E&W Blog

The resignation of Commissioner Janet Dhillon, former Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), is a great loss for the agency and our country. Throughout her tenure, Dhillon made accountability and transparency a priority—something sorely lacking at EEOC.

Dhillon proved that transparency and the success of EEOC go hand-in-hand. During her tenure, EEOC achieved record-breaking monetary penalties for victims of discrimination, amounting to $535 million in FY 2020 alone. Dhillon also oversaw the improvement of agency operations which significantly reduced backlogged cases.

Dhillon’s greatest work at EEOC was implementing reforms that restored accountability and oversight measures, particularly for the agency’s litigation program. She also posted specifics of EEOC’s systemic program and commissioner’s charge process on the agency’s website to demonstrate an unprecedented level of transparency. Dhillon even opened some of the Commission’s virtual meetings during the pandemic to the public.

Lastly, Dhillon’s EEOC emphasized compliance assistance. Too often, federal agencies weaponize regulations against job creators instead of helping them navigate an overcomplicated weave of red tape. She led the creation of a searchable database to aggregate all EEOC sub-regulatory guidance and technical assistance documents in a single location. This was part of Dhillon’s efforts to educate employers and bring them into compliance with EEOC regulations. This is the example all federal agencies should follow.

Without Dhillon at the EEOC to defend job creators, Education and Labor Committee Republican Leader Virginia Foxx (R-NC) will redouble her oversight efforts. As soon as a Democrat is confirmed to replace Dhillon and EEOC flips to majority Democrat, the agency will be unleashed from accountability, transparency, and oversight and becomes a threat to America’s job creators. We must prevent this agency from harming our country’s industries to enact a leftist agenda. Congressional oversight is a powerful tool to safeguard against this and is something Congresswoman Foxx will ensure stays a Committee priority.