Harvard has denied discriminating on the basis of race or sex.
The lawsuit, filed in a federal court in Boston late Tuesday, seeks to force Harvard to comply with an EEOC subpoena for documents and data related to faculty recruitment since 2018. The agency is investigating whether the university violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race and sex, Reuters reported. The EEOC said Harvard had provided some records but resisted handing over a broader set of documents, including information on all applicants for faculty positions since 2018.
A university spokesperson said Harvard had been responding to the EEOC’s inquiries in good faith and would continue defending itself against what it called “illegal government overreach.” The agency has asked a judge to order the university to comply with its subpoena.
The university has previously secured court rulings blocking government efforts to cut more than USD 2 billion in federal research funding and prevent it from hosting international students. The lawsuit is the latest legal clash between Harvard and the Trump administration.
The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has sued Harvard University seeking records related to an investigation into whether the Ivy League school discriminated against white men and other groups in its hiring practices. Harvard’s lawyers have also argued that the EEOC investigation is part of the Trump administration’s broader campaign against the university and that the government is retaliating against Harvard for challenging its demands. Separately, the US Department of Justice is seeking records from Harvard as part of an investigation into whether the university considers race in its student admissions process. You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.