Chuck Knapp Quoted in the Wall Street Journal About Controversial EEOC Suits

Faegre Baker Daniels partner Chuck Knapp was featured in a Wall Street Journal article focusing on increased court scrutiny facing the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in light of alleged abusive litigation tactics used by the agency to pursue systemic discrimination cases. Knapp explained that while the volume of EEOC cases has pared down, those cases the EEOC is pursuing have become more expensive and disruptive to American businesses.

"It appears that the EEOC may have initiated more complex employment litigation matters than its staff can manage or adequately supervise," Knapp wrote in an article for Law360, which was later referenced in the Wall Street Journal. "It's not about winning or losing. It's about whether they're exceeding their mandate as a federal agency and the methods that they're using," Knapp said in an interview with WSJ reporter Jacob Gershman.

"The EEOC is engaging in overreaching, open-ended investigations that go beyond the individual charge of discrimination or issue they're investigating" Knapp said. He contends that such an approach is "causing employers across the country incredible expense and unnecessary business disruption."

In response to Knapp's Law360 article, P. David Lopez, general counsel for the EEOC said, "When we experience litigation losses, as with our victories, we hold ourselves accountable and seek to glean lessons learned in order to move our mission forward."