Unprecedented Removal Violates Federal Agency Independence, Threatens Mission of Bipartisan Body

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Equal Employment Opportunity Commissioner Jocelyn Samuels filed suit challenging her removal by Donald Trump in January 2025. Samuels was serving her second term on the commission, which was scheduled to continue until July 2026.  

The lawsuit challenges Trump’s unprecedented attempt to remove a sitting EEOC Commissioner before the expiration of her statutorily established term, a move that threatens the independence of the EEOC and its vital mission to protect Americans from workplace discrimination. Samuels is represented by Democracy Forward and Katz Banks Kumin LLP.  

“This abrupt and unlawful termination before my term’s completion not only violates federal law, but fundamentally eviscerates the EEOC’s independent structure,” said Jocelyn Samuels, former Equal Employment Opportunity Commission member. “Congress deliberately designed the Commission as a multi-member body with diverse perspectives and fixed, staggered terms precisely to create continuity over time, facilitate consensus across the political spectrum, and insulate the Commission from political interference. In acting to remove me, the President has also left the Commission without a quorum, undermining the Commission’s ability to fully protect American workers from discrimination and uphold their civil rights.”

“The unlawful termination of Commissioner Samuels is part of a broader, dangerous pattern of attacking the independence of federal agencies and the public servants who staff them,” said Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward. “This is one of several attempts by this administration to undermine the EEOC’s independence, threatening the protections that millions of Americans rely on when facing discrimination and harassment in their workplaces. Democracy Forward is proud to represent Commissioner Samuels in this fight to safeguard the rights and protections that all Americans count on when they face workplace discrimination, harassment, and unfair treatment.”

“In removing Commissioner Samuels, President Trump undermined the civil rights protections afforded by the EEOC to all working Americans. As stated in the civil complaint filed today, removing Commissioner Samuels without cause from an independent, multi-member agency like the EEOC is illegal, plain and simple, which is why it has never been done in the agency’s 61-year history. This is just one more example of President Trump’s partisan effort to weaken our federal government and the constitutional foundation of this country,” said Lisa J. Banks, Katz Banks Kumin LLP.

The lawsuit comes as senior Democratic leaders and more than 240 Members of Congress sent two separate letters to the president last month, voicing significant concern with the termination of Commissioner Samuels and demanding her reinstatement.

This case is the latest in Democracy Forward’s ongoing efforts to protect the integrity of the federal civil service against unlawful actions by the Trump administration. Democracy Forward has led numerous landmark legal challenges to defend merit-based civil service positions, including successfully reinstating probationary employees, representing major government employee unions against unconstitutional politicization, and challenging both the Schedule F executive order and the “Fork in the Road” federal worker buyout program.

Read the full complaint here.

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Democracy Forward is a national legal organization that advances democracy and social progress through litigation, policy, public education, and regulatory engagement. For more information, please visit www.democracyforward.org.