related discrimination” for more information. The video and accompanying text were viewed millions of times and shared roughly two hours after Vice President JD Vance posted an article he described as “the evil of DEI and its consequences,” which also garnered millions of views.
Lucas responded to Vance’s article with the statement: “Absolutely right @JDVance. And precisely because this widespread, systemic, unlawful discrimination primarily harmed white men, elites didn’t just turn a blind eye; they celebrated it. Absolutely unacceptable; unlawful; immoral.” She added that the EEOC “won’t rest until this discrimination is eliminated.”
Reaction from Vice President Vance
A representative for Vance did not respond to a request for comment. Lucas later posted on Thursday evening that “the gaslighting surrounding what DEI initiatives have entailed in practice ends now. We can’t attack and remedy a problem if we refuse to call it out for what it is – race or sex discrimination – or acknowledge who is harmed.” She reiterated that “the EEOC’s doors are open to all,” and that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 “protects everyone, including white men.”
Shift in EEOC Focus
Since being elevated to acting chair in January, Lucas has redirected the agency’s priorities toward “rooting out unlawful DEI-motivated race and sex discrimination,” a direction that aligns with President Donald Trump’s anti-DEI executive orders. Trump named Lucas chair in November. Earlier this year, the EEOC and the Department of Justice issued two technical assistance documents that sought to clarify what might constitute “DEI-related discrimination at work” and how workers can file complaints. The documents broadly targeted practices such as training, employee resource groups, and fellowship programs, warning that depending on how they are constructed, these programs could run afoul of Title VII.
The guidance was criticized by former agency commissioners for being misleading, as it portrayed DEI initiatives as legally fraught. The documents have been described as attempting to delineate a narrow legal boundary around DEI practices.
Criticism from Former Commissioners and Experts
David Glasgow, executive director of the Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging at NYU School of Law, said Lucas’s latest social media posts demonstrate a “fundamental misunderstanding of what DEI is.” He added: “It’s really much more about creating a culture in which you get the most out of everyone who you’re bringing on board, where everyone experiences fairness and equal opportunity, including white men and members of other groups.”
The Meltzer Center tracks lawsuits that are likely to affect workplace DEI practices, including 57 cases of workplace discrimination. Glasgow said he has not seen “any kind of systematic evidence that white men are being discriminated against.” He pointed out that Fortune 500 CEOs are overwhelmingly white men, and that relative to their share of the population, the demographic is overrepresented in corporate senior leadership, Congress, and beyond. “If DEI has been this engine of discrimination against white men, I have to say it hasn’t really been doing a very good job at achieving that,” Glasgow said.
Jenny Yang’s Critique
Jenny Yang, a former EEOC chair and now partner at law firm Outten & Golden, described the agency’s focus on a single demographic as “unusual” and “problematic.” She said: “It suggests some sort of priority treatment,” and added, “That’s not something that sounds to me like equal opportunity for all.”
Yang also noted that the agency has done the opposite for transgender workers, whose discrimination complaints have been deprioritized or dropped completely. “The EEOC has limited resources, and must accordingly prioritize which cases to pursue,” she said. “But treating charges differently based on workers’ identities goes against the mission of the agency. It worries me that a message is being sent that the EEOC only cares about some workers and not others.”
Key Takeaways
- The EEOC chair has called on white men to report race or sex discrimination, framing it as a systemic issue.
- The agency’s recent guidance and public messaging have shifted toward scrutinizing DEI programs as potential violations of Title VII.
- Critics argue that the focus on white men is misplaced and that the agency’s actions may undermine its mission of equal opportunity for all.
The debate over DEI, discrimination, and the EEOC’s role continues to unfold, with implications for employers, employees, and the broader conversation about workplace equality.
