On November 3, 2009, President Obama nominated the Honorable Victoria A. Lipnic as a Commissioner on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Lipnic’s nomination has been sent to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions for confirmation. 

Lipnic, a Republican, served as U.S. Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment Standards from 2002 until 2009. While at the Department of Labor, Lipnic oversaw the Employment Standards Administration, which enforces labor and employment laws affecting 135 million workers in 7.3 million workplaces. Lipnic worked to revise the Family and Medical Leave Act regulations, modify certain overtime regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act, and increase the Department’s responses to wage and hour opinion letter requests. In addition to her work with the Department of Labor, Lipnic also served as Workforce Policy Counsel to the House Republican members of the Education and Labor Committee and was in-house counsel to the U.S. Postal Service.

Lipnic currently resides in Virginia and is engaged in the private practice of law in Washington, DC. She received her Juris Doctor from George Mason University School of Law and her Bachelor’s Degree from Allegheny College in Pennsylvania.

President Obama has previously nominated Jacqueline Berrien and Chai Feldblum as Commissioners. Berrien and Feldblum, both Democrats, currently await Senate confirmation. It is expected that, if confirmed, Berrien and Feldblum would be designated by the President as EEOC Chair and Vice Chair, respectively. Obama’s nomination of a Republican to join the Commission may hasten the confirmation of all three nominees.