EEOC Nominees Still Awaiting Confirmation

The EEOC, like the NLRB, has several presidential nominees to the agency who are waiting for confirmation by the U.S. Senate.

In July, 2009 President Obama nominated Jacqueline A. Berrien, associate director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, to serve as Chair of the EEOC.  In September, 2009, the President nominated Chai R. Feldblum, a professor of law and director of the Federal Legislation Clinic at the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C., to be an EEOC Commissioner.

Recently, the President nominated Victoria A. Lipnic, the former Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment Standards, to be an EEOC Commissioner.  Lipnic’s nomination, if confirmed by the Senate, would fulfill the requirement that two of the five commissioners not be from the President’s political party.  Constance Barker, whose term expires in 2011, is the other Republican Commissioner.

In late July, 2009, the Senate confirmed President Obama’s nomination of EEOC Vice Chair Christine Griffin as Deputy Director of the Office of Personnel Management, but, according to the rules governing the EEOC, Griffin will remain an EEOC Commissioner until her successor is confirmed by the Senate.  On October 22, 2009, President Obama nominated P. David Lopez to be General Counsel of the EEOC .  Lopez has worked for the EEOC for 13 years and is currently a Supervising Trial Attorney in the EEOC’s Phoenix District Office.