ERA Testimony: EEOC Hearing about the Proposed Rescission of EEO-1 Workplace Demographic Data Collection

The below testimony was presented by ERA National Legal Director Melvina Ford at the EEOC’s August 11, 2026, hearing about the proposed recission of workplace demographic data collection known as EEO-1.

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Good morning. My name is Melvina Ford, and I serve as National Legal Director at Equal Rights Advocates. ERA is a national gender justice organization committed to advancing rights and opportunities for women and girls in school and at work. We also house Equal Pay Today, a network of over 50 organizations across the country advancing wage justice and fighting against pay discrimination.

On behalf of ERA, I urge the EEOC to withdraw the proposed rule at issue and preserve federal EEO data reporting. Workplace discrimination remains a pervasive problem in the United States, especially for working women. More than 40% of these women report experiencing discrimination at work, ranging from discrimination in hiring, promotion, and termination to workplace harassment and violence. And the percent is significantly higher for women of color.

“Erasing this data will not erase the discrimination. It will just erase the evidence.”

EEOC filings reflect the prevalence of this discrimination. Over the past three decades, roughly one-third of all EEOC filings have involved sex-based charges.

Working women are also experiencing a persistent and increasing pay gap, with women earning 76 cents per every dollar earned by men. Research suggests that nearly 40% of this pay gap is due to occupational segregation.

And the only way to identify how women are segregated and steered into certain lower paying jobs is with data. The kind of data that EEO-1 reporting is designed to collect. It is unclear, going forward, how the EEOC will effectively and fairly target its outreach and enforcement resources without this data.

Moreover, state and local Fair Employment Practice Agencies also rely on this data to establish their own enforcement priorities and identify potential discrimination by employers. For example, when an employment discrimination charge is filed in California, the state Civil Rights Department uses EEO-1 data to investigate the employer’s practices and workforce composition, identifying problematic employment trends and practices. This is critical because, often, a single plaintiff has no idea that the discrimination they are experiencing is more wide spread.

“Rescinding this rule would be a blow to all who believe in equal opportunity at work, making it harder to identify unlawful discrimination.”

Finally, eliminating longstanding workforce demographic data collection requirements would increase employer confusion and legal risk. EEO-1 data reporting is grounded in Title VII, which requires covered employers to create and maintain records “relevant to the determinations of whether unlawful employment practices have been or are being committed.” This necessarily includes demographic data.  And regardless of federal requirements, some states require the collection and sharing of this data, and employers may still be required to produce demographic data in response to charges, investigations, or subpoenas.

The mission of the EEOC is to enforce federal employment discrimination law. Since 1966, the EEO-1 data collection has supported the EEOC in fulfilling this mission. Rescinding this rule would be a blow to all who believe in equal opportunity at work, making it harder to identify unlawful discrimination.

And to be clear, erasing this data will not erase the discrimination. It will just erase the evidence. Accordingly, ERA urges the Commission to preserve EEO-1 reporting by withdrawing the proposed rule. Thank you.

Read ERA’s official statement with partner organizations about the proposed rescission.