Victoria Lipnic


Victoria Ann Lipnic is an American lawyer. She has been a Commissioner of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission since 2010.

Early life

Lipnic was born in Carrolltown, Pennsylvania, where her late father Ed Lipnic was a teacher and long-serving mayor.
Lipnic has a bachelor's degree in Political Science and History from Allegheny College and a JD degree from George Mason University School of Law.

Career

Before joining the EEOC in 2010, Lipnic was a counsel at the law firm of Seyfarth Shaw LLP in Washington, DC. She served as Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment Standards from March 22, 2002 – January 20, 2009.
In November 2016, it was speculated that Lipnic might become United States Secretary of Labor in the Trump Administration.

Case Dumping while at the EEOC

Lipnic's time at the EEOC was marred by allegations of case dumping. According to the AFGE, the labor union representing agency investigators, under Lipnic's tenure, the EEOC closed over 12,000+ cases summarily, violating the due process rights of aggrieved parties.
Figures from FEDweek, reported that as many as 70,000+ cases were closed in this manner. On June 14,2019, Vox in partnership with the Center for Public Integrity, reported on on-going practices at the EEOC, in which cases were being closed prior to investigations. The period in which this took place coincided with the Me Too Movement.

Opposition to LGBTQ Protections

Under Lipnic, the EEOC reversed course in its legal interpretation that Title VII protections included LGBTQ workers. On June 15, 2020, the Supreme Court delivered its landmark ruling in Altitude Express, Inc. v. Zarda that the term 'sex' as described in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, encompassed workers who identified as members of the LGBTQ community.