Featuring the current Vice Chair and former Chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), this session offers their perspectives on the latest developments in workplace EEO law and EEOC enforcement trends. With the recent publication by EEOC of an updated, comprehensive harassment guidance, the session will address the obligation to maintain harassment-free workplaces, including a focus on out-of-office behaviors on social media. Additionally, the session will explore other current issues in EEO law, including the different standards for “reasonable accommodations” under Title VII (religious accommodations), the Americans with Disabilities Act (disability accommodations), and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (pregnancy-related accommodations), and lawful ways to use inclusion and diversity (I&D) initiatives in the workplace.
Learning Outcomes:
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Jocelyn Samuels
Vice Chair
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
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Jocelyn Samuels is Vice Chair of the Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), appointed by President Biden in 2021 and confirmed for a second term ending in 2026. Prior to joining the Commission, she served as the Executive Director of the Williams Institute, the leading research center on sexual orientation and gender identity law and public policy. During the Obama administration, she served as the Director of the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services and as the Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Justice where she supervised enforcement of civil rights laws through litigation, rulemaking, policy development, and public education across a range of civil rights issues and was an architect of numerous government policies applying federal law to remedy discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. She previously served as a Vice President of the National Women’s Law Center, Labor Counsel to Senator Edward M. Kennedy, and a senior attorney at the EEOC in the Office of Legal Counsel. She received a J.D. from Columbia Law School and a B.A. from Middlebury College.
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Honorable Janet Dhillon
Former Chair and Commissioner
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
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Janet Dhillon was sworn in as the 16th Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in May 2019. She served as Chair until January 20, 2021, and continued to serve as a Commissioner until November 2022.
Ms. Dhillon has served as General Counsel of several Fortune 500 companies, including Burlington Stores, Inc., JC Penney Company, Inc. and US Airways Group, Inc.
Ms. Dhillon began her legal career at the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. She is a graduate of Occidental College, magna cum laude, and the UCLA School of Law, where she graduated first in her class.
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Mike Aitken
Executive Vice President, HR Professional Solutions at SHRM
SHRM
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Mike Aitken is Executive Vice President, HR Professional Solutions at SHRM, following 15 years of leading SHRM’s successful advocacy programs as Vice President of Government Affairs.
Mike is a leading authority on the issues important to the human resource profession and drives SHRM’s membership vision, ensuring excellent member experiences, and implementing the organization’s newly developed business strategy.
He applies his proven model of engagement to shape the future of work, workers, and workplaces. He is an expert relationship-builder across diverse constituencies and stakeholders, always seeking out the “win-win” in every situation.
As a member of SHRM’s executive team, Mike also plays a key role in setting the strategic direction of the organization, offering important counsel on SHRM’s educational programs and professional development opportunities.
Before joining SHRM in 2003, he spent 14 years with the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR), which represents more than 23,000 HR professionals at over 1,900 higher education institutions.
In 2015 and 2016, Mike served as an employer representative on the U.S. delegation to the International Labour Conference.
Mike holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of San Diego.