By: Christopher J. DeGroff, Andrew L. Scroggins, Samantha L. Brooks, and James P. Nasiri
Seyfarth Synopsis: The EEOC’s fiscal year just closed, and the direction of its enforcement trends is remarkable. After filing just 93 merit lawsuits in FY 2025, many expected the EEOC to rebound in FY 2026. The Commission had regained its quorum in October 2025, and President Trump also designated Republican Commissioner Andrea Lucas as his pick for EEOC Chair in November 2025. This newly-secured leadership gave the Republican Commissioners effective control of the EEOC’s enforcement agenda and also removed a significant obstacle to litigation activity. The EEOC had all of the ingredients for a blockbuster year, but the anticipated EEOC filing surge never materialized. Instead, the Commission filed only 97 merit lawsuits in FY 2026, marking another year of historically anemic litigation activity. But there are lessons in those numbers. While overall filing numbers remain relatively subdued, the composition of these filings reveals a great deal about the EEOC’s evolving priorities under Chair Andrea Lucas and the Trump Administration.
For the second consecutive year, the EEOC closed its fiscal year with filing numbers that would have seemed unimaginable a decade ago. During prior administrations, the Commission regularly filed well over 100 merit lawsuits per year and, during certain periods, approached 300 annual filings. More recently, however, EEOC litigation activity has fluctuated dramatically, with fewer filings overall and a more targeted focus on alignment with enforcement trends.
Our prior year-end analyses documented 94 merit filings in FY 2022, 144 filings in FY 2023, 96 in FY 2024, and 93 in FY 2025. The expectation entering FY 2026 was that litigation activity would begin to accelerate again. The pieces were in place: the EEOC regained its quorum in late October 2025 after the Senate confirmed Commissioner Brittany Bull Panuccio, restoring the EEOC’s ability to authorize larger and more complex litigation matters. Andrea Lucas also was elevated from Acting Chair to Chair of the Commission in November 2025. The EEOC was poised to make a statement.
However, the EEOC’s litigation output barely moved the needle. The EEOC filed just 97 merit lawsuits during FY 2026. This total represents only a 4% increase from FY 2025, and is one of the lowest annual filing totals in the past decade.
This plateau in litigation activity does not mean the EEOC lacked direction in FY 2026. To the contrary, the agency’s FY 2026 filings were notably consistent with the enforcement themes emphasized by Chair Andrea Lucas and the current Administration. A close examination of the Commission’s filing data reveals that the EEOC used its litigation capabilities strategically in FY 2026, and in doing so, set forth several takeaways for employers to keep in mind as they continue to navigate the ever-changing American workplace.
FY 2026 Cases Filed By Month
At the end of each EEOC fiscal year, Seyfarth analyzes every EEOC merit filing to identify meaningful trends in the Commission’s enforcement activity. The graphic below demonstrates the number of EEOC lawsuits filed by month from FY 2023 through FY 2026.
Perhaps the most unusual aspect of FY 2026 was the timing of the EEOC’s filings. Historically, the EEOC launches a substantial portion of its litigation in September as the fiscal year winds down. While September remained active in FY 2026, it was nowhere near the filing frenzy observed in recent years.
March (18 filings) and June (19 filings) were two of the busiest months of the fiscal year, accounting for nearly half of all EEOC litigation activity. The EEOC’s filings in FY 2026 appear to have spiked on a quarterly basis, with filing increases roughly every three months. Conversely, August and September were surprisingly quiet, particularly when compared to prior fiscal years. The Commission filed only 29 lawsuits during September 2026, compared to 35 in September 2025, 56 in September 2024, and 71 in September 2023. The EEOC’s year-end rush appears to be notably diminishing.
FY 2026 Cases Analyzed By EEOC District Office
Certain District Offices continued to drive a disproportionately large share of the Commission’s litigation activity in FY 2026. The Chicago District Office once again led the nation with 12 filings, followed closely by the Philadelphia District Office with 11 filings. Together, those two offices accounted for nearly a quarter of all EEOC’s FY 2026 cases.
