Senate Confirmation Gives Democrats EEOC Control

The Senate confirmation of Kalpana Kotagal, gives Democrats a majority on the EEOC for the first time since January 2017, paving the way for the Commission to jump start the Biden administration’s policy agenda.

Employers can expect the EEOC to:

• Reinstate the Obama-era EEO-1 pay data reporting requirement;
  
  
• Provide formal guidance on artificial intelligence, harassment, and discrimination against LGBTQ workers; and
  
  
• Institute new rules implementing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, and incentives to participate in wellness programs.

The EEOC is also expected to advance novel legal theories that push the envelope in the court cases that it files.

Outlook: A handful of high-profile regulatory actions that Chair Burrows has been quietly developing in her office could be proposed in a short period of time now that Democratic appointees hold the majority.