EEOC CHAIR TO VISIT LANGSTON UNIVERSITY MAY 2 FOR EVENT MARKING COMMISSION'S 40TH ANNIVERSARY

                 

First in a Series of Events Nationwide to Observe Work, History of Agency Since 1965

                                 

OKLAHOMA CITY -  Cari M. Dominguez, Chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), will visit the Oklahoma City area on May 2 to participate in a special event at Langston University commemorating the landmark 40th anniversary of the nation's chief civil rights enforcement agency.

   

The program will kick off a series of events nationwide over the next several months looking at the history, work and mission of the EEOC since opening its doors for business on July 2, 1965.  The events are designed to educate the public about the rich heritage of civil rights and to highlight the Commission's role in ensuring equal employment opportunity and the freedom to compete in America's workplaces.

   

Langston University, one of the nation's premier Historically Black Colleges and Universities, is sponsoring the event on Monday, May 2nd, 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., at the Langston University I. W. Young Auditorium. The program, entitled A Look Back, A Look Ahead - 40 Years of Advancement, will feature remarks by the following participants in addition to Chair Dominguez: University President Ernest Holloway, Oklahoma Legislator Opio Toure, Former Langston Mayor Viola Jones, and CEO Charlene Meeks of the Langston Chamber of Commerce. The program, which is free and open to the public, will be followed by a reception at the Langston University White House.

   

On July 2, 1964, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which created the EEOC, was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson.  On this same date one year later, the EEOC became operational and began carrying out the Congressional mandate to eliminate employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

    Since the EEOC opened its doors 40 years ago, the agency's enforcement jurisdiction was expanded by the Congress and the White House to encompass other civil rights laws.  In addition to Title VII, the EEOC enforces the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, which protects individuals 40 years of age or older; the Equal Pay Act of 1963, which protects men and women who perform substantially equal work in the same establishment from sex-based wage discrimination; Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, which prohibits employment discrimination against people with disabilities in the private sector and state and local governments; prohibitions against discrimination affecting individuals with disabilities in the federal government; and sections of the Civil Rights Act of 1991, which, among other provisions, stipulates the payment of monetary damages in cases on intentional employment discrimination.  Further information about the Commission is available on its web site at www.eeoc.gov.