Charlotte A. Burrows said she will “explore all legal options” after being removed by President Donald Trump in a late-night purge of government employees and replaced her with Andrea Lucas.
In an unprecedented late-night purge of government employees on Monday, President Donald Trump removed two commissioners on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission years before their terms were to expire. One of those commissioners, Charlotte A. Burrows, who is Black, and her attorneys reacted to the firing on Tuesday.
“Late last night, I was informed by the White House that President Donald Trump was removing me from my position as a Commissioner of the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), along with fellow Commissioner Jocelyn Samuels,” said Burrows in a statement provided to theGrio.
The EEOC is responsible for investigating and prosecuting cases of workplace discrimination and was established in 1964 through the Civil Rights Act.
Burrows was first appointed as an EEOC commissioner in 2015, serving under Presidents Barack Obama, Trump, and Joe Biden. She also served as chair of the commission from January 2021 to January 2025. She was recently confirmed for a third term, which was to expire in July 2028. Samuels’ term was to expire in 2026.
After being sworn in as president for a second term on Jan. 20, Trump appointed Andrea Lucas to serve as EEOC chair. Lucas has made clear that one of her top priorities is to root out DEI in both the public and private sectors — a top focus of the Trump administration.
In a statement, Burrows’ attorneys said Trump’s decision to remove her from the commission more than three years before her term was to expire is the “latest political attack we have seen from President Donald Trump in his coordinated effort to strip-mine the federal government.”
The lawyers continued, “His efforts will not only significantly weaken the functioning of the EEOC – an independent agency dedicated to equal opportunity for all employees – it will weaken the civil rights protections afforded American workers in workplaces across the country.”
Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, called the removal of Burrows and Samuels “illegal” firings and a “calculated attack on every American worker’s fundamental right to a workplace free from discrimination”
“This lawless power grab exposes the administration’s true agenda: greenlighting discrimination, including harassment and bias, against all Americans,” said Robinson in a statement. “With hate crimes surging and state legislatures pushing record numbers of anti-LGBTQ+ bills, the administration is now knee-capping the federal watchdog that stands between millions of workers and unchecked discrimination. The federal courts must reject this blatant abuse of power.”
Burrows said she is proud of the work she and her colleagues did to “remove barriers for equal opportunity for all workers and to promote fair and nondiscriminatory workplaces.”
She added, “While I strongly disagree with the President’s actions, and will explore all legal options available to me, I will continue to do all I can to fight for the rights of American workers and to support the efforts of others who do the same.”
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