On October 7, 2025, the Senate confirmed Brittany Panuccio as the third commissioner of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), restoring the EEOC’s quorum and decision-making authority.
The EEOC can take significant actions only when at least three of its five commissioners are in place, forming a quorum. However, since January, the EEOC has been operating without a quorum because of the termination of two Democratic commissioners, leaving the agency with only two sitting members and no quorum. During this time, the EEOC continued to process charges and issue informal guidance; however, the agency was unable to adopt or revise policies or take any significant action requiring a majority vote. The restoration of the EEOC’s quorum will allow the agency to resume formal rulemaking, amend or rescind existing regulations and guidance, bring more enforcement lawsuits, and clearly signal its enforcement plans.
What This Means for Employers
Andrea Lucas, acting chair of the EEOC, has stated that the agency will focus on restoring “evenhanded enforcement of employment civil rights laws for all Americans.” The agency will likely prioritize revising some of the laws and guidance issued under the Biden administration, particularly those involving pregnancy; religious accommodations; diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs; and harassment.
- Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA): The PWFA requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations for pregnant workers and applicants with known limitations, such as “pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions,” unless they would cause an undue hardship to the employer. The acting chair of the EEOC has expressed that the PWFA improperly expands known limitations to include conditions such as menstruation, infertility, abortion, and menopause. With a quorum, employers may see the EEOC acting to modify the PWFA and rescind some of the previous known limitations that employers were required to accommodate for pregnant workers and applicants.
- Religious Accommodations: The EEOC may expand religious accommodations in light of the recent Supreme Court decision, Groff v. DeJoy, holding that employers must demonstrate that a religious accommodation would impose a substantial cost on the conduct of its business. The EEOC’s restored ability to vote on new guidance means employers should anticipate shifts in how religious claims are handled, including the potential for broader protections or more aggressive investigations of non-compliance.
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI): The EEOC will likely implement heightened scrutiny of DEI initiatives in the coming year. The agency has previously made it clear that Title VII does not permit employers to make employment decisions based on protected characteristics, even when such actions are intended to advance diversity and equity. As a result, the EEOC will likely revisit guidance on how DEI initiatives intersect with anti-discrimination laws.
- Harassment: In 2024, the EEOC updated its guidance on workplace harassment, addressing, among other things, how Title VII prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation. The guidance also includes examples of unlawful discrimination, such as intentional or repeated use of a name or pronoun that does not align with an individual’s gender identity or denying an individual access to a bathroom that aligns with their gender identity. The EEOC previously stated that it would seek to rescind or revisit the 2024 guidance when the agency regained a quorum.
Takeaways
Employers should expect the EEOC to make swift changes that could affect the workplace. Employers should stay attuned to these and other potential changes and should consider revising their policies or training as necessary to remain in compliance with any new guidance that might emerge. Venable will continue to monitor the developments from the agency. Employers with questions regarding the quorum's implications or its effect on the workplace are encouraged to contact the authors of this article or any attorney in Venable's Labor and Employment Group.