Dive Brief:
- The New York Times sued the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission under the Freedom of Information Act on Monday, alleging the agency has “failed completely” to respond to The Times’ FOIA requests.
- On June 16, The Times requested a series of documents from EEOC, including correspondence with groups like The Heritage Foundation and America First Legal and with Stephen Miller; agency policies, directives and speeches pertaining to discrimination against White employees; and communications about The New York Times’ reporters and articles. The agency has long passed its deadline to supply such information, per The Times’ complaint.
- The lawsuit marks another battle in the contentious war between The Times and EEOC under the second Trump administration.
Dive Insight:
Federal agencies have 20 business days to respond to FOIA requests under the law, although they may request an additional 10 days under “unusual circumstances.”
Per The Times, EEOC responded by assigning the request a tracking number on June 25 and determining that it posed unusual circumstances due to the need to search and pull information from field offices in addition to the main office.
EEOC allegedly said it would “make every effort” to respond by July 31 and provided a contact for The Times to discuss the request in further detail in July. The contact allegedly did not respond in July and cancelled an August meeting the day before it was set to occur. “[S]he has not responded to inquiries since then about when a response will be provided,” The Times alleged.
The agency also allegedly did not provide a fee estimate letter it said would be forthcoming, The Times said.
The Times asked the court to declare the records must be disclosed, order a 20-day timeline for EEOC to do so and declare the agency has forfeited its right to associated fees.
The lawsuit is at least the second FOIA complaint against the agency; in June, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People filed a similar lawsuit, alleging EEOC had stonewalled the group on its March request for records. Like The Times, NAACP sought communications related to the agency’s handling of discrimination claims and particularly its solicitation of charges from White men.
EEOC released its “first and final” responses in July, including over 1,200 records, according to a Thursday court filing, but withheld more than 1,000 more, citing a number of exemptions. Because the NAACP wishes to contest some of the redactions, the two agreed to present their sides, and let the court weigh in.
EEOC filed a discrimination lawsuit against The Times in May, accusing the company of race and sex bias for not promoting a White male to an editorial position and selecting a non-White journalist with allegedly less experience on the beat. In July, The Times filed a counterclaim, alleging EEOC was retaliating against the company for its coverage of the administration. Commissioner Kalpana Kotagal said she feared EEOC’s lawsuit was driven by “a desire to advance the administration’s political agenda” in a May LinkedIn post.
Danielle Rhoades Ha, senior vice president of communications for The Times, declined to comment further on the FOIA lawsuit but pointed HR Dive to a July statement pushing back against EEOC’s discrimination claim.
EEOC did not respond to a request for comment by press time.