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EXCLUSIVE: America First Legal (AFL) says it has filed a request with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) seeking a federal investigation into Penguin Random House over what the group alleges are unlawful, race- and sex-based employment practices reflected in the publisher’s publicly posted diversity, equity and inclusion framework.
In a Dec. 16, 2025 letter addressed to EEOC Chair Andrea R. Lucas, America First Legal Foundation asked the agency to issue a “Commissioner Charge” and investigate Penguin Random House, LLC (PRH) under EEOC regulations.
AFL alleges PRH’s recruitment, hiring, promotion, retention and workforce-development practices “appear to discriminate against prospective and current employees” on the basis of “race, color, sex, and national origin,” and argues those practices are unlawful under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
“It appears Penguin Random House is using race and sex to shape its workforce in the name of ‘more inclusive business practices’,” said Bobby Crossin, Attorney at America First Legal. “The Civil Rights Act does not allow corporations to discriminate, no matter how fashionable the label.”
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Various book titles are displayed at Penguin Random House publishing during the London Book Fair at Olympia Exhibition Centre on March 12, 2025 in London, England, (John Keeble/Getty Images)
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is the federal agency responsible for enforcing civil rights laws that prohibit workplace discrimination based on race, sex, religion, national origin and other protected characteristics. The agency has authority to investigate complaints, request employer records and refer matters to the Department of Justice.
America First Legal claims in its letter that PRH’s policies “appear to be designed to exclude white men,” arguing “this is unlawful.”
The letter points to PRH’s public-facing DEI materials, including a page titled “Our Approach to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion,” and a set of “five pillars” AFL says demonstrate the company’s use of protected characteristics in employment decisions.
Penguin Random House publicly describes its hiring and workforce strategy as explicitly tied to demographic representation. On its website, the company says it is working to “cultivate a diverse workforce that represents the society we live in,” adding that it releases annual workforce demographic data to track progress.
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Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial CEO for Spain, Portugal and Latin America, Nuria Cabuti, visits Penguin Random House’s new distribution center on the day of its inauguration on March 24, 2025, in Cerdanyola del Valles, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial reached an agreement last year with Galera Comercial for the provision of logistics services, starting on February 1, 2025. The 36 million euro investment in the Cerdanyola del Valles distribution center is part of one of the company’s strategic lines. (David Zorrakino/Europa Press via Getty Images)
PRH also says it holds leaders accountable for implementing its “DEI vision,” including “setting goals” and “achieving results,” and that it integrates “DEI principles into talent development and retention efforts,” according to the company’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion page.
The company also has a full-time executive vice president for “strategy for diversity, equity & inclusion” listed on their U.S. Board page.
AFL also cited PRH’s public reporting of workforce demographics, including a comparison of “white versus BIPOC employees,” and statements about hiring and leadership diversity.
The letter quotes language attributed to PRH materials that includes: “The percentage of Black new hires is now beginning to trend upward after significant dips in 2022 and 2023. Overall, we have not yet achieved and maintained our new hire demographic goals, and the continued importance of our targeted recruitment and outreach efforts cannot be overstated.”
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Visitors to the Leipzig Book Fair take a look around the Penguin Random House stand. Until March 30, 2025, 2,040 exhibitors from 45 countries will be presenting the new products of this book spring. The motto of this year’s fair is “Words move worlds”. This year’s guest country is Norway. (Hendrik Schmidt/picture alliance via Getty Images)
AFL further alleged PRH’s job postings include equal employment opportunity language while the company’s broader DEI materials “belie this rhetoric,” writing that PRH “maintains desired workforce demographics, compares White versus BIPOC representation, and promotes employment development through Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Councils,” which AFL said the EEOC has warned “may violate federal law.”
In the letter, AFL asked the EEOC to investigate, among other things, how PRH “hold[s] leaders accountable for implementing PRH’s DEI vision,” how it “integrate[s] DEI principles into talent development and retention efforts,” whether it operates a “supplier diversity program,” and whether it operates employee resource groups “that exclude employees on the basis of protected characteristics or that limit opportunities to preferred races or sexes.”
According to a release from Publisher’s Weekly, Penguin Random House brought in more than $5B in 2024, with an 8.5% sales increase from 2023.
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America First Legal concluded their letter by asking for the commission to take “appropriate enforcement action” if it determines any practices violate the law. Their filing does not address “the subject matter or content” PRH publishes, the letter said, but focuses on the company’s employment practices.
Fox News Digital reached out to the EEOC and Penguin Random House for comment and will update this story if responses are received.