[NYAPRS Enews] WP: Cassandra Butts to Head EEOC

[Matt Canuteson]

NYAPRS Note: It appears that Cassandra Butts will be appointed as the
new Obama Administration's choice to head the U.S. Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency charged with ending
employment discrimination. The EEOC investigates discrimination
complaints based on an individual's race, color, national origin,
religion, sex, age, disability and retaliation for reporting and/or
opposing a discriminatory practice. The Commission is also tasked with
filing suits on behalf of alleged victim(s) of discrimination against
employers and as an adjudicatory for claims of discrimination brought
against federal agencies. EEOC has five commissioners and a General
Counsel appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate.
Commissioners are appointed for five-year, staggered terms. The
five-member Commission makes equal employment opportunity policy and
approves most litigation. The General Counsel is responsible for
conducting EEOC enforcement litigation under Title VII of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), the Equal Pay Act (EPA), the Age
Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), and the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA).

 

 

A CHOICE FOR EEOC
by Al Kamen Washington Post  March 2, 2009

....it looks as if Cassandra Q. Butts, deputy White House counsel and
former Harvard Law School classmate and close friend of the president's,
is the pick to be head of the troubled Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission, which has been beset by shrinking staff, plummeting morale
and a growing backlog of job discrimination cases to investigate. 

Butts, a member of Obama's innermost circle, was a longtime aide to
Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.) during Gephardt's days in the House, and
more recently she has been a senior vice president for domestic policy
at the Center for American Progress. 

Should she take the post, Butts would provide a much-needed spark to the
44-year-old commission, which has been seen by civil rights advocates as
something of a castoff in recent years. She also would trade a view of
the well-manicured South Lawn and the cuisine of the White House mess
for a view of stop-and-go New York Avenue and value meals at the nearby
Wendy's. 

 

Cassandra Q. Butts

*	Formerly senior advisor to Rep. Richard A. Gephardt (D-MO) and
served as the policy director on his 2004 presidential campaign. 

	*	principal advisor to Gephart on matters involving the
judiciary, financial services, and information technology 

*	Assistant Counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund


	*	civil rights policy and litigated voting rights and
school desegregation cases 

*	Legislative Counsel to Sen. Harris L. Wofford (D-PA). 
*	Education: Harvard Law School and the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill 

Cassandra Butts

Cassandra Q. Butts has been an advisor to the Obama campaign on domestic
policy and a long-time friend of and advisor to Senator Obama since they
were classmates at Harvard Law School. 

Most recently, she served as the Senior Vice President for Domestic
Policy at the Center for American Progress (CAP). Prior to joining CAP,
she was a senior advisor to Rep. Richard A. Gephardt (D-MO) and served
as the policy director on his 2004 presidential campaign, which included
formulating a universal health care plan. 

In her seven years of work for Rep. Gephardt during his tenure as the
House Democratic Leader, Butts was a principal advisor on matters
involving the judiciary, financial services, and information technology.


Butts most recently served as a senior advisor to Sen. Barack Obama
(D-IL) in 2004-2005. 

Previously, Butts was an Assistant Counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense &
Educational Fund, where she worked on civil rights policy and litigated
voting rights and school desegregation cases. 

She also served as Legislative Counsel to Sen. Harris L. Wofford (D-PA).
Butts also served as an international election observer to the Zimbabwe
parliamentary elections in 2000. She is a graduate of Harvard Law School
and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

 

 

 

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