Jocelyn Samuels, a former Commissioner and Vice Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, is seeking reinstatement to the post from which President Trump fired her in January. The lawsuit, filed April 9 in the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia, contends that Congress did not grant the president the authority to remove EEOC Commissioners.
Ms. Samuels, a Democrat, claims that she is entitled to remain a Commissioner until July 2026 when her five-year term was scheduled to end. She asserts that EEOC commissioners are insulated from at-will removal by the president because the EEOC qualifies as an independent agency under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The Department of Justice, however, maintains that EEOC Commissioners may be removed at the pleasure of the president under the theory that the EEOC exercises predominantly executive authority.