US civil rights agency denies issuing order halting all federal class discrimination complaints

NEW YORK (AP) — A civil rights agency accused of halting a sexual harassment case filed on behalf of female prison guards is now blaming an administrative judge for doing so in error.A labor union and two female prison guards sued the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which enforces employment anti-discrimination laws, for indefinitely suspending proceedings in their case as part of a wider effort to halt all federal-sector class claims pending before the agency's administrative judges.The lawsuit cited an administrative judge’s order dated Dec. 10, 2025, stating that the sexual harassment case had been paused and that the “notification applies to all class cases in the federal sector.”But in a court document filed Thursday evening, EEOC Chief Operating Officer Sharon Rose said the judge in the case issued the notification “in error” and that it was an “isolated incident.” Rose also told the court that the EEOC has transferred the case to another administrative judge, who on Monday issued an order scheduling further proceedings.The court document also included a letter sent by Justice Department attorney James Harlow to the plaintiffs on Monday, offering the same explanation and asking them to drop their motion for a preliminary injunction.“In short, Defendants agree that processing of federal-sector class complaints should not be suspended,” Harlow wrote in the letter.Joseph Sellers, co-chair of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll’s civil rights and employment practice and one of the attorneys for the plaintiffs, said Friday that the evidence belies the government's claim that the suspension was an erroneous isolated incident.Sellers and other attorneys involved in the lawsuit say they are representing federal workers in at least five other class complaints that have been stalled for months, including cases against the FBI and the Department of Defense.In two of those cases, administrative judges also issued scheduling orders Monday, according to the letter sent by Harlow, the Justice Department attorney. Harlow asked the attorneys to send him the name and number of any other federal-sector class complaints that may have been suspended “so we can investigate.”Sellers said the fact that the EEOC judges only ordered the scheduling orders this week, after the lawsuit was filed, suggests that the suspension was not an error.“The timing speaks for itself.

A labor union and two female prison guards sued the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which enforces employment anti-discrimination laws, for indefinitely suspending proceedings in their case as part of a wider effort to halt all federal-sector class claims pending before the agency’s administrative judges. The lawsuit cited an administrative judge’s order dated Dec. The court document also included a letter sent by Justice Department attorney James Harlow to the plaintiffs on Monday, offering the same explanation and asking them to drop their motion for a preliminary injunction.

“In short, Defendants agree that processing of federal-sector class complaints should not be suspended,” Harlow wrote in the letter. Joseph Sellers, co-chair of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll’s civil rights and employment practice and one of the attorneys for the plaintiffs, said Friday that the evidence belies the government’s claim that the suspension was an erroneous isolated incident. Sellers and other attorneys involved in the lawsuit say they are representing federal workers in at least five other class complaints that have been stalled for months, including cases against the FBI and the Department of Defense.

In two of those cases, administrative judges also issued scheduling orders Monday, according to the letter sent by Harlow, the Justice Department attorney.