The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan alleging that The New York Times passed over a white male employee for a deputy real estate editor role in early 2025 because of his race and/or sex, citing the company’s diversity goals as a motivating factor.
The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and alleges violations of federal employment discrimination law.
According to the EEOC, the employee—an editor at the Times—had experience with real estate journalism but was not advanced to the final round of panel interviews. The agency alleges that the four candidates who did advance were all not white men.
The EEOC says the Times ultimately selected an outside candidate for the deputy real estate editor position, describing the hire as a multiracial woman and alleging she had little or no experience in real estate journalism. The complaint also cites internal evaluation and interview notes, including an interviewer’s characterization of the successful candidate as “a bit green overall,” according to reporting on the filing.
The lawsuit further alleges that the makeup of the final interview pool consisted of a white woman, a Black man, an Asian woman, and a multiracial woman.
The Times rejected the allegations. In a statement reported by multiple outlets, company spokesperson Danielle Rhoades Ha said the decision was merit-based and that the EEOC’s case was politically motivated, adding that race and gender did not play a role and that the company would defend itself in court.
