Civil rights agency moves to fire judge fighting Trump directives
Source: msn.com
Story by CLAIRE SAVAGE • 11h • 4 min read
The federal agency tasked with protecting workers’ civil rights has moved to terminate a New York administrative judge who has resisted compliance with directives from the White House, including President Donald Trump's executive order decreeing male and female as two “immutable” sexes.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in response to Trump's order has moved to drop at least seven of its own pending cases representing transgender workers alleging discrimination, and is classifying all new gender identity-related discrimination cases as its lowest priority, signaling a major departure from its prior interpretation of civil rights law.
EEOC Administrative Judge Karen Ortiz, who in February criticized the agency's Trump-appointed head, Acting Chair Andrea Lucas, in an email copied to more than 1,000 colleagues, on Wednesday was placed on administrative leave. She also received notice that the EEOC leadership sought to fire her, accusing her of “profoundly unprofessional” conduct...................
...............The EEOC has undergone tumultuous change since Trump took office. He fired two of the three Democratic commissioners of the federal agency in an unprecedented move that swept away what would have been a key barrier to his campaign to dismantle diversity and inclusion programs, end protections for transgender and nonbinary workers and other priorities. One of the dismissed commissioners, Jocelyn Samuels, filed a lawsuit challenging her termination, arguing her removal was a violation of the Civil Rights Act that created the agency to be an independent and bipartisan protector of the rights of workers. The move also left the agency without the quorum needed to make key decisions. But last week, Trump tapped an assistant U.S. attorney in Florida, Brittany Panuccio, to fill one of the vacancies. If Panuccio is confirmed by the Senate, the EEOC would regain a quorum and establish a Republican majority 2-1, clearing the path to make major policy changes, including revising agency guidance on how to implement existing civil rights laws...............................
Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/civil-rights-agency-moves-to-fire-judge-fighting-trump-directives/ar-AA1EDFdW?ocid=winp1taskbar&cvid=6822fcfbb83d4258848e1759deb9a65f&ei=29
Seems like the EEOC is now under control of Trump and Repugs!!
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