Pointing out frivolous and mismanaged lawsuits brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) under P. David Lopez’s watch, U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) voted against the re-nomination of Lopez as general counsel on Wednesday.
Lopez has served as EEOC general counsel since 2010.
“During his time as general counsel, Mr. Lopez has been chiefly responsible for the agency’s pursuit of high-profile lawsuits that have been rebuked by the courts—and taxpayers are paying the cost of these rebukes,” Alexander said.
During an executive session of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Commission – of which Alexander is the ranking member – he expressed two primary concerns with the current state of the EEOC: it places too much emphasis on litigating high-profile cases and it has not been transparent about its activities.
Alexander also claims that Lopez filed most of the EEOC’s lawsuits under his own authority rather than presenting them to the commission for a vote.
Alexander did nominate four other individuals during the hearing: Charlotte Burrows as commissioner of EEOC, Adri Jayaratne as assistant secretary for Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs for the U.S. Department of Labor, and Mary Lucille Jordan and Michael Young as members of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission.