“The removal of Commissioner Samuels, along with the removal of fellow Democratic Commissioner Charlotte Burrows on the same day, constitutes the first time in the EEOC’s almost 61-year history that a president has sought to remove a member of the Commission prior to the expiration of their term,” the lawsuit states.
A former Equal Employment Opportunity Commission official has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, claiming that her removal from the agency constitutes a violation of federal law.
“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,” says the lawsuit, which was filed earlier this week on behalf of plaintiff Jocelyn Samuels.
Samuels, one of two Democratic commissioners to be abruptly removed from their position, says that her termination poses a fundamental challenge to the agency’s independence.
“This abrupt and unlawful termination before my term’s completion not only violates federal law, but fundamentally eviscerates the EEOC’s independent structure,” Samuels said in a statement.
The lawsuit names defendants including President Donald Trump, the EEOC, and EEOC Acting Chair Andrea Lucas. The Associated Press states that the EEOC declined a request for comment.
However, the White House has since tried to clarify its own position, suggesting that President Trump has the authority to remove federal employees as he sees fit.
“The Constitution gives President Trump the power to remove personnel who exercise his executive authority,” White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said. “The Trump Administration looks forward to ultimate victory on the issue.”
Samuels claims that if she and another liberal commissioner, Charlotte Burrows, had been permitted to finish their five-year terms, the agency would have likely had a Democratic majority for much of Trump’s presidency.
The Trump administration’s decision to fire Samuels and Burrows is the first time in the agency’s decades-long history that a president has ever terminated an EEOC commissioner before their term ends.
“The removal of Commissioner Samuels, along with the removal of fellow Democratic Commissioner Charlotte Burrows on the same day, constitutes the first time in the EEOC’s almost 61-year history that a president has sought to remove a member of the Commission prior to the expiration of their term,” the lawsuit states.
The White House claims that, irrespective of president, there is nothing in the law that would prohibit Trump from removing commissioners at will. Samuels, however, contends that the legislation that established the EEOC, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, “did not grant the president authority to remove EEOC Commissioners at will.”
Instead, Samuels says that Congress structured the EEOC in a way that would ensure “continuity, stability and insulation from political pressure,” even between presidential administrations.
Sources
Democrat sues Trump after being removed from Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Democratic EEOC commissioner fired by Trump sues administration
Ex-EEOC commissioner fired by Trump files lawsuit demanding reinstatement
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