In a positively sublime “man bites dog” story, Texas Roadhouse restaurants recently sued the EEOC for alleged violations of the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”). The story begins in 2011, when the EEOC filed a national class action against the chain, alleging that it systematically discriminates against applicants over 40 with respect to “front of the house” positions. The EEOC apparently brought the lawsuit completely on its own initiative because the EEOC cannot (actually refuses) to identify a single EEOC charge from a single over-40 applicant leading up to the lawsuit. The EEOC then issued press releases and other public statements lambasting the chain and stating as fact that which has yet to be proven in court—that Texas Roadhouse somehow discriminated against over-40 applicants.

In response, Texas Roadhouse went on the offensive. First, it hired a national P.R. firm to educate members of Congress on the EEOC’s abusive tactics. Next, it served the EEOC with three separate FOIA requests seeking (1) how much tax money the EEOC has expended on this witch-hunt to date, (2) the bases (if any) on which the EEOC initiated the investigation in the first place, and (3) information concerning the EEOC’s media barrage against the company. The EEOC has repeatedly balked at these requests, which forced Texas Roadhouse to sue the EEOC under the FOIA in federal court.

We hope that lawsuits such as these, and the blog entries that follow, will become part of a genuine paradigm shift in which the general public sees the EEOC for what it truly is—an extremist, pro-employee agency gone rogue—as opposed to what it should be—a neutral, balanced arm of the government designed to fairly root out genuine workplace discrimination while providing constitutional due process to all.