Jacqueline Berrien was sworn in today as chairwoman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. President Obama installed Berrien in a recess appointment March 27. Berrien is the 14th person to head EEOC, and was previously the associate director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund.
Former Georgetown University law professor Chai Feldblum was also sworn in as a commissioner today.
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It is time to take a close look at 29 CFR 1614 and the Federal Sector EEOC batting average. Presently, EEOC decisions run 90% against the federal worker, and the penalties, while rigidly enforced against the employees, are not enforced against any agency.
It’s time to directly compare case outcomes in the private sector, where wrongdoers actually get what they deserve, to CASE outcomes in the federal sectors, where 9/10 times, the involved agency gets a pat on the wrist and a wink and a nod from the EEOC. This is the wrong outcome and the wrong message to send. CLEAN IT UP OR SHUT IT DOWN.
Discrimination, whether perpetrated by a private sector employer or a federal sector employer, is wrong, however, EEO and Agency people are far too snuggly in bed, presently, to provide a fair and level playing field to the federal employee seeking justice.
Unless the EEOC is prepared to institute sweeping reforms in the statute and in its own attitudes with respect to the federal sector employees, it may be time to shut this part of the EEOC down because federal employees are not being equally served and are being denied the justice which private sector employees routeinly receive.