They’ve Got Next: Labor & Employment Law Fresh Face Andrea Lucas

Andrea Lucas was tapped by the Trump administration for a spot on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, less than a decade after earning her law degree. With the Senate’s approval secured, the Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher senior associate will be among the youngest members to serve on the agency’s leadership panel.

Her nomination in March to the five-member commission that enforces federal civil rights laws came as a surprise to some legal observers, with at least one workers’ rights group, the National Women’s Law Center, raising concerns about her tenure dedicated to representing corporations. Others say her experience in working on—and winning—complex litigation early in her career would be a major benefit to her in the role.

Regardless, Lucas’ nomination, which was approved on Sept. 22, gives her a platform to use her experience to guide civil rights policy and influence workplace discrimination issues. It also gives a potential boost to her career if she returns to the private sector after serving her term that would end in July 2025. This could all occur before she turns 40.

Lucas has worked at Gibson Dunn in Washington, D.C., since 2011 after receiving her law degree at the University of Virginia. She then served as a law clerk from 2012 to 2013 for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, before rejoining the firm in 2013.

Her confirmation to the EEOC follows the appointment of one of her closest mentors, Eugene Scalia, as head of the Labor Department. Lucas worked with Scalia, who left the firm in 2019, on a number of high-profile cases brought against Ford Motor Co., including two class action lawsuits alleging sex harassment, race discrimination, retaliation, and other workplace claims, according to a Bloomberg Law analysis.

In August 2019, she and the Gibson Dunn team defeated two attempts at class certification claims in a sexual harassment suit that was brought by more than 30 named workers at Chicago-area Ford facilities who accused the company of systemic discrimination. This year, she also won dismissal of Ford workers’ claims that they were denied benefits.

Much of her work, however, is far less public, she said in an interview. A substantial portion of her practice is pre-dispute and compliance counseling work aimed at preventing litigation rather than winning in court.

Recently, Lucas has helped her clients wade through Covid-19 compliance, including how to navigate employee safety and accommodations required under the law, she said. And as the #MeToo movement gave rise to corporations seeking guidance on the best ways to avoid harassment in the workplace, she handled investigations surrounding Fortune 500 companies and advised on how best to keep employees safe and increase workplace diversity.

A Strongsville, Ohio, native, Lucas says she’s one of the few professionals in her extended family, and said law wasn’t always on her radar. Instead, she considered being a writer or a detective (inspired by her affinity for Nancy Drew books.) She said being a lawyer fused her early dreams, allowing her to write, piece together records, and investigate what happened.

Prior to being confirmed, Lucas said being an EEOC commissioner would be an honor.

“I’ve dedicated my entire practice to employment law, and I’ve seen and experienced the value of our nation’s civil-rights laws and diversity in the legal industry, including personally as a female attorney and mother,” she said. “I believe that my extensive experience with pre-dispute and compliance counseling work will give me valuable perspective into both employees’ and employers’ interests in workplace disputes and ensuing litigation.”