Trump Labor Department sued over access to workplace diversity data

A shareholder group is fighting the Trump administration over its refusal to release federal government data that tracks diversity in the American workplace.

USA TODAY exclusively obtained a lawsuit filed by As You Sow in Washington, DC, federal court claiming the Department of Labor has stonewalled the nonprofit shareholder advocacy group’s request for workplace diversity data for more than two years.

The Freedom of Information Act complaint is seeking the release of data for the years 2021 and 2022. As You Sow says it has used the data in the past to publish reports linking workforce diversity with financial performance.

"Workforce diversity is a material business issue that investors increasingly consider in their decision-making," said Andrew Behar, As You Sow’s CEO.

Without this information, said Danielle Fugere, president and chief counsel, "investors are flying blind."

USA TODAY has asked the Labor Department for comment.

Diversity data part of DEI crackdown

Each year, major companies submit a breakdown of employees by race and gender in a form popularly known as an EEO-1 report. Since the 1960s, this demographic data has been instrumental in spotting patterns of discrimination and supporting civil rights investigations in the workplace.

The Trump administration has signaled its plans to stop collecting the data as part of its diversity, equity and inclusion reforms.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently moved to end the reporting requirement for corporations as well as labor unions, state and local governments, apprenticeship programs and schools, USA TODAY previously reported.

Why Trump wants to end EEO-1 reporting

Eliminating EEO-1 data collection has been on the Republican wish list for decades. The Heritage Foundation made it a priority in Project 2025, a sweeping blueprint it drew up in anticipation of President Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

Jonathan Berry, a veteran of the first Trump administration, told USA TODAY in 2024 that the EEO-1 report is a "reductive document" that requires employers to classify their employees into racial categories even without suspected discrimination, encouraging employers and the government alike to evaluate employees in racial terms.

"The goal here is to move toward colorblindness and to recognize that we need to have laws and policies that treat people like full human beings not reducible to categories, especially when it comes to race," Berry, now solicitor for the Department of Labor, said at the time.

Why some investors want diversity data

Some investors are fighting back.

New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli told USA TODAY his office plans to "formally weigh in with the EEOC in opposition" to discontinuing EEO-1 data collection, saying investors need this information "to make sound decisions."

"EEO-1 reporting gives investors a clear, consistent picture of the corporate workforce to evaluate how the companies we own manage talent, address risk and deliver long-term performance," said DiNapoli, trustee of the New York State Common Retirement Fund, one of the nation's largest public pension funds. "Transparency strengthens markets, it does not threaten them."

What is EEO-1 data?

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin and established the EEOC to enforce these laws. But the new federal agency lacked concrete data to identify patterns of job discrimination and segregation based on race, ethnicity and sex.

So the EEOC used its power under the Civil Rights Act to require companies with 100 or more employees and federal contractors with 50 or more employees fill out standardized reports with concrete demographic data broken down by race and gender.

Enforcement agencies like the EEOC have relied on EEO-1 data to know where to focus limited resources. Employers used it to identify major gaps in their workforce and barriers to equal opportunity. Some states and local jurisdictions have employers submit EEO-1 reports to comply with their local reporting obligations.

Will workplace diversity data go away?

The public had scant access to these reports until the 2020 police killing of George Floyd, when corporations began voluntarily releasing more information in the face of growing pressure from investors, employees and customers, as well as inquiries from news organizations like USA TODAY.

The release of EEO-1 data has given Americans greater insight into hiring and promotion patterns, including USA TODAY analyses over the last 12 years showing how men − and White men in particular − occupy the majority of corporate leadership roles.

Information tracking the state of diversity in the American workplace won't go away entirely.

States like California and Illinois still require employers to submit workforce demographics reports. If the federal government stops collecting EEO-1 data, more states may enact similar reporting requirements. Colorado recently passed a law requiring employers to submit EEO-1 data to the state starting in July 2027.