Cross v. EEOC

When Congress created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, it required the agency to investigate all charges of workplace discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. The EEOC was later given similar enforcement responsibilities over the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), which protects workers age 40 and older from discrimination. One form of workplace discrimination made illegal by both Title VII and the ADEA is a practice or policy that disproportionately harms workers based on a protected trait, such as sex, age, or race — referred to as disparate-impact discrimination.

In September, the EEOC made a decision to stop investigating claims of disparate-impact discrimination and to close all pending investigations of disparate-impact complaints that had been submitted to the agency. Leah Cross, who delivered packages for Amazon in 2022, had previously filed a disparate-impact-based charge of discrimination with the EEOC, alleging that Amazon’s strict delivery quotas, which made it difficult or impossible for drivers to use a bathroom during their shifts, had a disparate impact on her and other female drivers. On September 29, 2025, the EEOC closed her investigation simply because her charge was based on a disparate-impact claim.

On behalf of Ms. Cross, and working with co-counsel, we filed suit against the EEOC under the Administrative Procedure Act. The complaint alleges that the EEOC’s decision to stop investigating disparate-impact charges, and to dismiss pending charges like Ms. Cross’s, is arbitrary and capricious, and contrary to law.