Democratic EEOC commissioner fired by Trump sues administration

A Democratic appointee to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) who was fired by President Trump sued his administration Wednesday, claiming her termination was unlawful. 

Trump fired Jocelyn Samuels and another Democratic commissioner days after taking office as the administration looks to crack down on diversity, equity and inclusion policies. 

“Defendant Trump’s efforts to hamstring the EEOC are consistent with and further his Administration’s efforts to turn back the clock on decades of established precedent protecting workers and job applicants from discrimination, but they are contrary to law,” Samuels’s lawsuit reads. 

Created under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the five-member commission is in charge of protecting workers and job applicants from discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex and national origin. 

The law staggers the commissioners’ five-year terms so the president may appoint a new member annually. No more than three of the five commissioners may be from the same party. 

Trump originally nominated Samuels to one of the Democratic slots in 2020. She was renominated by then-President Biden the following year for a term that was set to last through 2026. 

But a week after he took office for his second term, Trump moved to fire Samuels and Charlotte Burrows, another EEOC Democratic commissioner.

The new lawsuit, which Burrows is not a part of, claims Trump did not have authority to remove Samuels from her post without cause. 

Trump’s terminations have left the commission with just two members, one Democrat and one Republican, falling short of the three-member quorum required for the EEOC to take certain actions. 

“While the President may accept these results, his actions to incapacitate the EEOC are contrary to the rule of law and harmful to the American workforce,” the lawsuit reads. 

Samuels is represented by the Democracy Forward Foundation, a left-leaning legal organization that has brought various challenges against Trump’s policies, Katz Banks Kumin and Justice Legal Strategies. They filed the lawsuit in federal court in Washington, D.C.

The EEOC is one of many federal agencies Trump has looked to remake despite their historical degree of independence from the White House.

The administration’s expansionist view of presidential power has sparked a wave of litigation, including lawsuits filed by fired Democratic appointees at independent agencies including the National Labor Relations Board and Federal Trade Commission.