Jackie Berrien has left the EEOC.  Vice chair, Jenny Yang, has been elevated to the position of chair.  Yang is a former NELP staffer and former partner of the DC-based plaintiff law firm, Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll P.L.L.C.  For now, the commission has two Democrats and two Republicans.  A new nomination to fill Berrien’s vacancy has not been announced.  As noted in a Law 360 story this morning:

Yang described the EEOC’s systemic program as a top focus for her as she serves on the commission. Addressing a labor law conference at New York University in early June, Yang said the agency’s efforts to pursue systemic cases have taken on even greater importance since the Supreme Court’s rulings in Dukes and AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, which, in her view, have placed limitations on individual workers looking to bring  private class actions.

‘It’s especially important for us to think about the particular role that the commission plays in bringing systemic litigation because it has become increasingly difficult for individuals to enforce the law themselves,” she said. ‘It’s ‘important for us as an agency to think about what that means – will there be a void in enforcement in areas that can only be challenged best through systemic litigation?’

Below is a listing of the EEOC commissioners and their terms:

  • Chair Jenny Yang (D) (July 1, 2017)
  • Victoria Lipnic (R) (July 1, 2015)
  • Constance Barker (R) (July 1, 2016)
  • Chai Feldblum (D) (July 1, 2018)
  • Vacant (July 1, 2019)

In other personnel news, EEOC general counsel David Lopez was re-nominated by President Obama in July.