Democrats to Retain Control of EEOC Through Mid-2017

Employment Law, Inclusion and Diversity

After eight years of controversy, one agency that will be significantly affected by the change in administrations is the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, but it will take several months before that is manifested.  Though President-elect Trump is expected to redesignate the Chair to a Republican Commissioner—Vickie Lipnic, most likely—Democrats will retain the majority, with current Chair Jenny Yang (D) announcing this week her plans to stay on until her term ends in July.   Among other things, Ms. Yang’s decision means the EEOC will not be able to quickly undo recent changes to the EEO-1 that require employers to submit compensation data in March 2018 for calendar year 2017.  Although Ms. Yang also said the "core work [of the EEOC] will continue" after she is replaced, with David Lopez stepping down as General Counsel on December 9th the new Republican chair will be able to quickly have an impact on the commission’s litigation strategy.