Fired EEOC Commissioner Burrows Taps #MeToo Superstar Lawyers

Charlotte Burrows, one of the Democratic members on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission who was fired by President Donald Trump has hired legal representation.

Burrows tapped lawyers Lisa Banks and Debra Katz, founding partners of Washington boutique Katz Banks Kumin, the firm announced Tuesday. Started in 2006, the firm has offices in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and Philadelphia and covers a range of whistleblower, employment, and harassment cases.

“Removing Commissioner Burrows from her position, a full three and half years before the expiration of her team at the EEOC, is just the latest political attack we have seen from President Donald Trump in his coordinated effort to strip-mine the federal government,” Banks said in a statement.

Before launching the boutique, Banks spent three years at the EEOC’s office of general counsel.

Trump fired Burrows and Jocelyn Samuels, another commissioner, Monday. It’s an unprecedented move that leaves the Democratic commissioners’ two seats on the five-member civil rights panel to be filled by nominations from the new administration. A third seat, vacated by a Republican commissioner, is also open.

The EEOC requires three members for a quorum, as written into Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Without it, the commission can’t take any action that requires a vote, meaning the agency is barred from issuing new regulations or guidance, revoking existing ones, and filing certain cases.

Trump also fired the commission’s general counsel, Karla Gilbride.

Burrows has not yet filed a lawsuit.

Katz and Banks represented Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who accused Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault during his confirmation hearings. Katz also represented women who accused celebrity chef Mike Isabella of sexual harassment and movie mogul Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault. She also represented women accusing former N.Y. Attorney General Eric Schneiderman of abuse.