No major company is immune from labor and employment matters, both internal and those that reach administrative agencies and the courts. As general counsel at Burlington, Dhillon would have been positioned to oversee litigation and have a voice in any resolution that affected the company’s bottom line.
Federal lawsuits against Burlington, during Dhillon’s tenure there, presented a range of issues for outside counsel, including workers accusing managers of racism and retaliation, claims of inflammatory racist comments in Texas to a case in Indiana where a woman claims she complained after being called a “stupid Russian.”
In a recent U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Burlington Stores acknowledged—as it routinely has done before—the company has been named in class or collective actions alleging violations of federal and state wage-and-hour and other statues. At least three cases filed in federal court remain open against Burlington. Several matters settled in recent years.
Dhillon and her fellow EEOC nominee Gade, an Iraq war veteran who long has criticized disability pay for wounded veterans, will appear together Tuesday in the Senate.
A spokeswoman for Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee, chairman of the labor committee, said in an email statement: “Sen. Alexander expects a fair nomination process for Ms. Dhillon and, if confirmed, is hopeful she will help restore the EEOC to its core mission of protecting American workers from discrimination.”
Update: This story was updated to show that Janet Dhillon, in her roles at the Retail Litigation Center, did not author amicus briefs for the advocacy group. Those were filed through outside counsel.
