The sole remaining Democratic commissioner, Kalpana Kotagal, voted against the newly introduced regulatory proposals.
She argued that “the proposed changes weaken civil rights protections for workers and undermine the agency’s investigative and enforcement efforts.”
She questioned the decision to halt the long-standing requirement for large companies to submit workforce diversity statistics. “The EEOC has collected this data from employers for six decades.
It’s difficult to understand why the agency would kneecap its ability to investigate discrimination, particularly at a time when the EEOC is chronically understaffed and underfunded,” Kotagal said.
The agency also outlined plans to alter its 1980 national origin discrimination definitions.
Those definitions previously cautioned against language restrictions that “create an atmosphere of inferiority, isolation and intimidation based on national origin which could result in a discriminatory working environment.”
The regulatory update challenged the historical legal assumptions behind those rules. The EEOC argued against the “presumption that English-only rules violate Title VII in some circumstances.”
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Additionally, the commission recently voted to rescind voluntary affirmative action guidelines. It also plans to revise regulations enforcing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.
