Seyfarth Synopsis: On February 4, 2025, the EEOC announced that President Trump has named Andrew Rogers as its new Acting General Counsel. In that role, Rogers will be responsible for conducting EEOC litigation and managing the EEOC’s Regional Attorneys.
President Trump named Andrea Lucas Acting Chair of the EEOC.[1] Days later, President Trump fired former EEOC Chair Charlotte Burrows, Commissioner Jocelyn Samuels, and General Counsel Karla Gilbride, all of whom are Democratic appointees with time still left on their terms.[2] After Gilbride's removal, pursuant to the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, career Deputy General Counsel Chris Lage became the EEOC’s Acting General Counsel.[3]
Rogers has been at the EEOC since October 2020, when he joined as Chief Counsel to then-Commissioner Lucas. His responsibilities included interacting with the Regional Attorneys on behalf of then-Commissioner Lucas. More recently, Rogers briefly served as Chief of Staff to Lucas after she was named as Acting Chair, becoming her most-senior staff advisor before being named as Acting General Counsel. Christopher Lage continues in his service as Deputy General Counsel at EEOC.*
Employers should remember that career staff at the EEOC continue to process charges, conduct investigations, and litigate cases under existing procedures. The removal of Commissioners Burrows and Samuels leaves the EEOC without a quorum. While the Acting General Counsel retains delegated authority to file routine cases, the Commission's delegation framework prohibits filing systemic discrimination cases, cases requiring major expenditure of resources, or cases “that implicate areas of the law that are not settled and cases that are likely to generate public controversy”.
*Correction: An earlier version of this post contained an inaccurate presumption regarding Christoper Lage’s position at the EEOC. As noted above, he continues in his service as Deputy General Counsel.
[1] Press Release: U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, President Appoints Andrea R. Lucas EEOC Acting Chair (Jan. 21, 2025), https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/president-appoints-andrea-r-lucas-eeoc-acting-chair.
[2] See Rachel See and Andrew Scroggins, Trump Fires EEOC Commissioners, Testing Constitutional Limits on Presidential Power Over Independent Agencies, Workplace Class Action Blog (Jan. 29, 2025), https://www.workplaceclassaction.com/.
[3] President Trump's actions at the EEOC this week mirror his recent actions at the National Labor Relations Board. At the NLRB, President Trump first fired Biden-appointed General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo, then removed career NLRB official Jessica Rutter who stepped into the NLRB Acting General Counsel role. President Trump has appointed William Cowen to serve as the NLRB’s acting general counsel.
