May 15, 2026
The EEOC has proposed ending a civil-rights-era program collecting demographic information from private companies.
The top federal agency for promoting diversity across society is proposing pulling back on its primary initiative to collect demographic data, one that it has conducted for decades.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is considering no longer collecting demographic information including race, sex and national origin from major American companies, departing from a practice that began during the civil rights era of the 1960s and was critical to the agency’s efforts to root out workplace discrimination. The EEOC also wants to ax data reporting rules for apprenticeship programs, unions, state and local governments, and schools, as well as reporting requirements in other civil rights laws that protect workers, including those who are pregnant or have disabilities.
. . .
Christine Webber, a civil rights and employment lawyer, said a decision to rescind reporting requirements for companies would run counter to the EEOC’s other efforts to collect data from law firms that the administration has targeted. The EEOC also recently won a court battle over requesting information about Jewish people at the University of Pennsylvania as part of an investigation into antisemitism.
“They know perfectly well that the EEOC needs data like that to do its job of enforcing the antidiscrimination laws,” Webber said. “Because if you want to show a pattern of conduct, a pattern of decision-making, data is an essential ingredient.”
Read Federal Civil Rights Watchdog Wants to Stop Tracking Data on Race and Sex.