Majority Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On The Vote To Repeal The Trump Administration’s EEOC Rule That Made It Harder For Working Americans To Secure Justice In Workplace Discrimination Claims

Washington, D.C. –  Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor regarding today’s vote to overturn the Trump Administration’s EEOC rule that sided in favor of corporations and made it harder for working Americans to secure justice in workplace discrimination claims. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:

Today, the Senate will vote to overturn yet another terrible regulation approved during the final days of the Trump Administration, a rule that actually makes it harder for victims of employment discrimination to get justice.

For decades, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (the EEOC) has protected employees against workplace discrimination. If a worker believes they were targeted by their employer because of their race, their age, their sex, their religion, their disability—or any other unlawful basis—the EEOC can conduct an investigation and begin a conciliation process.

Rather than force employees to sue in court—where well-heeled corporations can afford high-priced lawyers and the plaintiff almost has no chance of winning—conciliation gives the EEOC the power to fight on workers’ behalf against discriminatory behavior and win speedy and effective results.

So the Trump Administration, in another example of its callousness— in another example where they talk about working people but don’t care about them and don’t do things to help them—sort of nastily, almost viciously changed the rules on conciliation at the EEOC to put a large thumb down on the scale in favor of corporations and against individuals who were discriminated against, or at least alleged discrimination, making it easier for corporations to slow down investigations and even retaliate against workers.

Today’s vote would use the Congressional Review Act process to immediately repeal this rule change.

At every opportunity, the Trump Administration seemingly relished in making life harder for working Americans while stacking the deck in favor of unscrupulous corporations. Now that Donald Trump is President no more—thank God, I say—we have a chance to undo this terrible rule and give workers the confidence that the federal government is in their corner. 

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