One day after President Joe Biden’s inauguration, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced that he has named current EEOC Commissioner Charlotte A. Burrows Chair of the EEOC and Commissioner Jocelyn Samuels Vice Chair of the EEOC.
Burrows and Samuels are Democrats and replace former Chair Janet Dhillon and former Vice Chair Keith E. Sonderling. Dhillon and Sonderling are both Republicans.
In installing a new Chair, Biden is moving much faster than former President Donald Trump. Approximately a week after Trump’s inauguration, he named an “Acting” EEOC Chair. Trump was well past the mid-point of his term in office — May 2019 — when he named an actual Chair.
As Chair, Burrows will be responsible for the administration and implementation of policy for and the financial management and organizational development of the EEOC.
Of the five presidentially appointed EEOC Commissioners, three are Republicans and two are Democrats. Absent an early departure by one of the three Republican Commissioners, the next Republican Commissioner’s term expires July 1, 2022.
Please contact a Jackson Lewis attorney with any questions about the EEOC.
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