Created by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It litigates a few hundred suits a year itself and issues the right-to-sue letters that unlock private discrimination cases for everyone else.
Open the interactive page for EEOC →Created byCivil Rights Act of 1964, Title VII (P.L. 88-352)
Head appointed42 U.S.C. § 2000e-4(a): President appoints 5 members, Senate consent, 5-yr terms, max 3 from one party; Chairman and Vice Chairman designated by President; separate General Counsel is PAS with a 4-yr term, § 2000e-4(b) (PAS)
Removal standardno statutory protection — Title VII is silent on removal of members
Funded underCommerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies appropriations act — straight appropriation, no fees
Congressional oversightHouse Education and Workforce · Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Inspector generalown OIG (designated federal entity under IG Act — IG appointed by the Chair)
Judicial reviewIssues no binding private-sector orders — enforcement is by de novo suit in district court, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(f) (by EEOC or by charging party after right-to-sue letter); cause determinations are not themselves judicially reviewable; federal-sector decisions reviewable de novo in district court
File an EEOC charge, the required first step before most workplace-discrimination lawsuits; comment on its enforcement guidance; vote for President, who appoints the Chair and General Counsel.
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