In contrast, several historically aggressive Districts were unusually quiet in FY 2026. The New York District Office filed only four lawsuits in FY 2026, while the Los Angeles and San Francisco Offices filed just four and five cases, respectively. Together, these three offices—which cover some of the nation’s largest metropolitan areas—accounted for only 13 filings, or less than 15% of total FY 2026 litigation.
Analysis of the Types of Lawsuits Filed in FY 2026
While the timing and location of EEOC filings can offer valuable insight into the Commission’s activity, the types of claims asserted during FY 2026 provide perhaps the clearest indication of the EEOC’s enforcement priorities. At a high level, the Commission’s FY 2026 filings mirrored filing breakdowns from prior fiscal years in certain respects, but also signaled the EEOC’s intention to follow the priorities announced by Chair Lucas and the Trump Administration.
Title VII and ADA claims dominated the EEOC’s litigation activity. The Commission filed 38 disability-related lawsuits and 52 lawsuits under Title VII in FY 2026. To be sure, core tenets such as protecting workers from retaliation and disability-based discrimination remained foundational components of the EEOC’s litigation program. As to its ADA filings, the Commission also continued to focus on medical barriers to employment, inflexible leave policies, and employees with mental health conditions or hearing/visual impairments.
One of the most notable shifts in FY 2026 involved the EEOC’s focus on religious discrimination claims. The Commission filed a whopping 16 lawsuits with religion-based claims, representing over 15% of all lawsuits filed in FY 2026. This marks a substantial increase from recent years, and also aligns with the EEOC’s public statements emphasizing protection of religious liberty in the workplace.
FY 2026 also saw the EEOC continue its strong emphasis on pregnancy-related litigation, as the Commission filed 14 lawsuits alleging pregnancy discrimination and/or failure to accommodate pregnancy. These cases spanned a variety of issues, such as employee leaves, accommodation requests, engagement in the interactive process, and adverse actions against pregnant employees. Given the relatively recent passage of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and the EEOC’s stated commitment to protecting pregnant workers, pregnancy-related litigation will likely remain a significant enforcement priority in FY 2027.
Also noteworthy was the Commission’s approach to race and national origin discrimination litigation. After filing only three race/national origin-based cases in FY 2025, the EEOC filed 15 such lawsuits during FY 2026, which is closer to the Commission’s typical filing level for these claims. Where FY 2026 departs from the EEOC’s historical enforcement, however, is that several of these cases alleged majority-group discrimination, i.e., claims that employers discriminated against White/American workers based on their race/national origin. The increase in these filings aligns with public statements from EEOC leadership regarding “anti-American” bias and the Commission’s willingness to pursue discrimination claims on behalf of all protected groups, including White and American-born employees.
Retaliation claims occupied a less prominent role than in recent years. At 19 total lawsuits, retaliation claims comprised a substantially smaller percentage of the Commission’s overall docket than in prior fiscal years. Age discrimination claims remained particularly quiet, with only three age cases.
Another interesting development was the reappearance of statutes that have been largely absent from the EEOC’s enforcement agenda in recent years. For the first time in multiple fiscal years, the Commission filed cases under the Equal Pay Act (EPA) and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA). While these filings represent only a small portion of the EEOC’s overall docket, they serve as a reminder that the Commission remains willing to utilize the full range of federal employment statutes when it identifies what it perceives to be a significant violation.
These trends are just a few of our key takeaways from the EEOC’s FY 2026 filing activity. As a preview to our annual EEOC-Initiated Litigation Report (click HERE to view last year’s Report), other relevant takeaways from the EEOC’s FY 2026 include:
- Industry Focus: While the EEOC’s industry focus in FY 2025 centered on hospitality, agency litigation was more evenly applied across several key industries in FY 2026. Healthcare, hospitality, and retail industries each accounted for approximately 15% each of total EEOC filings this year. The Commission also reinforced its willingness to file suit against not only national corporations, but also smaller local businesses and government entities in FY 2026.
