Terminated EEOC commissioner sues Trump

Samuels named Trump, as well as the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and EEOC acting chair Andrea Lucas in her lawsuit filed on 9 April 2025. The complaint alleges Trump illegally removed Samuels on 27 January 2025, and that Lucas and the EEOC prevented her from “performing her duties” as commissioner following her termination.

Samuels has requested a declaration that her unprecedented removal violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act 1964 and an injunction against Lucas and the EEOC from blocking access to her office or “in any way treating [Samuels] as having been removed.”

“Trump’s efforts to hamstring the EEOC are consistent with and further his Administration’s efforts to turn back the clock on decades of established precedent protecting workers and job applicants from discrimination, but they are contrary to law,” Samuels said.

Trump appointed Samuels to the EEOC in 2020. Former US President Joe Biden named Samuels Vice Chair of the agency and nominated her for a second term in 2021. She served as Vice Chair until 20 January 2025 and would have remained in her post until 1 July 2026, until she received an email informing her of her termination.

According to the 9 April complaint, Trump claimed in the email that he “was authorized to remove Commissioner Samuels pursuant to his power under Article II of the Constitution and the lack of explicit removal language in the text of the Title VII.”

Samuels said Trump cited her alleged efforts “to impose an expansive and improper DEI agenda on America’s workplaces” as reason for her termination. Trump also noted in the email her enforcement of “the Biden Administration’s radical Title VII guidance” and her commitment to “furthering a series of race-based initiatives that are themselves mired in racism.”

Samuels asserted that Congress “did not grant the president authority to remove EEOC Commissioners at will.” She said “Congress’ intent to provide the Commission continuity, stability, and insulation from political pressure exerted by the president” is reflected in Title VII, which mandates that no more than three of the five commissioners be members of the same political party and staggers the members’ five-year terms.

“As is stated explicitly in the email, the ‘conduct’ described reflects differences in policy views between President Trump and Commissioner Samuels. The email states that ‘heads of agencies within the Executive Branch must share the objectives of [the president’s] administration and its commitment to serving the will of the American people,’” the complaint said.

Trump also fired Democratic commissioner Charlotte Burrows on 27 January, leaving the agency with only two members and thus short of a quorum. Acting chair Lucas can still exercise some authority, but the EEOC cannot issue any new decisions or policy guidance until Trump nominates a third commissioner.

“Trump’s illegal removal of Commissioner Samuels, as carried out by . . . [the] EEOC and Lucas, has significant and damaging consequences for the work of the Commission, the enforcement of the nation’s anti-discrimination laws, and the rights and interests of both workers and employers,” Samuels wrote. “While the President may accept these results, his actions to incapacitate the EEOC are contrary to the rule of law and harmful to the American workforce.”

Samuels is not the first federal employee to challenge her termination. US National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) member Gwynne Wilcox sued Trump on 6 February 2025 alleging he illegally terminated her from the board. Wilcox has since been reinstated, though the case is currently being considered by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Unlike in the National Labor Relations Act 1935, there is no statutory provision limiting presidential removal power in Title VII. It remains to be seen whether and how that difference may impact Samuels’ case.

Counsel to Samuels

Democracy Forward Foundation

Legal director Victoria Nugent in Washington, DC