EEOC Commissioners and General Counsel Confirmed by the Senate

On December 22, 2010, the Senate confirmed the nominations of EEOC Commissioners Chai Feldblum, Victoria Lipnic and Jacqueline Berrien (Chair). EEOC General Counsel P. David Lopez was also confirmed. Berrien's and Lopez's term expires in 2014; Feldblum's term expires in 2013. Commissioner Victoria Lipnic's term expires in 2015.

http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/legislative/one_item_and_teasers/nom_confc.htm

Civil and Human Rights Coalition Applauds Confirmation of EEOC Commissioners

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
December 22, 2010
Contact: Scott Westbrook Simpson, 202.466.2061, Simpson@civilrights.org
Commissioners Berrien, Feldblum, and Lipnic Earn Bipartisan Support

Wade Henderson and Nancy Zirkin, president and executive vice president for policy of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement regarding the confirmation of the three commissioners to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC):
“The Senate’s bipartisan confirmation of the EEOC’s three commissioners is a welcome development. Since their recess appointment in March, Chair Jacqueline Berrien and Commissioners Chai Feldblum and Victoria Lipnic have worked together successfully and skillfully to lead the EEOC.
Under Chair Berrien’s stewardship, the EEOC has significantly reduced the growth in backlogged cases and conducted the largest sustained training effort within the agency in more than a decade. It’s no wonder that their confirmation earned the support of a diverse range of stakeholders, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Society for Human Resource Management and a broad coalition of civil rights organizations.
We are confident that these nominees will continue to draw on their extensive experience and exercise their authority thoughtfully and effectively to provide the kind of leadership necessary to guide the federal government's enforcement of employment discrimination protections and equal employment opportunity programs.”
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Wade Henderson is the president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and Nancy Zirkin is the organization's executive vice president for policy. The Leadership Conference is charged by its diverse membership of more than 200 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its 200-plus member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org

Victoria A. Lipnic Becomes EEOC Commissioner

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
PRESS RELEASE
4-20-10


WASHINGTON—Victoria A. Lipnic, a former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Labor, was sworn in today as a Commissioner of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). She was nominated on Nov. 3, 2009, and received a recess appointment to the position by President Barack Obama on March 27, 2010.
With her arrival, the EEOC returns to its full complement of five commissioners. Lipnic joins Chair Jacqueline A. Berrien and Commissioner Chai Feldblum, who also received recess appointments on March 27, and were sworn in on April 7, and Commissioners Stuart J. Ishimaru and Constance S. Barker, who were already serving on the Commission.
Lipnic’s government experience includes service as Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment Standards from 2002 to 2009. The Employment Standards Administration oversaw the Wage and Hour Division, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), the Office of Labor Management Standards and the Office of Workers Compensation Programs. During her tenure as Assistant Secretary, these divisions revised regulations on overtime, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and issued the first-ever regulations for OFCCP to evaluate compensation discrimination.
“Victoria Lipnic’s breadth of experience with labor laws gives her unique insights into our work,” said EEOC Chair Jacqueline A. Berrien. “She will be a valued partner as we move forward to eradicate employment discrimination from the nation’s workplaces.”
“I believe equal opportunity in work is critical to all Americans and to how we define ourselves as a nation,” Lipnic said. “I look forward to working with Chair Berrien and my fellow commissioners in this critical task. I hope that I will carry out my responsibilities in a manner that will do honor to all who have advanced the cause of civil rights in our country – with understanding and respect toward all.”
Immediately prior to joining the EEOC, Lipnic was of counsel to the law firm of Seyfarth Shaw LLP in its Washington, DC office. As part of her work for the firm, she counseled clients on compliance with numerous labor and employment laws. She has testified before Congress many times and did so before the U.S. House of Representatives on the subject of paid sick leave on behalf of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce last June.
Before joining the Department of Labor, she was the Workforce Policy Counsel to the then-Majority (Republican) members of the Committee on Education and the Workforce in the U.S. House of Representatives and was an attorney for labor and employment matters for the U.S. Postal Service. Lipnic also worked as special assistant for business liaison to then-Secretary of Commerce, Malcolm Baldrige.
Lipnic received her B.A. degree in Political Science and History from Allegheny College and her J.D. from George Mason University School of Law.
The EEOC enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. Further information about the EEOC is available on its web site at www.eeoc.gov.

