administration with different policy priorities and strategic objectives, one thing is certain: the EEOC will continue to aggressively enforce federal anti-discrimination laws and its success at bringing enforcement actions should serve as a reminder to all employers of the risks associated with not maintaining EEOC- compliant employment policies. III. The EEOC ’ s Strategic Plan Every four years the EEOC prepares a Strategic Plan that guides how it will improve its internal operations to enforce federal anti-discrimination laws. The Commission ’ s Plan for 2022-2026 sets forth specific goals along with performance metrics to measure how well those goals are being met. The key elements of the Plan and why they are important are critical data points for employers. On August 22, 2023, the EEOC announced the approval of its Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2022-2026. The 2022-2026 Strategic Plan specifies that when investigating private sector employers, the EEOC will focus its internal operations on four key areas. First, the EEOC will ensure that by FY 2025, up to 90% of EEOC conciliations and litigation resolutions will contain targeted, equitable relief. Furthermore, between FY 2022 and 2026, the Commission will endeavor to resolve at least 90% of its enforcement lawsuits. On this point, the EEOC explains that because its systemic litigation program is resource intensive, this goal is important to enable the agency to use its resources in a wise and efficient manner. Employers who have faced systemic lawsuits are well-aware of the amount of litigation resources they can consume, both for the companies involved and the Commission. In addition, the EEOC is poised to expand its capacity to prosecute systemic lawsuits. To that end, the EEOC will provide training to all field staff on identifying and investigating systemic discrimination, and at least 90% of its investigators and trial attorneys will participate in systemic litigation training each year. The purpose is to expand the EEOC ’ s capacity to conduct systemic investigations, so that it may engage in a coordinated, strategic, and effective approach to systemic discrimination enforcement litigation. This signals that the Commission will continue to emphasize and prioritize the use of “pattern or practice” lawsuits to enforce the statutes over which Congress gave it authority. Finally, the EEOC will endeavor to increase its monitoring of conciliation agreements, thereby leading to a more robust compliance program. The Commission ’ s focus here is to implement streamlined and standardized procedures, improved tracking and internal reporting mechanisms, and related training for EEOC field staff to ensure that conciliation agreements are enforced to the letter of the law. 1. The Commission ’ s Strategic Enforcement Plan The Commission ’ s Strategic Plan is distinct from its Strategic Enforcement Plan (SEP) as identified above. The SEP is a statement of the EEOC ’ s priorities while the Strategic Plan is an explanation of how those priorities will be effectuated. When the EEOC first unveiled its SEP in December 2012, it stated that the plan established substantive priorities and set forth strategies to integrate all components of the EEOC ’ s private, public, and federal sector enforcement to have a sustainable impact in advancing equal opportunity and freedom from discrimination in the workplace. On September 21, 2023, the EEOC announced its SEP covering Fiscal Years 2024-2028 with similar priorities as in previous years but with the inclusion of a wholly new subset of goals on technology uses. 2. The EEOC ’ s Six Litigation Enforcement Priorities The declared purpose of the EEOC ’ s strategic enforcement priorities is to focus the Commission ’ s programs on reducing and deterring discriminatory practices in the workplace. As in years past, the SEP established the EEOC ’ s six substantive priorities for 2023.
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© Duane Morris LLP 2025
EEOC Litigation Review - 2025
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