The New York Times has accused the Trump administration of retaliating against the newspaper by filing a lawsuit that infringes on its First Amendment rights. In a court filing submitted Friday, The Times argued that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) civil rights lawsuit against the paper amounts to an act of retaliation linked to its critical coverage of the Trump presidency.

In May, the EEOC initiated legal action in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, alleging that The Times engaged in employment discrimination by denying a white male employee a promotion to deputy real estate editor in 2025. The EEOC’s complaint claims the newspaper’s decision was motivated by unlawful biases based on race and sex, seeking an order to halt the alleged discrimination as well as monetary damages and the contested position for the employee.

The employee at the center of the dispute, then-editor Bryant Rousseau, resigned from The Times in early June. The EEOC’s suit does not name him directly. According to the commission, Rousseau was interviewed for the post but was not advanced to the final stage, despite possessing superior real estate experience compared to the candidate selected, who was a multiracial woman. The EEOC pointed to The Times’s diversity and inclusion efforts as evidence that race and sex influenced employment decisions.

In its counterclaim, The Times described the government’s lawsuit as a retaliatory and bad-faith use of enforcement authority that threatens press freedom. The newspaper contends the case was filed shortly after it published two investigative articles on the EEOC itself, highlighting internal pressures within the agency to bring cases involving discrimination allegations by white men and claims of antisemitism on college campuses. The Times also noted that prior to the lawsuit, it had informed the EEOC that candidates of color with greater real estate experience were also not advanced in the hiring process, challenging the commission’s assertion that race and sex improperly influenced the decision.

Danielle Rhoades Ha, a spokeswoman for The Times, reiterated the company’s commitment to merit-based employment decisions focused on recruiting top talent. The EEOC declined to comment on ongoing litigation. Rousseau and his legal representatives could not be reached for comment.

This lawsuit is the latest in a series of legal and political confrontations between the Trump administration and news organizations, as the president and his officials have frequently criticized media outlets for their coverage. The Times previously accused the government of retaliation in a separate case challenging Pentagon press restrictions introduced by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The Trump administration has also filed suits against other major outlets, including ABC, the BBC, CNN, The Wall Street Journal, and The Des Moines Register.

The Times is seeking dismissal of the EEOC’s complaint, reimbursement of its legal expenses, and a declaration that the government’s actions violated its constitutional rights. The case is ongoing in federal court.