A rift between the Justice Department and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over discrimination cases—a rare occurrence, now increasingly common in the Trump era—is forcing companies to reckon with the ideological divide to comply with federal civil rights laws.
The EEOC’s position on workplace bias issues has clashed with the Trump administration’s pro-management stance in litigation, including over LGBT protections, disability discrimination, and criminal background hiring guidance.
As the agencies diverge, employers should follow the agency with the most restrictive stance to remain in compliance, attorneys and academics say. The political tension could prove largely symbolic, but ...