Democrat sues Trump after being removed from Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
A Democratic former member of the federal agency that enforces U.S. laws banning workplace discrimination filed a lawsuit on Wednesday claiming her firing by President Donald Trump was illegal and seeking to be reinstated to her post.
Jocelyn Samuels, one of two members of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission fired by Trump in January, said he lacked the power to remove her from office, an unprecedented move that has rendered the five-member commission unable to do much of its work.
“The removal of Commissioner Samuels, along with the removal of fellow Democratic Commissioner Charlotte Burrows on the same day, constitutes the first time in the EEOC’s almost 61-year history that a president has sought to remove a member of the Commission prior to the expiration of their term,” the lawsuit says.
The five-member Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, created under the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964, now has only two members.
Trump directed the commission to fire Samuels on Jan. 27, but her term was not set to expire until 2026.
It is the latest test of Trump's powers over federal agencies that, like the EEOC, were designed to be independent from the White House. No president had ever removed an EEOC commissioner from office, and the firings by Trump left the agency, which already had one vacancy, without a three-member quorum.
The lawsuit says the lack of quorum means the commission cannot fully “vindicate the rights of individuals subject to workplace discrimination.”
The agency's acting chair, Trump appointee Andrea Lucas, has moved to roll back legal protections for transgender workers and crack down on workplace diversity, equity and inclusion programs, including demanding information on DEI policies from 20 large law firms.
In the past few months, Trump has fired seven independent board members who all have similar legal protections from at-will firings. Six have now sued him.
The Department of Justice, which defends the Trump administration in court, has repeatedly said the laws protecting these board members’ jobs are unconstitutional.
The White House did not immediately respond to Paste BN’s request for comment.
Contributing: Reuters