Jocelyn Samuels says her termination was illegal.
A commissioner fired by President Donald Trump sued the president on April 9, alleging his termination of her violated federal law.
Jocelyn Samuels, a former Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) commissioner, said she was fired in January in an email from a White House official that said she tried to “impose an expansive and improper DEI agenda on America’s workplaces,” and was involved with “furthering a series of race-based initiatives that are themselves mired in racism.”
But that conduct, said lawyers for Samuels, merely reflects how Samuels holds different policy views from Trump and does not give the president the power to remove an EEOC commissioner.
“Defendant Trump lacked cause to remove Commissioner Samuels,” her lawyers said in a lawsuit filed with the federal court in Washington.
They requested that the court enter an order declaring the removal of Samuels illegal, emphasizing that she can only be removed for cause, and prohibiting EEOC officials from blocking Samuels from accessing her office or otherwise treating her as removed.
“The Constitution gives President Trump the power to remove personnel who exercise his executive authority,“ a White House spokeswoman told The Epoch Times in an email. ”The Trump Administration looks forward to ultimate victory on the issue.”
An EEOC spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an email that the agency does not comment on pending litigation.
The EEOC is a federal agency that takes action to enforce laws against job discrimination and harassment. Congress created it in a 1964 law.
Lawmakers said in the law that of the five commissioners, only three can be members of the same political party. Additionally, commissioners serve staggered terms.
In a 1972 amendment, Congress outlined how commissioners “shall continue to serve until their successors are appointed and qualified.”
Trump nominated Samuels, a Democrat, to the EEOC in 2020. She was confirmed by the Senate for a term that expired in mid-2021. Then-President Joe Biden nominated her for a second term, and the Senate approved the nomination. That term was slated to expire on July 1, 2026.
White House official Trent Morse said in a Jan. 27 email to Samuels that he was writing on behalf of the president and informed her that she was terminated, the suit said. Morse said Trump was able to remove Samuels because of the powers given to him in the U.S. Constitution, and the lack of language in the law preventing removal, according to the suit.
That’s when Morse accused Samuels of furthering race-based initiatives, imposing a diversity, equity, and inclusivity (DEI) agenda, and being involved with “enacting or enforcing the Biden Administration’s radical Title VII guidance,” the lawsuit said.
Samuels was cut off from EEOC offices, systems, and email on Jan. 29.
Charlotte A. Burrows, another Democrat EEOC commissioner, was fired around the same time.
“This abrupt and unlawful termination before my term’s completion not only violates federal law, but fundamentally eviscerates the EEOC’s independent structure,” Samuels said in a statement.
The terminations left the EEOC without a quorum because there had already been a vacancy.
“Recognizing that Commissioner Samuels is a Commissioner would restore a quorum to the Commission, enabling it to perform the full scope of its authorities as intended by Congress,” the new suit reads.