2 Ways to Make the EEOC Great Again

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is one of those agencies that, depending on who’s in charge, can do a lot of good or a lot of bad for the country. It enforces the federal laws against employment discrimination, and sometimes, like when it was headed by then-future Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, it has done that job well. During those times, it zealously protected all Americans equally.

At other times, however, it has not done its job well. During those times, it has bowed to trendy ideologies that endorse discrimination. For example, it pioneered a perverse approach to civil rights enforcement that encourages employers to discriminate against Asian and white employees in favor of black and Hispanic employees. It has often turned a blind eye to religious discrimination. And when women asked for its protection from men who, claiming to be women, intruded into their bathrooms and private spaces, the EEOC sided with the men.

But the EEOC is changing for the better. Under acting Chair Andrea Lucas, the EEOC is once again beginning to do good. Since President Donald Trump appointed Lucas as acting chair, she has begun to restore the agency to the role it played under Thomas. In Lucas’ words, she intends to “restore evenhanded enforcement of employment civil rights laws for all Americans.”

This is a much-needed change for an agency that lately has been picking and choosing winners and losers based on their skin color, gender identity, and religion.

Lucas’ power to continue making good changes, however, is limited unless two things happen: First, the Senate reconfirms Lucas to her seat on the EEOC so that Trump can elevate her from acting chair to confirmed chair, and second, Trump appoints at least one more member to the EEOC, which currently lacks a quorum.

As acting chair without a quorum, Lucas’ authority to undo some of the worst EEOC practices, rules, and precedents is limited. She can direct the agency’s enforcement priorities, but she can’t rescind or issue major rules and policies, so a lot of old ones that endorsed unequal interpretations of civil rights laws will stay on the books.

If, however, Lucas is confirmed as chair and the EEOC gets a quorum, there is no end to the good she can do through that agency.

Already, Lucas has forced major law firms to stop using DEI to discriminate based on race. She has ordered the EEOC to be evenhanded in its enforcement priorities, rather than picking and choosing winners based on their characteristics. She has made it easier for employees to report DEI discrimination. She has made it a priority to protect Americans from religious discrimination. And she has used what limited powers she currently has to protect women from the dangerous effects of gender ideology.

This is only a summary of the incredible work that Lucas has been able to do in just a few months and with incomplete authority.

Lucas has been so successful despite these limitations for two reasons. First, she is, above all else, deeply principled. She believes in the “aggressive pursuit of justice, individual rights, and colorblind equality under the law.” While she is administering the nation’s civil rights laws, they will be fair and equal for all Americans.

Lucas is also extremely sophisticated. She knows the EEOC inside and out and knows better than anyone how to put it to its best use. She isn’t going to make mistakes that get her priorities thrown out of court, and she isn’t going to be outmaneuvered by ideological career staff who want the EEOC to keep picking racial favorites.

If Lucas is confirmed, and if the president appoints at least one more member to the commission, Lucas can affect dramatic change in an agency that badly needs it. If both these things happen, expect Lucas to be in the vanguard of a renewed movement for true equality under the law.

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