Robert A. Canino

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Meeting of February 28, 2007, Washington D.C. on Federal Sector EEO Investigations

Robert Canino is the Regional Attorney for the Dallas District Office with responsibility for the EEOC's litigation program in most of the State of Texas and the southern portion of New Mexico. He is also currently certified for the Senior Executive Service for federal government, and in August 2006, Mr. Canino was honored as a first recipient of the ABA's Federal Labor and Employment Attorney of the Year award. He received his Bachelor's Degree in Speech/Communications from Southern Nazarene University in Oklahoma City and his Juris Doctor in 1986 from the University of Oklahoma School of Law. After completing his undergraduate education, Mr. Canino served as a Courtroom Clerk for District Judge William R. Saied in Oklahoma City. While at OU's law school, Mr. Canino was named to the Order of the Barristers and was awarded a scholarship by the American College of Trial Lawyers for excellence in trial advocacy.

Mr. Canino started his legal career in 1986, with the insurance defense and medical malpractice firm of Best, Sharp, Thomas, Glass & Atkinson in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he handled cases for both plaintiffs and defendants. Thereafter, he joined the EEOC's Miami, Florida District Office as a Trial Attorney in 1987. While in Miami, Mr. Canino was honored as a Federal Employee of the Year for Community Service. In 1991, he moved back to Texas where he began working as the Supervisory Trial Attorney for the Legal Unit of the EEOC 's Dallas District Office. In 1995 Mr. Canino served on the Joint Priority Charge Handling and Litigation Task Forces in which the agency engaged in an aggressive self-assessment and successful improvement initiative.

Mr. Canino's appointment to the position of Regional Attorney in 1999, came after he completed an 8-month detail to EEOC headquarters as Special Assistant - Attorney Advisor to Chairwoman Ida L. Castro. In that capacity, Mr. Canino served the Commission in transition under its new leadership and was involved in the development and implementation of both policy and operational initiatives through interaction with civil rights advocacy groups, employer organizations, federal agencies and the bar. These initiatives have included further development of effective charge prioritization and handling procedures, the launching of the expanded mediation program, small business initiatives, issuance of EEOC interpretive guidance and focusing on outreach and education to all stakeholders.

Mr. Canino has actively litigated cases under each of the laws enforced by the EEOC, which has responsibilities for the enforcement of employment discrimination statutes: Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended; the Civil Rights Act of 1991; the Age Discrimination in Employment Act; the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Equal Pay Act.

Mr. Canino currently serves on the Council for the Labor and Employment Law Section of the Dallas Bar Association. He also frequently participates as a public speaker in EEOC outreach and education presentations to employers and employees.

This page was last modified on April 11, 2007.