Reuters reports:

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Chair Andrea Lucas ⁠allegedly ⁠violated professional conduct rules of the Virginia State Bar by ⁠refusing to enforce key provisions of federal civil rights laws, according to a complaint submitted to the bar Thursday, shared ​with Reuters.

The Legal Accountability Center, which focuses on filing complaints against individuals and institutions alleged to have violated professional conduct standards, asked the state agency to investigate whether Lucas breached her ethical obligations ‌by directing EEOC investigators to stop processing certain categories ‌of discrimination claims and by sending unauthorized information demands to 20 major law firms.

Those letters, sent on official EEOC letterhead in March 2025, sought extensive data on ​firms’ diversity, equity and inclusion practices, including demographic information related to race, sex, hiring, promotions and compensation, the complaint alleges. Since returning to the White House in ​January 2025, Donald Trump’s administration has cracked down on diversity efforts nationwide, targeting universities, major corporations and non-profits.

“The EEOC does not have ⁠the unilateral authority to demand the information sought from these law firms because the EEOC had no pending investigation or charge against these firms,” the complaint states. “These letters ​are nothing more than an effort to intimidate and scare these employers into abandoning their DEI efforts, in violation of Title VII – the very federal law the EEOC is supposed ​to enforce.”