By: Yoyo Rita
On March 19, 2026, the EEOC published a release[1] announcing that it had reasonable cause to find that “Planned Parenthood of Illinois (Planned Parenthood) violated federal law when they segregated employees by race, subjected white employees to harassment, and engaged in disparate treatment against white employees regarding terms, conditions, and privileges of employment.” Specifics of the claim include Planned Parenthood’s employee affinity groups, e.g., racial identity-based affinity groups, which the EEOC determined “segregated employees by race.” Furthermore, the federal agency found that mandatory DEI trainings, in which “negative” statements about white people were included in training materials, amounted to harassment on the basis of race. Planned Parenthood of Illinois will pay $500,000 to settle these claims, though the recipients of the pay-out are as yet unknown; furthermore, one PP manager has already been terminated for racially discriminatory behavior.[2]
The settlement results from the Trump administration’s concerted anti-DEI efforts, including the prohibition of entities that receive federal funds organizing identity-based employee affinity groups, funding employee’s participation in identity-based organizations or conferences, and making statements about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. These efforts have revealed employment repercussions in both the public and private sectors, with this case marking a significant precedent for EEOC rulings.
While discrimination and harassment based on race continue to be prohibited, as is the case since the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, such determinations are crucially important for workplace investigators to be aware of.
Why? Well, these federal shifts, and the axis of concerted attention towards anti-DEI efforts, will certainly shape the landscape of workplace investigations across industries. As investigators, we should be prepared to see a rise in cases of this nature. However, no federal legal changes have occurred that disrupt the mandate of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination and harassment on the basis of race, sex, and all other protected classes. Thus, our fundamental mandate as investigators remains the same, regardless of the political moment or the nature of a given complaint: to thoroughly, impartially, and promptly gather facts under the preponderance of the evidence standard, according to applicable federal and state laws, as well as company-specific policy.
[1] https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/planned-parenthood-illinois-pay-500000-end-eeoc-dei-related-race-discrimination
[2] https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/planned-parenthood-settles-eeoc-probe-over-dei-training-racial-affinity-groups-2026-03-19/