The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) sent letters to twenty law firms requesting information pertaining to any diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policy held by the firms.
The letters, sent by EEOC Acting Chair Andrea Lucas, discuss the agency’s concerns that the DEI policies violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
“There is no ‘diversity’ exception to these prohibitions,” a press release from the EEOC says. “It is the responsibility of the EEOC to enforce the provisions of Title VII with respect to businesses and other private sector employers.”
“The EEOC is prepared to root out discrimination anywhere it may rear its head, including in our nation’s elite law firms,” Lucas said in a statement. “No one is above the law—and certainly not the private bar.”
Law firms receiving the letters include, as listed by the EEOC:
- A & O Shearman
- Debevoise & Plimpton LLP
- Cooley LLP
- Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP
- Goodwin Procter LLP
- Hogan Lovells LLP
- Kirkland & Ellis LLP
- Latham & Watkins LLP
- McDermott Will & Emery
- Milbank LLP
- Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
- Morrison & Foerster LLP
- Perkins Coie
- Reed Smith
- Ropes & Gray LLP
- Sidley Austin LLP
- Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP
- Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
- White & Case LLP
- WilmerHale
One of the law firms receiving a letter, Perkins Coie, was the subject of a recent executive order.
The order, “Addressing Risks from Perkins Coie LLP,” states that the firm, linked to Hillary Clinton and George Soros, has engaged in “dishonest and dangerous activity” for decades.
“Notably, in 2016 while representing failed Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, Perkins Coie hired Fusion GPS, which then manufactured a false ‘dossier’ designed to steal an election. This egregious activity is part of a pattern,” the order says, explaining that the law firm has “worked with activist donors including George Soros to judicially overturn popular, necessary, and democratically enacted election laws, including those requiring voter identification.”
