The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against The New York Times, alleging the newspaper engaged in reverse discrimination by rejecting a white male employee for a senior editorial position to advance diversity objectives.
Filed in Manhattan federal court, the complaint claims the Times violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by discriminating against the male applicant based on his race and gender when filling a deputy real estate editor role.
The newspaper has not yet provided a response to the allegations.
This reverse discrimination case represents a shift in the EEOC’s enforcement strategy under Chair Andrea Lucas, reflecting alignment with President Donald Trump’s administration policies targeting diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
Trump has publicly criticized DEI initiatives in corporate America and recently signed executive orders eliminating such programs from federal agencies after beginning his second presidential term. The president is separately pursuing a $15 billion defamation case against the Times, claiming the publication attempted to undermine his 2024 campaign and damage his business reputation.
The EEOC is representing an 11-year Times employee who applied for the deputy real estate editor promotion in early 2025. The veteran journalist had been working primarily as a senior staff editor covering international news.
According to the federal complaint, the Times had spent several years actively recruiting Black, Hispanic and female staff members to build a “more diverse, equitable and inclusive” newsroom, with leadership deciding in 2024 that more non-white “leaders” were needed.
Despite his qualifications, the male editor never advanced to final consideration, the EEOC states. Instead, the position went to a multiracial female candidate who was selected over other finalists including a white woman, Black man and Asian woman.
Court documents reveal that one interviewer described the chosen candidate as “a bit green overall” and stated “I don’t see her contributing to the expansion of the coverage in a significant way.”
The commission alleges the Times implemented its discriminatory hiring practices “with malice or with reckless indifference” toward the white male editor’s civil rights.
Federal officials are seeking to halt these employment practices at the newspaper and secure compensation for the affected editor, including back pay, future earnings and punitive damages.
Lucas outlined her enforcement philosophy in a December Reuters interview, stating “my goal is to shift to a conservative view of civil rights,” which includes “attacking” all racial discrimination forms, including DEI programs.
The agency has expanded its focus to include investigating whether Nike discriminated against white workers and filing suit against a Coca-Cola bottling company for allegedly barring men from employee networking events.
