Logo text

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has sued The New York Times, alleging the news organization discriminated against a white male employee by passing him over for a promotion.

More broadly, the lawsuit filed in New York federal court on Tuesday accuses the Times of implementing race and sex-based hiring goals that favor minorities and women in violation of civil rights laws. The government seeks a court order barring the company from carrying diversity, equity and inclusion policies, plus unspecified damages for the unnamed employee.

The lawsuit marks another escalation by the Trump administration against the Times, this time by putting DEI objectives in its crosshairs. The government considers such practices illegal, leveraging them to investigate and force changes at private companies. Last month, the Federal Communications Commission opened an early review of Disney’s eight ABC TV station licenses, citing concerns about the company’s consideration of race and sex in hiring decisions. The announcement came days after late-night host Jimmy Kimmel mocked Melania Trump, raising questions about whether the FCC’s decision was meant to act as retribution.

Danielle Rhoades Ha, a spokeswoman for the Times, in a statement called the lawsuit “politically motivated.” She added, “Throughout this process, the EEOC deviated from standard practices in highly unusual ways. The allegation centers on a single personnel decision for one of over 100 deputy positions across the newsroom, yet the EEOC’s filing makes sweeping claims that ignore the facts to fit a predetermined narrative.”

The unnamed white employee lost a job as the deputy real estate editor to a multiracial woman, who allegedly didn’t have experience covering real estate, according to the complaint. None of the final four candidates were White men, the EEOC said.

In the lawsuit, the government points to diversity and inclusion reports from the Times in which it pledged to increase representation of Black, Latino and women employees. In a 2021 report, the news organization said 48 percent of new hires in the previous year were people of color, said the lawsuit, which cited figures showing that the makeup of minorities at the company increased from 27 percent to 34 percent since 2015.

The report “detailed NYT’s express efforts to make employment decisions on the basis of race and sex to achieve its desired demographic goals,” writes Benjamin North, a lawyer for the EEOC, in the complaint. As a result, White men were ignored for promotions, the lawsuit claimed.

“Neither race nor gender played a role in this decision – we hired the most qualified candidate, and she is an excellent editor,” Ha said in the statement. “The New York Times’s commitment to diversity in all its forms is longstanding and unwavering, as is our commitment to a fair and legal hiring process that does not discriminate against anyone.”

Since reassuming office, Trump has been engaged in trying to reshape the news media, which he considers corrupt and biased. He thrusted himself into the bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery to undermine Netflix’s bid in a move that’s largely been seen as support for Paramount, which installed new leadership at CBS News under CEO David Ellison.