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<\/div>\n?Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) member Janet Dhillon, a Republican, has resigned effective Nov. 18, leaving the EEOC deadlocked\u2014split between two Democrats and two Republicans. As a result of there being a Democratic chair with a lack of a Democratic majority, the EEOC has not published regulatory agendas recently. The EEOC commissioners must vote to issue guidance and regulations or begin investigations. We’ve gathered articles on the news from SHRM Online<\/em> and other media outlets.<\/p>\n Biden’s Nominee Hasn’t Yet Been Confirmed<\/p>\n Dhillon’s term expired in July but she has kept her seat because the Senate hasn’t yet confirmed Biden’s nominee to fill the post, Kalpana Kotagal, a civil rights attorney. Dhillon, who chaired the EEOC during the Trump administration, could have remained in the seat until the end of the year. The Senate Health, Education Labor and Pensions Committee deadlocked on Kotagal in May. <\/p>\n At the EEOC, Dhillon prioritized compliance assistance and the agency’s conciliation program. She also led during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, which raised new and complex workplace discrimination issues<\/a>.<\/p>\n (Bloomberg<\/a>)<\/p>\n Reforms to Conciliation Withdrawn<\/p>\n President Joe Biden signed a resolution last year withdrawing reforms to conciliation that the EEOC had made under the Trump administration. <\/p>\n Under the conciliation reforms, the EEOC was to provide employers with “a written summary of the known facts,” among other information, when an employee files a discrimination charge. Conciliation is similar to mediation, except that an EEOC investigator, rather than an independent third party, conducts conciliation procedures. Opponents of the reforms said it gave businesses a chance to drag talks out.<\/p>\n (SHRM Online<\/em><\/a>) and (Slate<\/a>)<\/p>\n Partisan Divide<\/p>\n The partisan divide at the EEOC has been more apparent recently. Dhillon co-wrote a Wall Street Journal<\/em> op-ed saying that the commission’s Democrats tried to compromise the Republican majority by unilaterally issuing a technical assistance document on LGBTQ workplace discrimination protections that a court later blocked.<\/p>\n (The Wall Street Journal<\/em><\/a>) and (SHRM Online<\/em><\/a>)<\/p>\n Burrows Now Heads EEOC<\/p>\n After Biden became president, Commissioner Charlotte Burrows was named chair of the EEOC. She has served as an EEOC commissioner since 2015, having been initially nominated by former President Barack Obama. In 2019, she was re-nominated and unanimously confirmed for a second term ending in 2023. Following Dhillon’s resignation, the EEOC will have two Democrat commissioners\u2014Burrows and Jocelyn Samuels, who is vice chair\u2014and two Republican commissioners\u2014Andrea Lucas and Keith Sonderling. <\/p>\n