Federal employment agency sues NYT for discrimination

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has sued the New York Times for discriminating against a white, male employee who claims to have been denied a promotion based on his demographic attributes.

Why it matters: It marks the third lawsuit President Trump or his administration has filed against the Times in less than five years.

• The Times also filed its own lawsuit against the Defense Department last year over its restrictions on journalists. A federal judge ruled in the outlet's favor in March.

Zoom in: The EEOC said Tuesday that the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleges the Times violated the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended.

• The federal agency, which sits under the executive branch, pointed to the lack of promotion for a "well-qualified white male employee" along with the Times' diversity, equity, and inclusion policies and a 2021 "Call to Action" to increase non-white and female representation in its leadership.
• "Federal law is clear: making hiring or promotion decisions motivated in whole or in part by race or sex violates federal law. There is no diversity exception to this rule," EEOC chair Andrea Lucas said in a statement.

The other side: "The New York Times categorically rejects the politically motivated allegations brought by the Trump administration's EEOC," Times spokesperson Danielle Rhoades Ha said.

• "Our employment practices are merit-based and focused on recruiting and promoting the best talent in the world. We will defend ourselves vigorously."

The big picture: President Trump and his administration have waged a number of lawsuits against media companies in recent years, but have not found much success.

• The administration has lost two cases since 2023. Three suits filed by the president or his administration have been dropped or dismissed in that time.
• The president's $15 billion personal lawsuit against the Times, originally filed last September, was refiled in October after the original complaint was dismissed for being unnecessarily long.
• In 2021, Trump filed a $100 million lawsuit against the Times and his niece Mary Trump over its 2018 Pulitzer Prize-winning reporting on his tax records, which was dismissed.

What to watch: The Trump administration has been using issues around DEI to target media companies legally.

• In a rare move last week, the Federal Communications Commission ordered an accelerated review of ABC's local station broadcast licenses.
• The FCC is investigating whether those stations violated its rules that prevent "unlawful discrimination" related to ABC's DEI policies.