President Donald Trump‘s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed a federal lawsuit against The New York Times, alleging the outlet has participated in hiring and promotion practices that discriminate against white men.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Tuesday, brings claims on behalf of a white man who alleges that his race and sex factored into his denial for a promotion at the newspaper in early 2025, a violation of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. He had reportedly been working at the paper as an editor since 2014.

According to a press release from the EEOC, The New York Times excluded “a white man with extensive experience in real estate journalism, out of its final panel interviews for a vacant Deputy Real Estate Editor position” and “every candidate who advanced through to the final interview process was not a white male.”

“The company ultimately hired an outside candidate for the role — a non-white female with little to no experience in real estate journalism, despite such experience being a requirement for the real estate editor position,” the press release states. “Further, the hiring manager greenlit this external candidate for inclusion in the final interview panel without her first going through the standard interview processes for the position. Moreover, The New York Times selected this candidate for the position despite the company’s own final interview panel rating her less favorably than two other final candidates.”

EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas said the commission will not “pull punches” in the enforcement of Title VII under her leadership, in a quote shared within the press release.

“No one is above the law — including ‘elite’ institutions,” she said. “There is no such thing as ‘reverse discrimination’; all race or sex discrimination is equally unlawful, according to long-established civil rights principles. The EEOC is prepared to root out discrimination anywhere it may rear its head. No matter the size or power of the employer, the EEOC under my leadership will not pull punches in ensuring evenhanded, colorblind enforcement of Title VII to protect America’s workers, including white males. Federal law is clear: making hiring or promotion decisions motivated in whole or in part by race or sex violates federal law. There is no diversity exception to this rule.”

In an article about the lawsuit released Tuesday afternoon by The New York Times, Danielle Rhoades Ha, a spokeswoman for the paper, asserted that the paper will defend itself “vigorously” against the claims brought about in the complaint.

“The New York Times categorically rejects the politically motivated allegations brought by the Trump administration’s E.E.O.C.,” Ha said. “Our employment practices are merit-based and focused on recruiting and promoting the best talent in the world. We will defend ourselves vigorously.”

She later added, “The allegation centers on a single personnel decision for one of over 100 deputy positions across the newsroom, yet the E.E.O.C.’s filing makes sweeping claims that ignore the facts to fit a predetermined narrative,” she said. “Neither race nor gender played a role in this decision — we hired the most qualified candidate, and she is an excellent editor.”

Per The New York Times, the outlet took part in a “voluntary, brokered mediation” with the EEOC in April before the commission cut off the process on April 21st. The complaint indicates no solutions acceptable to the EEOC were offered.

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