Biden names EEOC chair, vice chair

President Joe Biden on Thursday named U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commissioner Charlotte A. Burrows as chair and Commissioner Jocelyn Samuels as vice chair.

Ms. Burrows and Ms. Samuels are both Democrats. Ms. Burrows replaces as chair Republican Janet Dhillon, who remains an EEOC commissioner, while Ms. Samuels replaces Republican Keith E. Sonderling, who also remains as a commissioner. 

Ms. Dhillon’s term expires in July 2022, while Mr. Sonderling’s and the term of Republican commissioner Andrea Lucas expires in July 2024 and July 2025, respectively.

This means the EEOC will not have a Democratic majority until Ms. Dhillon’s term ends.

In addition, the term of the board’s general counsel, Sharon Fast Gustafson, who was appointed by President Trump, ends in 2023.

President Biden fired the National Labor Relations Board’s Republican General Counsel Peter Robb on Wednesday after he refused to resign.

Separately, President Biden named NLRB board member Democrat Lauren McFerran as chair.