February 17, 2026
Women’s Professional Development or Sex Discrimination?
It is not uncommon for employers to offer their employees professional development (PD) opportunities – meetings, conferences, training programs, networking events, and more. That’s great.
Sometimes those opportunities are focused on employees’ shared interests like a book club, cooking and recipe sharing, bowling, or golf. In other instances, they focus on certain employees, based on sex or race. In the latter case, these are sometimes called Employee Resource Groups (ERGs). This is where the slope can get slippery.
Q: Does offering employees professional development opportunities based on their sex, race, ethnicity, or some other legally protected characteristic constitute unlawful discrimination?
A: It could. (this is another way of saying, “It depends.”)
The U.S. EEOC is saying “Yes” in its recent lawsuit. The EEOC alleges the employer invited female employees to attend a two-day trip and networking event, to the exclusion of any male employee. The event included a social reception, team-building exercises and recreational activities. You might ask, “Is that really professional development?” The event also provided participants the opportunity to hear from speakers, including the company president, and corporate executives from other companies, who discussed their career paths. The EEOC also notes that the women were paid their regular wages for the two days spent at the conference. They did not have to use accrued paid leave. So, what if a few females were invited and no men? Maybe it was a coincidence. What was the number? Women – 250; Men – 0.
Why does the title read, “Again”? In the last several years employers have been hit once, twice, again, and again with claims alleging their DEI and well-intentioned programs, events, or activities constitute unlawful discrimination.
Stay tuned. We will see how the court rules on this one. In the interim, it is a good reminder to consider how you structure your PD opportunities. Are they open to all employees? If not, what factors determine who is eligible or invited? If any factor is a legally protected status, run it by your company’s legal counsel for advice.
