New York Times counters EEOC lawsuit over editorial hiring decision

The New York Times on Friday asked a Manhattan federal court to throw out a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lawsuit over a deputy real estate editor hiring decision, arguing that the agency’s case violates the First and Fifth Amendments. The newspaper asks the judge to dismiss the complaint and declare the EEOC’s action unlawful.

The EEOC filed its case on May 5 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and alleges the Times passed over a longtime white male editor with real-estate journalism experience for the vacant role in early 2025. The agency alleges the eventual hire was a multiracial woman with little to no real-estate journalism experience, and that no white males advanced to the final interview panel. EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas said there is “no diversity exception” to Title VII, and pointed to the Times’ 2021 “Call to Action” and other diversity materials that emphasized increasing non-white and female representation in leadership.

The Times’ countersuit alleges the EEOC ended conciliation efforts “prematurely and abruptly,” then filed suit a week after the newspaper published a story about pressure inside the agency to bring cases that matched Trump administration priorities. The newspaper also alleges the EEOC found no evidence that race or gender was considered in the hiring decision.

On June 5, 2025, the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services held that majority-group plaintiffs in Title VII cases do not face a heightened “background circumstances” burden. On June 4, 2026, the EEOC approved a new National Enforcement Plan that prioritizes intentional discrimination cases and scrutiny of DEI programs. Lucas has also opened an investigation into Nike over alleged discrimination against white employees tied to diversity policies.