U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is a federal agency that enforces the numerous anti-discrimination laws throughout the country. The EEOC was created in 1965, shortly after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The commission was created to enforce the Civil Rights Act, with special consideration for Title VII of the act.[1]
The commission defines the following groups as protected under federal law from discrimination:[2]
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According to the EEOC website, most employers with 15 or more employees are subject to nondiscrimination laws. In cases of age discrimination, the business must have 20 or more employees. If an organization is reported to violate any of the federal nondiscrimination laws, the commission has the authority to investigate the issue and attempt to correct any discrimination found. Alternatively, the EEOC may elect to pursue legal action in some cases.[2]
History
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Franklin D. Roosevelt took the first significant step towards modern nondiscrimination laws when he issued Executive Order 8802 in 1941. This order made it illegal for government contractors to discriminate in employment practices based on race, color or national origin. This order was followed by Harry Truman’s Executive Order 9981 (1948), which was intended to desegregate the army. After Brown v. Board of Education and several years of the Civil Rights Movement, the United States Senate passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This act, in part, established the EEOC as the government body that would enforce this new law nationwide.[1]
The EEOC began work immediately. One of its first major actions was to fight against “disparate impact practices,” or practices (usually in hiring or college enrollment) that were promoted as race-neutral but were, in reality, discriminatory towards minority groups. This included aptitude tests during the hiring process and other unfair selection devices that some employers were accustomed to using. The EEOC has targeted practices such as these since its inception.[4]
Laws enforced by the EEOC
The primary purpose of the EEOC is to uphold civil rights laws like the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and its Title VII section. This includes ensuring equal employment opportunity for all groups of people in the country. It intervenes where there are complaints of discrimination based on race, color, sex or any other qualification from the above list. However, in order to prevent that discrimination in the first place, the commission publishes research reports on demographics in workplaces throughout the country. This data is then used to identify inequalities, so that the commission can begin to resolve them. For instance, just days after the September 11th attacks, the EEOC contacted employers throughout the country, urging them to promote religious tolerance in the workplace. The commission also began crafting programs to promote equality and prevent discrimination specifically dealing with religion or perceived religion based on race.[5][6] The EEOC is also responsible for enforcing the following federal laws:[7]
- Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
- The Pregnancy Discrimination Act
- The Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA)
- The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA)
- Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA)
- Sections 102 and 103 of the Civil Rights Act of 1991
- Sections 501 and 505 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
- The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA)
Leadership
The EEOC is a bipartisan commission made up of a chair, vice chair, and three commissioners. The current commission members are:[8]
- Charlotte A. Burrow, Chair
- Jocelyn Samuels, Vice Chair
- Keith E. Sonderling, Commissioner
- Andrea R. Lucas, Commissioner
- Kalpana Kotagal, Commissioner
| Past Chairs of the EEOC | ||||||||
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| EEOC Chair | Years in office | Appointed by | ||||||
| Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jr. | 1965-1966 | Lyndon B. Johnson | ||||||
| Stephen N. Shulman | 1966-1967 | Lyndon B. Johnson | ||||||
| Clifford L. Alexander, Jr. | 1967-1969 | Lyndon B. Johnson | ||||||
| William H. Brown, III | 1969-1973 | Lyndon B. Johnson | ||||||
| John H. Powell, Jr. | 1973-1974 | Richard Nixon | ||||||
| Lowell W. Perry | 1975-1976 | Gerald Ford | ||||||
| Eleanor Holmes Norton | 1977-1981 | Jimmy Carter | ||||||
| Clarence Thomas | 1982-1990 | Ronald Reagan | ||||||
| Evan J. Kemp, Jr. | 1990-1993 | George H.W. Bush | ||||||
| Gilbert F. Casellas | 1994-1997 | Bill Clinton | ||||||
| Ida L. Castro | 1998-2001 | Bill Clinton | ||||||
| Cari M. Dominguez | 2001-2006 | George W. Bush | ||||||
| Naomi C. Earp | 2006-2009 | George W. Bush | ||||||
| Jacqueline A. Berrien | 2010-2014 | Barack Obama | ||||||
| Jenny R. Yang | 2014-2018 | Barack Obama | ||||||
| Janet Dhillon | 2019-2021 | Donald Trump | ||||||
| Charlotte A. Burrows | 2021-Present | Joe Biden | ||||||
Issues
Sexual orientation discrimination
On July 16, 2015, the EEOC released an administrative decision stating that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is an actionable charge under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.[9]
Explaining its decision, the EEOC wrote, "Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is premised on sex-based preferences, assumptions, expectations, stereotypes, or norms. 'Sexual orientation' as a concept cannot be defined or understood without reference to sex."[10]
Although the commission's ruling directly applies only to federal employees, it may also be used as persuasive authority when private employees file suit in federal court.[11]
Court decisions
The following are a few of the Supreme Court decisions that have influenced, or been influenced by, the EEOC. For a more complete list of important Supreme Court decisions affecting employment laws enforced by the EEOC, click here.
