/>iOn February 19, 2025, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) Acting Chair Andrea Lucas vowed to prioritize anti-American national origin discrimination in compliance efforts, investigations, and litigation. See EEOC Newsroom, EEOC Acting Chair Vows to Protect American Workers from Anti-American Bias (Feb. 19, 2025).
Lucas announced, “The EEOC is putting employers and other covered entities on notice: if you are part of the pipeline contributing to our immigration crisis or abusing our legal immigration system via illegal preferences against American workers, you must stop. The law applies to you, and you are not above the law. The EEOC is here to protect all workers from unlawful national origin discrimination, including American workers.”
The EEOC stated that it intends to “help deter illegal migration and reduce the abuse of legal immigration programs by increasing enforcement of employment antidiscrimination laws against employers that illegally prefer non-American workers, as well as against staffing agencies and other agents that unlawfully comply with client companies’ illegal preferences against American workers.”
The EEOC’s announcement calls out the following reasons for an employer’s preference for non-American workers as invalid:
- lower cost labor (whether due to payment under the table to illegal aliens, or exploiting rules around certain visa-holder wage requirements, etc.);
- a workforce that is perceived as more easily exploited, in terms of the group’s lack of knowledge, access, or use of wage and hour protections, antidiscrimination protections, and other legal protections;
- customer or client preference; and
- biased perceptions that foreign workers are more productive or have a better work ethic than American workers.
Potential Risks
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) prohibits discrimination on the basis of various protected classes, including national origin. Employees and applicants who have been subjected to unlawful discrimination under Title VII based on their national origin may recover back- and front-pay damages, compensatory damages, punitive damages, and attorneys’ fees, subject to certain caps. Employers may also be subject to injunctive relief, including hiring or reinstatement and requirements to take actions to stop discriminatory practices and prevent discrimination going forward.
The EEOC has already demonstrated its focus on national origin discrimination in its first publicized settlement under Lucas’ leadership. On February 14, 2025, the EEOC filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Guam against LeoPalace Guam Corporation, doing business as LeoPalace Resort. See U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. LeoPalace Guam Corporation dba LeoPalace Resort and Does 1-5, Inclusive; Civil No. 1:25-cv-00004 (D. Guam consent decree filed February 19, 2025). In the lawsuit, the EEOC alleged that LeoPalace violated Title VII by subjecting non-Japanese employees, including employees of American national origin, to less favorable wages, benefits, and terms and conditions of employment compared to its Japanese employees. Ultimately, LeoPalace agreed to a settlement with the EEOC in which it must pay $1,412,500 and agree to injunctive relief, including hiring an external equal employment opportunity monitor to oversee compliance and training, review policies and procedures, and oversee former employee reinstatement.
Takeaways
The EEOC’s emphasis on national origin discrimination may have a particular impact on employers with high percentages of immigrant workers, including the construction, agriculture, hospitality, and healthcare industries. Employers should prepare for increased scrutiny of, and potential discrimination claims based on any workplace policy that appears to show a bias for or against any national origin group, including policies regarding the use of citizenship status in employment decisions.
Employers should review their workplace policies and hiring practices to ensure that they comply with federal law. The changing priorities at the EEOC can be challenging to navigate. Employers are encouraged to consult their legal counsel for advice on how to ensure that they remain compliant with the law.
