Former OFCCP Officials Pen Open Letter to Federal Contractors

By Mitchell Chamberlin

On April 15, 2025, ten former Department of Labor (DOL) officials from the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) and Office of the Solicitor (SOL)—including former Directors Jenny Yang and Pat Shiu—released an open letter to federal contractors addressing the rescission of Executive Order (EO) 11246 and the agency’s plans to investigate contractors’ diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs. In the 14-page letter, the authors argue three main points:

• The Trump Administration’s actions, including portions EO 14173 and OFCCP’s plans to investigate contractors’ DEI programs, contradict established law;
• EO 11246 did not require or involve quotas based on race/ethnicity or gender but rather promoted merit-based decision making and compliance with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (Title VII); and
• DEI programs are lawful and helpful in preventing discrimination and fully leveraging available talent and therefore the proactive self-analyses that were part of complying with EO 11246 continue to be legal and beneficial for these purposes.

The letter also highlights OFCCP’s mission of protecting workers from discrimination and its track record of recovering lost wages for applicants and employees who suffered discrimination.

Continuing Proactive Analytics is Legal and Beneficial

According to the letter, the Administration’s efforts to forbid federal contractors from “…taking proactive measures that had previously been used to comply with EO 11246…” is at odds with Title VII and the Constitution. Instead, federal contractors are encouraged to avoid voluntarily abandoning these efforts because they help attract top talent, add to organizational success, and help with risk management.

In the letter, the authors also discuss the legality and importance of collecting demographic data, highlighting requirements from Title VII and a letter from the legal counsel of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission during the George W. Bush Administration explaining that collecting data on race/ethnicity and sex is necessary to “…determine if discrimination occurred.”

Additionally, the letter explains the utility of setting benchmarks or aspirational goals to help identify whether there are particular areas of an employer’s workforce that have artificial or unfair barriers for members of a particular group. In fact, under existing law, these benchmarks cannot be “…mandatory or inflexible quotas that dictate the selection of a certain number of people from a specific demographic group.”

The open letter was signed by the following former DOL officials:

• Pamela Coukos, OFCCP Senior Advisor, 2011-2016
• Donna Lenhoff, OFCCP Senior Civil Rights Advisor, 2011-2017
• Seema Nanda, Solicitor of Labor, 2021-2025
• Patrick O. Patterson, OFCCP Deputy Director, 2014-2017
• Maya Raghu, OFCCP Deputy Director, Policy, 2021-2023
• Dariely Rodriguez, OFCCP Chief of Staff, 2021-2022
• Patricia A. Shiu, OFCCP Director, 2009-2016
• M. Patricia Smith, Solicitor of Labor, 2010-2017
• Shirley J. Wilcher, Deputy Assistant Secretary for OFCCP, 1994-2001
• Jenny R. Yang, OFCCP Director, 2021-2023

Read the full letter here: https://bit.ly/ContractorOpenLtrApr152025

DCI will continue to monitor developments and provide updates as they occur.