By Katie Sandson, Senior Counsel Workplace Justice and Education
As the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) continues its rampage through our federal government, reports of cuts to funding and staff come in so rapidly it can be hard to keep up. And DOGE isn’t stopping there. It is also trying to close agencies’ local offices across the country entirely, removing communities’ access to resources and services. And now it has set its sights on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which enforces federal employment anti-discrimination laws, including for survivors of workplace sexual violence.
Just last year, the EEOC helped a retail store employee who, as a teenage worker, faced repeated sexual advances and requests for sex from a sales manager who later sexually assaulted her at a holiday party. When her employer failed to act, it was the EEOC San Francisco District Office that investigated her complaint, sued her employer for violating her civil rights, and reached a settlement that helped provide closure. The process was not quick or easy—it took six years from when the harassing behavior began to when the settlement was reached. But firing EEOC staff and closing local offices will make it even harder for survivors to enforce their rights.
Sexual harassment, which includes sexual assault and other forms of gender-based violence, is all too common in the workplace. According to one recent report, 40% of working women experience sexual harassment on the job. According to EEOC data, the EEOC received nearly 8,500 charges alleging sexual harassment in fiscal year 2024, a nearly 10% increase from the previous year. We know that these numbers barely even scratch the surface: most workers who experience harassment never report it, often because they fear retaliation or stigma, or lack the information, resources, or support to make a complaint.
Workers who want to pursue an action against their employer for sexual harassment are often required to go to the EEOC first before they can go to court. These workers depend on this agency to help them enforce their rights.
The EEOC supports workers and prevents and addresses sexual harassment by:
- Investigating workers’ complaints and negotiating resolutions or filing lawsuits to enforce individual workers’ rights and ensure workplace changes that protect all workers from harassment and discrimination. In fiscal year 2024, EEOC obtained over $700 million for victims of discrimination, including for survivors of workplace sexual violence.
- Educating workers about their rights and educating employers about their obligations to ensure a workplace free from harassment.
- Hosting outreach events that are tailored to specific communities, including immigrant and farmworker communities. In fiscal year 2023, local EEOC offices conducted over 3,300 outreach events.
EEOC has field offices across the country that handle much of this important work. These offices serve as the first point of contact for many workers, and their efforts are critical to helping survivors of workplace harassment and assault obtain relief—but now these offices are on DOGE’s chopping block.
Closing these local offices would only hamper EEOC’s ability to serve survivors of workplace violence and allow employers to sweep this type of sex discrimination under the rug.
The EEOC’s Pheonix District Office is one of the offices targeted for DOGE closure. Last October, this office filed multiple lawsuits on behalf of women who experienced sexual harassment and assault at work, including:
- A lawsuit against a janitorial company, alleging that an employee sexually harassed three female workers by making sexual comments and kissing, touching, and grabbing them. Rather than take action to stop the harassment, the company fired two of the workers who reported it. To settle the lawsuit, the company not only agreed to pay $400,000, but also to revise its harassment policies and trainings, reinstate fired workers, and provide letters of apologies to the women who were harassed.
- A lawsuit against a trucking company after the owner physically and verbally harassed multiple female employees, grabbing them without their permission and making sexually explicit comments over the company’s radio system. He later fired at least two of the women. The company agreed to a settlement in which it paid $140,000, issued letters of apology, and updated its harassment and retaliation policies.
The Phoenix office is now at risk of becoming a casualty of DOGE’s attempt to dismantle the federal government. It’s not the only one: at least seven other EEOC offices across the country, from Mobile, Alabama, to Kansas City, Kansas, to Greensboro, North Carolina, are on DOGE’s target list. And that doesn’t include any potential DOGE staff cuts that may be slated for EEOC headquarters in DC.
Workers already face significant barriers to reporting sexual harassment and assault. Fewer offices and less staff would make it even harder for them to seek redress and hold their employers accountable.
Unfortunately, it comes as no surprise that the Trump administration and DOGE would slash offices that protect workers from sexual harassment. The President himself has been found liable for sexual assault, and he has packed his administration with officials who have faced allegations of sexual harassment, assault, and abuse. The administration has allowed DOGE—led by unelected billionaire, Elon Musk, who has also been sued for sexual harassment and retaliation at his company SpaceX—to run rampant through the federal government, cutting indiscriminately and jeopardizing services that communities rely on, including essential services for survivors of sexual violence. The expected closures of EEOC offices are just one more manifestation of how this administration is failing survivors at every turn.
When workers experience sexual harassment, they deserve to know that the EEOC will be there for them. We must keep fighting to preserve this critically important agency, and for the right of all people to work safely and with dignity.