In what appears to be a new front in the Trump administration’s pressure campaign against the media, the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against the New York Times, charging that the news organization improperly passed over a white, male employee for promotion because of his race or sex.

The employee believed he had been passed over for a promotion to deputy real estate editor, a position that had been listed in January 2025, despite believing himself to be a “significantly” more qualified candidate.

The employee’s name was not included in the lawsuit, which noted that he had worked as an editor at the Times since 2014 and had served as senior staff editor on the paper’s international desk for more than nine years.

“Charging Party met all requirements for the Deputy Real Estate Editor position, including experience with real estate journalism,” the lawsuit claims. “As a White male, Charging Party did not match the race and/or sex characteristics NYT sought to increase in its leadership through its diversity actions and aspirations.”

The employee was not selected as a finalist for the deputy real estate editor position. (No white males were among the four finalists for the role, according to the lawsuit.) The role was ultimately awarded to Monica Burton, who came to the Times from the Vox Media property Eater.

“The unlawful employment practices complained of above were done with malice or with reckless indifference to Charging Party’s federally protected rights,” according to the complaint, which demanded that the Times provide “appropriate backpay with prejudgement interest” to the employee who was passed over – among other forms of compensation.

The lawsuit faulted efforts by the Times to increase diversity in the company’s ranks, including in leadership.

“A necessary consequence of NYT’s intent to increase the percentage of non-White leaders would be a decrease in the percentage of White leaders,” the lawsuit states. “Particularly, decreasing the percentage of White males in leadership would contribute to the NYT’s dual goals of increasing the percentages of females and ‘people of color’ (as defined by NYT) in leadership.”

The individual had filed a charge with the EEOC ahead of the lawsuit. The commission informed the individual that they found “reasonable cause” that the Times violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin.

The Times dismissed any notion that the hiring process had violated federal labor law – and said it would “vigorously” defend against any lawsuit.

“The New York Times categorically rejects the politically motivated allegations brought by the Trump administration’s EEOC,” Danielle Rhoades Ha, a Times spokesperson, said in a statement.

“Our employment practices are merit-based and focused on recruiting and promoting the best talent in the world. We will defend ourselves vigorously. 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. Neither race nor gender played a role in this decision – we hired the most qualified candidate, and she is an excellent editor.

“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.”

Employment practices at media companies could become a point of leverage for the government. Last week, Brendan Carr, the chair of the Federal Communications Commission, cited an existing investigation into diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts at Disney as the statutory basis for a highly unusual decision to call up for early renewal broadcast licenses held by eight television stations owned and operated by ABC. The announcement came one day after Donald and Melania Trump had called for the network to fire the late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel over a poorly timed joke the previous week.

More broadly, media companies have been backing away from diversity initiatives that sprang up in the aftermath of the police killing of George Floyd in 2020. In October, CBS News “gutted” its race and culture unit as part of a broader round of layoffs. Skydance also promised to end – and not reinstate – any diversity-focused programs at CBS parent Paramount as a pre-condition for FCC approval of its 2025 merger.