Trump Administration Sues The New York Times For Allegedy Discriminating Against A White Man

The Trump administration is accusing The New York Times of unlawfully favoring diversity over merit in a high-profile hiring decision

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has filed a federal lawsuit against The New York Times, alleging the media company discriminated against a white male employee in a promotion decision tied to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Filed on May 5, the lawsuit alleges that the newspaper violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act after a white man was reportedly denied a deputy real estate editor role in favor of a multiracial woman from outside the company. According to the complaint, the selected candidate allegedly had limited experience in real estate journalism despite the role requiring that expertise.

EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas said the agency believes race and sex were factors in the hiring decision, arguing that “there is no such thing as reverse discrimination” because all forms of workplace discrimination are unlawful under federal law.

The complaint also points to The Times’ public diversity initiatives and internal goals to increase representation of women and people of color in leadership positions. Federal officials claim those efforts may have improperly influenced hiring practices.

“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 legacy publication strongly rejected the allegations, calling the lawsuit politically motivated and defending its hiring process as fair and merit-based. A spokesperson for the company said the selected candidate was highly qualified and accused the EEOC of targeting the publication as part of a broader political campaign against DEI programs, according to Axios.

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.

The lawsuit marks another escalation in the Trump administration’s ongoing scrutiny of corporate diversity initiatives. Since returning to office, the president has aggressively challenged DEI policies across media companies, corporations, and universities. His administration has even argued that some programs unfairly disadvantage white employees.