Late last year, the EEOC quietly announced its most recent Strategic Enforcement Plan, covering 2024–2028. To no surprise, the EEOC has indicated that it will implement a concerted effort to focus its resources on employment practices that often result in class and collective action lawsuits. More specifically, the EEOC announced the following “subject matter priorities” for the next four years:

• “Eliminating Barriers in Recruitment and Hiring” (including use of artificial intelligence for hiring, apprenticeship/internship programs, online-focused application processes, screening tools for hiring—such as pre-employment tests and background checks, and the underrepresentation of women and workers of color in industries such as manufacturing, tech, STEM, and finance, for example);
• “Protecting Vulnerable Workers and Persons from Underserved Communities from Employment Discrimination” (including immigrant workers, persons with mental or developmental disabilities, temporary workers, older workers, and workers traditionally employed in low-wage jobs);
• “Addressing Selected Emerging and Developing Issues” (including the use of qualification standards or other policies that negatively affect disabled workers, protecting workers affected by pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, preventing discriminatory bias towards religious minorities or LGBTQIA+ individuals, and the use of artificial intelligence or automated recruitment tools for hiring);
•  “Advancing Equal Pay for All Workers” (including a focus on employer policies that prevent or attempt to limit workers from asking about pay, inquiring about applicants’ prior salary histories, or prohibiting workers from sharing their compensation with coworkers);
• “Preserving Access to the Legal System” (including the use of overly broad releases or nondisclosure agreements, the implementation of unlawful mandatory arbitration provisions, and any failure to keep records required by statute or EEOC regulations); and
•  “Preventing and Remedying Systemic Harassment.”

The EEOC has indicated that it will focus on Charges that touch on the above topics while also intentionally prioritizing systemic enforcement actions and impact litigation to eradicate what it perceives to be discriminatory employment practices. As demonstrated briefly above, the EEOC has a keen interest in scrutinizing artificial intelligence and mass hiring practices via automatic recruitment tools, in addition to a renewed focus on employment practices that could have an adverse impact on those with intellectual or health-related disabilities, among other things. This could directly lead to an increase in Commissioner Charges, systemic investigations, pattern or practice lawsuits, and class action litigation regarding the topics listed in its Strategic Enforcement Plan. 

Employers should be vigilant in monitoring these key areas of risk related to the EEOC’s new Strategic Enforcement Plan, as EEOC investigations can quickly escalate to regional or even nationwide systemic investigations and corresponding litigation.