Just a month into his second term, President Donald Trump has already begun to make major changes at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. One of President Trump’s first actions was appointing Commissioner Andrea Lucas (“Lucas”) as Acting Chair for EEOC. Lucas has served on EEOC’s panel since 2020, when President Trump first appointed her as Commissioner, and has long been a vocal critic of corporate diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”) and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (“PWFA”).

Upon her recent appointment, Lucas released a statement that she “look[ed] forward to restoring even handed enforcement of employment civil rights laws for all Americans.”  Lucas stated her priorities are to root out “unlawful DEI-motivated race and sex discrimination”, defending “biological and binary reality of sex”, and to move EEOC’s focus back to individual rights rather than group focused efforts.

In addition to appointing Lucas, President Trump dismissed now former EEOC Commissioners Charlotte Burrows and Jocelyn Samuels before their terms were set to expire, a move that has drawn some criticism.  EEOC now is led by Lucas, a Republican, and Kalpana Kotagal, a Democrat, and has three vacancies President Trump will soon fill.  It is speculated this move was made by President Trump to shift EEOC to a Republican majority.

At the beginning of February 2025, President Trump named Andrew Rogers (“Rogers”) as EEOC’s Acting General Counsel. Rogers previously represented employers at Paul Hastings and Littler Mendelson, two of the largest U.S. law firms focusing solely on labor and employment law.  Rogers worked closely with Lucas in the past and will now vet tens of thousands of discrimination complaints brought to EEOC each year.  The appointment of both Rogers and Lucas signals what will likely be a sharp turn away from Biden-ear EEOC regulations and class actions by EEOC.

These appointments follow President Trump’s Executive Orders terminating DEI-based programs within the Federal Government.  These changes will influence EEOC’s decisions on how to administer and review Charges and what legal actions EEOC chooses to pursue against companies.  We expect to see a decline in EEOC class claims.