Rogers pledged to provide “robust, high-quality, efficient, and transparent enforcement” of the nation’s civil rights laws.
Dive Brief:
- President Donald Trump has appointed Andrew Rogers as acting general counsel at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the agency announced in a statement. If confirmed, Rogers will replace Karla Gilbride, whom Trump terminated last week.
- Rogers is the second Trump selection to lead the agency, after the president named Andrea Lucas acting chair on Jan. 21, as widely expected. Rogers previously served as chief counsel to Lucas, and, prior to joining EEOC, served in the Wage and Hour Division at the U.S. Department of Labor.
- “I am honored to be selected by the President to serve at the Commission,” Rogers said. “And to advance robust, high-quality, efficient, and transparent enforcement of our nation’s civil rights laws via the agency’s litigation program.
Dive Insight:
Acting Chair Lucas expressed enthusiasm for Rogers’ selection, calling him “a brilliant lawyer, strategic thinker, and a trusted advisor.”
“He has deep and broad employment law experience between his government service with me at the EEOC and with former EEOC Commissioner Keith Sonderling at the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division, as well as his time in private practice,” Lucas continued. “I look forward to partnering with Andrew in his new role to continue the important work of the agency.”
EEOC’s general counsel works with the commission to select and pursue worker’s cases in the courts. Currently, EEOC has only two commissioners, Lucas and Kalpana Kotagal, a Democrat. It is unclear whether Trump plans to leave the commission without a quorum — at least three members — or eventually nominate at least one more commissioner, attorneys at Seyfarth Shaw told HR Dive.
In its current state, however, the agency is limited in what it can accomplish.
“Without a quorum, the Office of General Counsel can file routine cases,” Rachel See, senior counsel at Seyfarth Shaw, said. “Controversial cases — big, systemic pattern or practice cases — those all require a quorum and vote.”
In January 2021, then-Chair Janet Dhillon laid out this approach for the agency, delegating some authority to the general counsel to advance cases without a quorum and a vote. Routine cases that do not meet the seven criteria Dhillon outlined in the resolution may proceed under the current commission’s makeup.
On the other hand, there are strategies EEOC could use to pursue a Trump administration agenda in a targeted way, Andy Scroggins, partner at Seyfarth Shaw, said.
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Source : https://www.hrdive.com/news/andrew-rogers-eeoc-acting-general-counsel/739206/
