The Trump administration's fight with Harvard just went back to court. The EEOC filed suit late Tuesday in Boston federal court asking a judge to enforce a June subpoena for hiring records, after what the agency calls months of stonewalling. "Respondent has consistently failed to meet deadlines," EEOC lawyers wrote, saying Harvard's rolling document production "delayed and hampered" the investigation.
The agency's case, built by EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas: since 2018, Harvard has systematically discriminated against white, Asian, male and straight employees and applicants in pursuit of "demographic diversification of the faculty." The charge cites the university's own data — the share of white men among tenured faculty fell from 64% in 2013 to 56% in 2023 — and seeks applicant names, résumés, interview notes and decision-maker records for every faculty hire since 2018.
Harvard calls the whole thing "unlawful retaliation" with a "legally and logically incoherent theory of discrimination," branding the subpoena an "impermissible fishing expedition" and part of "whole-of-government retaliation." The university insists it hires on merit and vows to fight what it calls "illegal government overreach." Worth noting: a similar EEOC suit against the University of Pennsylvania was withdrawn in June. This one is going to a judge.