Readout of White House Convening on the 60th Anniversary of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
Today, to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, Director of the Gender Policy Council Jennifer Klein, Domestic Policy Advisor Neera Tanden, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Chair Charlotte A. Burrows, and U.S. EEOC Vice Chair Jocelyn Samuels convened civil rights leaders and stakeholders to discuss the importance of this landmark law in ensuring equal opportunity and combatting employment discrimination in the workplace. The convening took place as the President traveled to the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library to underscore the Administration’s strong record on—and deep commitment to—protecting the civil rights of all Americans.
Senior Biden-Harris Administration officials discussed the progress that has been made thanks to the protections put in place by Title VII—which prohibits workplace discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin and has served as a model for other bedrock civil rights laws—as well as the law’s creation of the EEOC. Since the EEOC opened its doors in 1965, the agency has brought more than 10,000 Title VII lawsuits on behalf of American workers and recovered more than $11 billion for victims of discrimination. Senior officials also highlighted broader Biden-Harris Administration actions to support workers and champion workplace equality—including the President’s signing of new bipartisan laws to protect pregnant and postpartum workers and strengthen protections against sexual assault and harassment in the workplace, and new rules to help close gender and racial wage gaps for federal workers.
During the convening, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes-Norton, the first woman appointed to chair the EEOC, discussed the history and legacy of Title VII and the law’s importance in leveling the playing field to make workplaces more equitable. Participants also heard from Celeste Lansdale Brodigan and Imani Stewart —two courageous women whose Title VII complaints, though filed decades apart, helped shed light on sex and race discrimination in the workplace and continue to pave the way for future litigants.
Participants discussed the importance of Title VII in opening doors for women, people of color, and other underrepresented groups and the need to continue building on Title VII’s protections as Congress has over time through the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and, most recently, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. Participants also highlighted opportunities for continued progress in creating pathways to good jobs and ensuring workplaces free from discrimination.
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