Four of the world’s largest law firms—Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Latham & Watkins LLP, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, and A&O Shearman Sterling, LLC—recently entered into a settlement agreement with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) over DEI-practices.
On March 17, Acting Chair Andrea Lucas sent letters to these and other law firms regarding their DEI-practices and seeking information to better understand whether their respective practices resulted in race- and sex-based disparate treatment against white or male employees, applicants, and training program participants, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The firms chose to voluntarily resolve matters with the EEOC, without admission of liability, to avoid an extended dispute. Under the multi-year agreement, the law firms affirmed their commitment to lawful merit-based hiring, promotion, and retention; agreed not to engage in unlawful discrimination or preferences based on race, sex, or other protected characteristics, including in any policies, programs, and practices previously labeled, characterized, or framed as a diversity or DEI program; agreed to no longer categorize any lawful employment or practices (including those addressing equal employment opportunity, accessibility, or reasonable accommodation for religion, disability, or pregnancy) as DEI; and agreed to compliance monitoring.
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