A Message from EEOC Chair Charlotte A. Burrows on Veterans Day 2024
On November 11, 2024, the nation will pause to observe Veterans Day and celebrate the generations of courageous people who have served and sacrificed to protect the rights and freedoms of their fellow Americans at home and abroad. Here at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), we also acknowledge the nearly 600 EEOC employees—28% of our workforce—who are veterans. Their dedication to the EEOC’s mission is crucial to our success in preventing and remedying unlawful employment discrimination, advancing equal opportunity in American workplaces, and supporting the workplace rights of their fellow veterans throughout the nation.
As part of our ongoing efforts to recognize and support our agency’s veterans, the EEOC’s newly formed Veteran Employees Together Serving (VETS) organization will partner with the EEOC’s Office for Civil Rights, Diversity and Inclusion (OCRDI) to host a panel for EEOC staff titled “Hiring Veterans: How to Champion Veterans in a Federal Agency.” VETS is a community within the EEOC that embraces employees who are presently serving, veterans, and those interested in U.S. Armed Forces service. VETS seeks to advocate for veterans' wellbeing, foster a sense of belonging, and ensure veterans are recognized in the workplace.
In addition, the EEOC is proud to explore opportunities to partner with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), especially in the area of veterans’ mental health. As part of last month’s National Disability Employment Awareness Month, the agency highlighted our collaboration with the VA and the Social Security Administration to provide training on Long COVID and disability issues to over 200 VA clinicians through the Veterans Health Administration’s national education platform. The EEOC participated in other trainings with the VA, supported programs that highlight practices for VA mental health providers to assist clients who seek entry into the workforce or to retain an existing job, and provided information and resources to VA mental health providers on how they can support their clients’ requests for reasonable accommodation in the workplace.
The EEOC will continue its work to ensure that veterans with mental or physical disabilities understand their workplace rights and that their employers understand their responsibilities under federal antidiscrimination laws. We also provide guidance for federal and state employers on how to use veterans’ hiring preference. And, where necessary, we will file suit to enforce the law such as the EEOC’s recently-filed lawsuit alleging that a retirement facility discriminated against a disabled veteran in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
As President Biden conveyed in the 2024 Proclamation on National Veterans and Military Families Month, “[e]ach veteran and military family represents a link in a chain of honor that stretches back to our founding days, unwavering in their devotion to their loved ones who served in uniform. This month, we honor all of our military and veteran families. They too serve and sacrifice to answer our Nation’s call to duty. We owe them a debt of gratitude we can never fully repay.”
Thank you to our veterans who answered the call to serve. We at EEOC will continue working to repay this debt by enforcing our nation’s civil rights laws and promoting equal opportunity for veterans and all workers.
Charlotte A. Burrows (she/her/hers)
Chair
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
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