The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 or ADA is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. It affords similar protections against discrimination to Americans with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act of 1964,which made discrimination based on race,religion,sex,national origin,and other characteristics illegal,and later sexual orientation and gender identity. In addition,unlike the Civil Rights Act,the ADA also requires covered employers to provide reasonable accommodations to employees with disabilities,and imposes accessibility requirements on public accommodations.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a landmark civil rights and labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on race,color,religion,sex,and national origin. It prohibits unequal application of voter registration requirements,racial segregation in schools and public accommodations,and employment discrimination. The act "remains one of the most significant legislative achievements in American history".
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is a federal agency that was established via the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to administer and enforce civil rights laws against workplace discrimination. The EEOC investigates discrimination complaints based on an individual's race,color,national origin,religion,sex,age,disability,genetic information,and retaliation for participating in a discrimination complaint proceeding and/or opposing a discriminatory practice.
Equal employment opportunity is equal opportunity to attain or maintain employment in a company,organization,or other institution. Examples of legislation to foster it or to protect it from eroding include the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission,which was established by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to assist in the protection of United States employees from discrimination. The law was the first federal law designed to protect most US employees from employment discrimination based on that employee's race,color,religion,sex,or national origin.
Naomi Churchill Earp is an American lawyer and government official from Maryland and Virginia. From 2007 to 2009 she served as chair of the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission,where she established the Youth At Work Program. She was designated by President George W. Bush in 2006,succeeding Cari M. Dominguez. Prior to her appointment as Chair,she had served as vice chair of the commission since 2003.
Employment discrimination law in the United States derives from the common law,and is codified in numerous state,federal,and local laws. These laws prohibit discrimination based on certain characteristics or "protected categories". The United States Constitution also prohibits discrimination by federal and state governments against their public employees. Discrimination in the private sector is not directly constrained by the Constitution,but has become subject to a growing body of federal and state law,including the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Federal law prohibits discrimination in a number of areas,including recruiting,hiring,job evaluations,promotion policies,training,compensation and disciplinary action. State laws often extend protection to additional categories or employers.
William H. Brown III is an American attorney. In 1963,he became a partner at the law firm of Norris Schmidt Green Harris Higginbotham &Brown,Philadelphia's first black-owned law firm. Brown was appointed to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) by President Lyndon Johnson in 1968 and named its Chairman by President Richard Nixon in 1969. He was the fourth Chairman of the EEOC,serving from May 5,1969,to December 23,1973.
Christine M. Griffin is an American lawyer. From 2011 to 2013 she served as Assistant Secretary for Disability Policies and Programs for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services.
Chai Rachel Feldblum is an American legal scholar and activist for disability and LGBT rights. A former law professor at Georgetown University Law Center,she served as Commissioner at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). She was nominated to the position by president Barack Obama in 2009. In April 2010,she received a recess appointment to the EEOC,and in December 2010 she was confirmed by the United States Senate. The Senate confirmed her in December 2013 for a second term on the Commission which expired in July 2018.
Gilbert F. Casellas is an American lawyer and businessman. He is a private investor and business consultant in the Washington,D.C. area,a director of Prudential Financial,trustee of the University of Pennsylvania,and advisor to Toyota Motor North America,T-Mobile US,and Comcast Corporation. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations,the American Law Institute,trustee of the Pan American Development Foundation and Co-Editor-in-Chief of Workplace Harassment Second Edition 2018 published by Bloomberg Law.
LGBT employment discrimination in the United States is illegal under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964;employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity is encompassed by the law's prohibition of employment discrimination on the basis of sex. Prior to the landmark cases Bostock v. Clayton County and R.G. &G.R. Harris Funeral Homes Inc. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (2020),employment protections for LGBT people were patchwork;several states and localities explicitly prohibit harassment and bias in employment decisions on the basis of sexual orientation and/or gender identity,although some only cover public employees. Prior to the Bostock decision,the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) interpreted Title VII to cover LGBT employees;the EEOC determined that transgender employees were protected under Title VII in 2012,and extended the protection to encompass sexual orientation in 2015.
Ida L. Castro is an American attorney and government official who served as Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) from October 23,1998,to August 13,2001.
Jacqueline Ann Berrien,often known as Jackie Berrien,was an American civil rights attorney and government official. From 2009 to 2014,Berrien served as chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) under President Barack Obama. Prior to this,Berrien had served as Associate Director Counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
Victoria Ann Lipnic is an American lawyer and public figure. She served in multiple senior United States government positions. She was Commissioner of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC),nominated to two terms by President Barack Obama,2010 –2020.) She served as Chair (Acting) of the EEOC under President Donald J. Trump from 2017 –2019. Prior to her appointments to the EEOC,she was Assistant Secretary of Labor under President George W. Bush. The United States Senate confirmed her unanimously to each of these positions.
Eric Stefan Dreiband is an American lawyer. While a partner at Jones Day,he was nominated by President Donald Trump to serve as the United States Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. The Senate confirmed his appointment on October 11,2018.
Janet Dhillon is an American lawyer. She is a former chair and commissioner of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission,serving as chair from May 2019 to January 2021,and as commissioner from May 2019 to November 2022. Prior to that,Dhillon was the executive vice president,general counsel,and corporate secretary of Burlington Stores.
Keith E. Sonderling is an American lawyer and former government official. From 2020-2024,he served as Commissioner of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Prior to the EEOC,he served as the Acting and Deputy Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division of the United States Department of Labor. Before joining the government in 2017,he practiced Labor and Employment Law at the Florida-based Gunster Law Firm in West Palm Beach,Florida.
Jenny Rae Yang is an American attorney and public official. In 2021,Yang was appointed by President Joe Biden to serve as the Director of Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs,an agency within the Department of Labor.
Karla Gilbride is an American attorney and civil rights litigator currently serving as the General Counsel of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Gilbride is the first individual with a known disability to serve as the General Counsel of the EEOC,and holds the distinction of being the first blind lawyer to argue before the Supreme Court.
Sharon Fast Gustafson is an American attorney who served as General Counsel of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) from 2019 to 2021.