Phillips v. Martin Marietta Corp.
This decision by the Supreme Court held that employers cannot discriminate based on sex, as well as other factors such as having children. This case in particular reinforced one of EEOC’s policies prohibiting the use of separate hiring policies for men with school-aged children and women with school-aged children.[12]
Espinoza v. Farah Manufacturing Co.
This decision by the Supreme Court held that a citizenship requirement for employment is illegal if that requirement is proven to have the effect of discriminating based on national origin.[12]
Alexander v. Gardner-Denver Co.
In this case, the Supreme Court decided that a collective bargaining agreement cannot supercede an employee’s right to sue an employer under Title VII and other anti-discrimination laws.[12]
Corning Glass Works v. Brennan
This Supreme Court Decision held that under the Equal Pay Act, the plaintiff must provide proof that the employer is paying groups of people differently for substantially equal work.[12]
Noteworthy events
EEOC releases data on impact of #MeToo on workplace harassment allegations (2018)
The EEOC released a report on October 4, 2018, detailing the agency’s actions to address workplace harassment during fiscal year 2018. The agency released the report on the one-year anniversary of the disclosure of sexual misconduct allegations against Harvey Weinstein and the corresponding birth of the #MeToo movement.[13][14]
The EEOC filed a total of 66 harassment lawsuits, 41 of which included sexual harassment allegations. The lawsuits demonstrated a 50 percent increase in workplace sexual harassment lawsuits filed by the EEOC over FY 2017. Charges of alleged sexual harassment filed with the EEOC increased by more than 12 percent over the same period. The agency’s enforcement efforts recovered nearly $70 million for victims of workplace sexual harassment in FY 2018—an increase from the $47.5 million recovered in FY 2017.[13]
See also
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission website
- Laws and statutes enforced by the EEOC
- Milestones in the History of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 ‘’Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’’, “Milestones in the History of the EOCC - 1964,” accessed March 4, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 ‘’Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’’, “About the EEOC,” accessed March 4, 2015
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ ‘’Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’’, “Milestones in the History of the EOCC - 1966,” accessed March 5 2015
- ↑ ‘’Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’’, “Celebrating our 50th anniversary,” accessed March 5, 2015
- ↑ ‘’Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’’, “Fact about race/color discrimination,” accessed March 6, 2015
- ↑ Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, “Laws and statutes,” accessed March 5, 2015
- ↑ Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, "The Commission and the General Counsel," accessed February 27, 2024
- ↑ Slate, "EEOC Rules Workplace Sexual Orientation Discrimination Already Illegal Under Federal Law," July 16, 2015
- ↑ Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, "Appeal No. 0120133080," accessed July 20, 2015
- ↑ Bloomberg BNA, "EEOC Sexual Orientation Ruling Brings Strong Reactions," July 20, 2015
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 ‘’Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’’, “Selected Supreme Court decisions,” accessed March 6, 2015
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, "EEOC Releases Preliminary FY 2018 Sexual Harassment Data," October 4, 2018
- ↑ Inc., "In an 'Unusual' Move, the U.S. Government Just Made a Surprising Announcement About What Happened After the #MeToo Movement," accessed October 11, 2018
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