Decision is in Line with EEOC’s New National Enforcement Plan
Employers with voluntary affirmative action plans should take note. On June 30, 2026, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced that it has rescinded several decades-old guidance documents relating to voluntary workplace affirmative action plans.
The now-rescinded documents include a 1979 interpretative rule called “Affirmative Action Appropriate Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,” which outlined how employers could lawfully deploy affirmative action plans. The EEOC also struck a section of its compliance manual that was adopted in 1981—Section 607–which included a lengthy discussion about how affirmative action plans could be legally implemented.
Together, the now-rescinded guidance had explained that voluntary affirmative action plans were lawful when designed to “overcome the effects of past or present practices, policies, or other barriers to equal employment opportunity” or to address imbalances in traditionally segregated jobs. The guidance had required such programs to be carefully structured to avoid unlawfully disadvantaging other employees.
Importantly, the guidance had also provided employers with a potential safe harbor under section 713(b)(1) of the Civil Rights Act, which allows an employer to defend against an unlawful employment practice claim by showing that it acted in good-faith reliance on written EEOC guidance. Now that the guidance has been rescinded, employers facing legal challenges to affirmative action programs can no longer rely on that defense.
In rescinding this guidance, the EEOC cited the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2025 decision in Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services, which unanimously eliminated the higher evidentiary standard some courts had imposed on majority-group plaintiffs in workplace discrimination cases. As we previously reported, the EEOC’s new National Enforcement Plan (NEP) prioritizes cases and investigations that may apply, interpret or clarify recent Supreme Court decisions. The NEP specifically identifies cases involving voluntary affirmative action programs.
Thus, the EEOC’s rescission of guidance documents relating to voluntary affirmative action plans is consistent with the NEP. It further signals the agency’s shifting priorities and increased focus on workplace diversity programs. It does not, however, modify federal law or Supreme Court precedent, nor does it alter any state or local law. In light of this development, employers with established affirmative action programs should consider re-evaluating them and ensure continued compliance with federal, state and local laws.
Additional Information
For further assistance, please contact any of the attorneys on our Labor and Employment Practice Team or the Phillips Lytle attorney with whom you have a relationship.
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