Sonderling, Samuels, Lucas sworn in as EEOC commissioners

On October 14, 2020, Keith E. Sonderling and Jocelyn Samuels were sworn in as Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) commissioners. Sonderling also was designated by President Donald Trump to serve as the group’s vice chair.

Sonderling was nominated by President Trump on July 17, 2019, renominated on March 16, 2020, and confirmed on September 22 by a Senate vote of 52-41 to serve a term expiring on July 1, 2024. Before his appointment to the EEOC, he was the deputy administrator of the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) and previously served as its acting administrator.

Samuels was nominated by President Trump on March 16, 2020, and confirmed on September 23 to serve as commissioner for a term expiring on July 1, 2021. From June 2017 until the present, she was executive director of the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law. Before that, she was the director of the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and served as acting assistant attorney general for civil rights at the U.S. Department of Justice during the Obama administration.

Andrea R. Lucas was sworn as a commissioner on October 19. Her term expires on July 1, 2025. Before her appointment by President Trump, she was a senior associate in the Washington, D.C., office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP.

GAO urges EEOC to collect more data on retaliation, sexual harassment