EEOC rescinds long-standing affirmative action guidance

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is continuing its journey back to the 1960s.

On June 29 the Republican-controlled EEOC voted to remove guidelines from section 607 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, claiming in a press release that they contradict Title VII and violate Supreme Court precedent.

The guidelines were issued in a 1979 rule to offer employers a three-step process for implementing affirmative action programs. Rescinding them means employers are without a valuable tool to combat workplace discrimination, Kalpana Kotagal, the sole democrat EEOC commissioner, wrote on LinkedIn. She further argued that the guidelines were necessary to prevent present-day discrimination.

“The Guidelines define affirmative action as ‘those actions appropriate to overcome the effects of past or present, practices, policies, or other barriers to equal employment opportunity’ and, can only be relied upon in narrow circumstances,” Kotagal wrote. “Despite the lack of any evidence that the guidelines have been abused, and couched in this administration’s language of ‘even-handed enforcement,’ the rescission of the guidelines is, in fact, yet another attack by this administration on civil rights protections for workers.”

EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas is a vocal opponent of DEI and has taken several steps to roll back decades-old programs, HR Brew reported previously. Under her leadership, the agency in June said it will scrutinize DEI programs and move away from disparate impact, which the Department of Justice claims are unconstitutional.

Earlier this year, the EEOC recommended eliminating EEO-1 reporting and rescinded Biden-era harassment guidelines developed in part to protect LGBTQ+ workers. Lucas has also sent letters warning Fortune 500 companies and top law firms about so-called illegal DEI practices since she took over as chair in 2025.