Obama to make recess appointments to 15 administration posts

CNN.com
By the CNN Wire Staff
March 27, 2010 6:26 p.m. EDT

Washington (CNN) -- President Obama announced Saturday that he will make recess appointments of 15 nominees to administration posts who are awaiting confirmation by the full Senate.
"The United States Senate has the responsibility to approve or disapprove of my nominees," Obama said in a written statement that also named the 15 individuals. "But if, in the interest of scoring political points, Republicans in the Senate refuse to exercise that responsibility, I must act in the interest of the American people and exercise my authority to fill these positions on an interim basis.
"Most of the men and women whose appointments I am announcing today were approved by Senate committees months ago, yet still await a vote of the Senate. At a time of economic emergency, two top appointees to the Department of Treasury have been held up for nearly six months. I simply cannot allow partisan politics to stand in the way of the basic functioning of government."

...The president has the authority under Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution to make recess appointments.
Besides Becker, the other 14 recess appointees are:
• Jeffrey Goldstein, under secretary for domestic finance, Department of the Treasury
• Michael F. Mundaca, assistant secretary for tax policy, Department of the Treasury
• Eric L. Hirschhorn, under secretary of commerce for export administration and head of the Bureau of Industry and Security, Department of Commerce
• Michael Punke, deputy trade representative - Geneva, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative
• Francisco "Frank" J. Sanchez, under secretary for international trade, Department of Commerce
• Islam A. Siddiqui, chief agricultural negotiator, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative
• Alan D. Bersin, commissioner, U.S. Customs and border Protection, Department of Homeland Security
• Rafael Borras, under secretary for management , Department of Homeland Security
• Jill Long Thompson, Farm Credit Administration Board
• Mark Gaston Pearce, National Labor Relations Board
• Jacqueline A. Berrien, chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
• Chai R. Feldblum, commissioner, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
• Victoria A. Lipnic: commissioner, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
• P. David Lopez: general counsel, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Full Story: http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/03/27/obama.recess.appointments/index.html

Victoria Lipnic Nominated to EEOC

The White House website indicates that on November 3, 2009 the President nominated Victoria Lipnic, former Assistant Secretary for the Employment Standards Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, to serve as a commissioner to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
http://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/nominations-and-appointments

Ms. Lipnic is currently of counsel to the law firm of Seyfarth Shaw. The following is her firm biography:

Victoria A. Lipnic
vlipnic@seyfarth.com

Practice Areas
Labor & Employment; Workplace Counseling & Solutions

The Honorable Victoria A. Lipnic is of counsel in the Washington, D.C. office of Seyfarth Shaw LLP. Ms. Lipnic was the U.S. Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment Standards from 2002 until 2009, where she oversaw the Employment Standards Administration (ESA). ESA is the largest agency in the Department of Labor and enforces some of the most comprehensive labor and employment laws that impact more than 135 million workers in 7.3 million workplaces. The agency includes the Wage and Hour Division, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (affirmative action for federal contractors), the Office of Labor Management Standards (which oversees union financial disclosures and union officer elections), and the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs. Each of these four major program areas has a network of regional, district, and field offices throughout the country. As Assistant Secretary, the senior leadership of each agency reported directly to her.
Ms. Lipnic led the teams who successfully revised the Part 541 overtime regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act regulations, the first-ever compensation guidance and regulations from OFCCP, and the first revisions to the union financial disclosure regulations in 40 years. Also, under her leadership, the Wage and Hour Division made it a priority to systematically respond to wage and hour opinion letter requests, issuing more than 300 opinion letters during her tenure. She worked closely with the Solicitor of Labor’s office on numerous projects including a number of seminal FLSA issues that went before the U.S. Supreme Court and the Wage and Hour Division’s settlement of the largest FLSA case in its history with a private sector employer.
In addition to her work with the Department of Labor, Ms. Lipnic’s experience in Washington, D.C. includes service as Workforce Policy Counsel to the Republican members of the Education and Labor Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives. She has a vast array of contacts in the executive branch and on Capitol Hill and, having led so many high-profile projects, she also has extensive experience with the national media. Ms. Lipnic has testified before Congress many times and is a frequent speaker before trade associations, business groups, and human resource associations. In June 2009, she testified before the U.S. House of Representatives on behalf of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on proposed “paid sick leave” legislation. Before her work for Congress, Ms. Lipnic acted as in-house counsel for labor and employment matters to the U.S. Postal Service for six years. During that time, the Postal Service was the largest employer in the country and she provided counseling and handled litigation on matters involving the organization’s employees at corporate headquarters and plants and facilities around the country. She also served as a special assistant for business liaison to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, the Honorable Malcolm Baldrige.
Education
J.D., George Mason University School of Law (1991)
B.A., Allegheny College (1982)
Admissions
Pennsylvania
Courts
Federal Circuit Court of Appeals
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania

http://www.seyfarth.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/attorney.attorney_detail/object_id/a27b5e9d-27cc-4dff-8723-0911eef4b391/VictoriaLipnic.cfm