EEOC Swears in Andrea Lucas as EEOC Commissioner & Announces Two Staff Appointments

Lucas previously worked at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP in the firm’s labor and employment practice group. Two news staff members to run the Revolving Funds Program offering fee-based training and education.

On October 19, 2020 Andrea R. Lucas was sworn in as Commissioner of the EEOC for a term expiring July 1, 2025. She was nominated by President Trump on March 16, 2020 and was confirmed on September 22, 2020. She joins the following four bipartisan commissioners: Chair Janet Dhillon, Vice Chair Keith Sonderling and Commissioners Charlotte Burrows and Jocelyn Samuels.

Lucas worked for Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP before joining EEOC to take this position. At the law firm, Lucas started as an associate and moved to the senior associate role in the firm’s Washington, DC labor and employment practice group and its litigation department. According to the EEOC press release, “she has represented and advised employers on a wide-range of matters, including significant work around employment discrimination.  Ms. Lucas received her B.A., magna cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania and her J.D. from the University of Virginia.”

On October 26, 2020, Darrell Stewart and Katrina Grider will begin their roles in the Revolving Funds Program. Stewart will serve as the Revolving Funds Management and Administration Associate Director and Grider as the Associate Director for Curriculum, Training, and Education. Grider will direct and oversee the design, content and delivery of the training programs and manage the training activities provided by the RFP Training Institute. The Revolving Funds Program offers fee-based training and education to the public and private sector.

According to the EEOC press release, the following summarizes Stewart and Grider’s work experience.

“Stewart, an EEOC veteran, previously served as chief of the Office of the Chief Human Capital Office’s (OCHCO) Operations Service Division (OSD) Recruitment, Placement and Classification branch since May 2018. Stewart was an integral part of OCHCO’s efforts to support the agency’s mission, especially during critical hiring surges over the past two years.  In fiscal years 2019 and 2020, Stewart also served in a leadership role as the Alternate Agency Representative and the Chairman of the Initiative’s Human Capital Cluster. In this capacity, he also co-presented a Professional Development and Resume Writing workshop at Morgan State University and co-led the Initiative’s Diversity Abroad Global Leadership Summit. Prior to joining the EEOC, Stewart worked in the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) where, among other positions, he served as the Revolving Funds Program Manager for Vendor Management/Human Resources Solutions.”

“Grider comes to the EEOC from the private sector, serving as Of Counsel in the Houston office of Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart PC. She is a nationally recognized trainer, and for the past 30 years, she has developed and conducted training for private and public sector employers, litigated employment law cases and counseled clients on a wide range of employment matters. Grider is board certified in Labor and Employment Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Grider earned a J.D. from the University of Tulsa College of Law. She has been widely quoted in national and legal media outlets on various employment issues.”