The Senate confirmed by Jacqueline A. Berrien, the former Associate Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF), as Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commision (EEOC) by unanimous consent on December 22, 2010. Berrien was nominated for the position by President Obama on July 16, 2009. Due to the Senate inaction on her appointment, the President had signed a recess appointment for her on March 27, 2010. The Senate confirmed her fellow commissioners, Chai Feldblum and Victoria Lipnik as well.
During her more than twenty years of law practice, Berrien has been devoted to public service and addressed a wide variety of civil and constitutional rights issues. Throughout her career, she represented clients in cases concerning subjects as varied as pregnancy discrimination, employment discrimination on the basis of immigration status, voting rights, and access to affordable housing. She went to the EEOC after five and a half years as a leader of LDF’s national legal advocacy and scholarship programs. She also taught in trial advocacy programs at Fordham and Harvard law schools and served on the adjunct faculty of New York Law School.
