A shareholder group sued the Trump administration, alleging the Department of Labor has refused for more than two years to release federal workplace diversity data. The Freedom of Information Act case seeks EEO-1-style demographic information for 2021 and 2022
The fight over workplace diversity data is no longer just about policy—it’s heading into federal court, where a shareholder group says the government has been blocking basic numbers investors rely on.
As You Sow has filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit in Washington. DC. claiming the Department of Labor has stonewalled its request for workplace diversity data for more than two years. The case seeks data for the years 2021 and 2022. As You Sow argues the information has been used in the past to publish reports linking workforce diversity with financial performance.
“Workforce diversity is a material business issue that investors increasingly consider in their decision-making,” said Andrew Behar, As You Sow’s CEO.
Danielle Fugere, president and chief counsel, said the problem is simple: “investors are flying blind.”
The Labor Department has not released the data at issue, according to the complaint. The Labor Department has also not provided comment to requests seeking its response.
The case arrives as major U.S. employers taper or abandon diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Companies ranging from Walmart to Meta Platforms have rolled back DEI efforts, according to the broader reporting surrounding the dispute.
At the regulatory level. the Trump administration has signaled it plans to stop collecting the data as part of DEI reforms. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has also moved to end the reporting requirement for corporations as well as labor unions. state and local governments. apprenticeship programs and schools.
Every year, large employers submit a demographic breakdown of employees by race and gender in a form popularly known as an EEO-1 report. Since the 1960s, that demographic data has been used to spot patterns of discrimination and support civil rights investigations in the workplace.
The EEO-1 reporting change rests on a long-running political dispute. Eliminating EEO-1 data collection has been on the Republican wish list for decades. and the Heritage Foundation made it a priority in Project 2025—a sweeping blueprint it drew up in anticipation of President Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
Jonathan Berry, a veteran of the first Trump administration, previously described the EEO-1 report as fundamentally flawed. In 2024. he told this newsroom that the EEO-1 report is a “reductive document” that forces employers to classify employees into racial categories even without suspected discrimination—pushing both employers and the government to evaluate employees in racial terms.
“The goal here is to move toward colorblindness and to recognize that we need to have laws and policies that treat people like full human beings not reducible to categories, especially when it comes to race,” Berry said at the time. Berry is now solicitor for the Department of Labor.
Investors, however, argue that the same data is precisely what makes workplace diversity measurable instead of abstract. New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli said his office plans to “formally weigh in with the EEOC in opposition” to discontinuing EEO-1 data collection. saying investors need the information “to make sound decisions.”.
“EEO-1 reporting gives investors a clear. consistent picture of the corporate workforce to evaluate how the companies we own manage talent. address risk and deliver long-term performance. ” DiNapoli said. He added. “Transparency strengthens markets. it does not threaten them.” DiNapoli is the trustee of the New York State Common Retirement Fund. one of the nation’s largest public pension funds.
The stakes extend beyond investor optics. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed employment discrimination based on race. color. religion. sex. and national origin and established the EEOC to enforce these laws. But. as federal agencies have explained over time. the EEOC lacked concrete data to identify patterns of job discrimination and segregation based on race. ethnicity and sex.
So the EEOC used its power under the Civil Rights Act to require companies with 100 or more employees and federal contractors with 50 or more employees to fill out standardized reports with demographic data broken down by race and gender. Enforcement agencies have relied on EEO-1 data to determine where to focus limited resources. Employers have also used it to identify major gaps in their workforce and barriers to equal opportunity. Some states and local jurisdictions require their own EEO-1 submissions.
The public did not always have broad access to these reports. That changed sharply after the 2020 police killing of George Floyd, when corporations began voluntarily releasing more information amid pressure from investors, employees and customers, as well as inquiries from news organizations.
The release of EEO-1 data has given Americans insight into hiring and promotion patterns, including analyses showing how men—and White men in particular—occupy the majority of corporate leadership roles.
The question now is how far the rollback could go. States like California and Illinois still require employers to submit workforce demographic reports. Even if the federal government stops collecting EEO-1 data, more states may impose reporting requirements.
Colorado recently passed a law requiring employers to submit EEO-1 data to the state starting in July 2027. So while federal collection and reporting may be shifting, the data trail is unlikely to disappear entirely.
Still. for investors and advocates. the lawsuit is about something more immediate than long-term policy design: whether the federal government will release existing workplace diversity information that could show what’s happening in the workforce now—and whether the numbers needed to evaluate risk will be available at all.
Trump administration Department of Labor Freedom of Information Act workplace diversity data As You Sow EEO-1 EEOC DEI crackdown investors Tom DiNapoli New York State Common Retirement Fund Project 2025