NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� A civil rights agency accused of halting a sexual harassment case of behalf female prison guards is now blaming an administrative judge for doing so in error.
A labor union and two female prison guards , 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鈥檚 order dated Dec. 10, 2025, stating that the sexual harassment case had been paused and that the 鈥渘otification applies to all class cases in the federal sector.鈥�
But in a court document filed Thursday evening, EEOC Chief Operating Officer Sharon Rose said the judge in the case issued the notification 鈥渋n error鈥� and that it was an 鈥渋solated incident.鈥� 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.
鈥淚n short, Defendants agree that processing of federal-sector class complaints should not be suspended,鈥� Harlow wrote in the letter.
Joseph Sellers, co-chair of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll鈥檚 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 鈥渟o we can investigate.鈥�
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.
鈥淭he timing speaks for itself. We have evidence of a number of cases that were stayed. It is not an isolated incident as the EEOC seems to claim,” Sellers said.
Sellers said the plaintiffs are willing to engage in discussion with the Justice Department to resolve the issue outside the court.
The lawsuit against the EEOC was filed by the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest union representing federal workers, and two women who are correctional officers at Louisiana鈥檚 Federal Correctional Complex at Pollock.
The women are part of a pending class complaint claiming that management at Pollock failed to stop inmates from subjecting female workers to sexual harassment.
Under President Donald Trump, the EEOC has , including prioritizing cases aimed at stamping out diversity and inclusion policies, dropping cases on behalf of and .
The changes have prompted several lawsuits against EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas, who says she is pursuing an 鈥渆ven-handed鈥� and 鈥渃olorblind鈥� vision of workplace civil rights.
Rose, the EEOC chief operating officer, said in her court statement that neither the commission nor Lucas had issued 鈥渁 written or verbal directive to EEOC administrative judges鈥� to indefinitely suspend class cases.
The EEOC referred questions Friday to the Justice Department, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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