Dive Brief:
- President Donald Trump has dismissed Commissioners Charlotte Burrows and Jocelyn Samuels as well as General Counsel Karla Gilbride from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Democratic officials confirmed to HR Dive.
- Gilbride, nominated by former President Joe Biden and confirmed to a four-year term in 2023, was the first person with a known disability to be appointed EEOC general counsel. Burrows and Samuels were confirmed to terms ending in 2028 and 2026, respectively. The dismissals are part of a broader shakeup at employment law enforcement agencies early this week — largely unprecedented moves.
- An EEOC spokesperson referred HR Dive to the White House Tuesday. A White House official did not confirm the dismissals, but did note that Biden similarly dismissed EEOC’s general counsel after his own inauguration. “These were far-left appointees with radical records of upending longstanding labor law, and they have no place as senior appointees in the Trump Administration, which was given a mandate by the American people to undo the radical policies they created,” the official said.
Dive Insight:
Burrows has served on the commission since 2015, originally nominated by former President Barack Obama and made EEOC chair in 2021 by Biden. Samuels was nominated by then-President Donald Trump in 2020 and joined the commission in October of that year.
Burrows was previously EEOC chair. Andrea Lucas is now acting chair.
Editor’s note: This story is developing and will be updated.