Lawyer who represented workers appointed EEOC vice chair

President Obama has appointed attorney Jenny R. Yang as vice chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The U.S. Senate voted unanimously last week to confirm Ms. Yang, whose term on the EEOC board expires on July 1, 2017.

The vice chair post had been vacant since Christine Griffin left as commissioner in 2010, an EEOC spokeswoman said Monday. Ms. Griffin was replaced as a commissioner, but not as vice chair.

Immediately prior to joining the EEOC, Ms. Yang was a partner at Washington-based plaintiff law firm Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll P.L.L.C., where she represented employees, according to the EEOC.

Cohen Milstein has represented workers in the Wal-Mart Stores Inc. gender discrimination litigation.

The EEOC said Ms. Yang is leading a comprehensive review of the agency’s systemic program, which addresses issues of alleged discrimination that have broad impact on an industry, profession, company or geographic area.