- Scope: For nearly two decades, the EEOC has trumpeted the importance of systemic litigation to its agenda. The EEOC defines these as cases involving pattern or practice, policy, and/or class cases where the alleged discrimination has a broad impact on an industry, profession, company, or geographic area. Despite identifying this as a target, the EEOC filed the vast majority of its FY 2026 lawsuits (approximately 70%) on behalf of just one individual. That trend continued from FY 2025 despite the EEOC’s restored quorum for authorizing large-scale cases.
- Timing: Another aspect of our analysis concerns the average timing of an EEOC investigation and lawsuit, i.e., how many days typically spent in conciliation, and how many days typically elapse between a failed conciliation and a lawsuit filing. In FY 2025, the EEOC spent an average of 83 days in conciliation, and another 205 days between the notice of conciliation failure and the filing of a complaint. In FY 2026, the average time spent in conciliation was nearly identical (85 days), but in contrast to FY 2025, the EEOC took an average of 173 days from a failed conciliation before it filed a complaint in FY 2026. From a practical perspective, these numbers suggest that the EEOC is quicker to move to litigation and spends less time in conciliation with employers before filing suit.
EEOC Enforcement Priorities: Comparing FY 2026 Litigation To The NEP And SEP
Given that the EEOC introduced new versions of two key enforcement plans in FY 2026—its FY 2025-2029 National Enforcement Plan (“NEP”) and its FY 2026-2030 Strategic Plan (“SP”)—it is important to examine how the Commission’s litigation activity compared to these new enforcement plans.
The EEOC’s FY 2026 filings largely tracked its new NEP priorities, including religious discrimination, anti-American bias, protections for women, and purportedly unlawful DEI practices. Its docket included 16 religion-based suits, several majority-group discrimination cases, and continued pregnancy and sex discrimination claims—but no cases on behalf of LGBTQ employees. The filings show the NEP served as a litigation roadmap, not merely a policy statement.
The EEOC’s FY 2026 litigation also aligned with its new Strategic Plan, which emphasizes protecting vulnerable workers, removing systemic barriers, and preserving accommodations. Its cases targeted disability, pregnancy, and religious accommodations; discriminatory hiring practices; and broader workplace policies. The notably low filing total, however, suggests the Commission is selectively pursuing cases that advance these priorities.
Implications For Employers
FY 2026 demonstrates that overall filing volume is not necessarily the best indicator of EEOC priorities. Although the Commission filed only 97 lawsuits in FY 2026, the cases it selected to pursue offer important insights for employers. Religious rights, pregnancy-related issues, disability accommodations, and discrimination claims against majority groups remain areas of significant enforcement focus for this era of the Commission. Conversely, issues such as age discrimination, equal pay enforcement, retaliation, and LGTBQ-related workplace issues are topics that appear to be taking a back seat under the current Administration.
Looking ahead to FY 2027, a key question is whether FY 2026 represents the beginning of a new normal for EEOC litigation, or merely a temporary lull before the Commission begins exercising the full authority that comes with a restored quorum. While overall filings remain markedly low, the EEOC’s FY 2026 docket sends a clear message that the Commission is pursuing a distinct enforcement agenda. Employers should pay close attention to public statements by both the Trump Administration and EEOC leadership, as the Commission has demonstrated a willingness to align its enforcement activity with the priorities announced by Chair Lucas and the Executive Branch.
We will continue to monitor these changes closely and keep readers apprised of developments. And, as always, we will keep up-to-date on EEOC data amid the ever-changing political climate and another quiet year at the Commission.
For more information on the EEOC or how the Commission’s filing activity may affect your business, contact the authors—Christopher DeGroff, Andrew Scroggins, Samantha Brooks, and James Nasiri—or a member of Seyfarth Shaw’s Complex Discrimination Litigation Group.
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