Peggy Young, left, who sued UPS for alleged pregnancy discrimination, was accompanied by her attorney Sharon Fast Gustafson, outside the U.S. Supreme Court in December 2014. Credit: AP

Sharon Fast Gustafson, a solo practitioner in Virginia who's long represented employees and companies in labor and management fights, was picked Monday as general counsel to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Gustafson is a former Jones Day lawyer who, since 1996, has run her own practice from Arlington, Virginia, where she specialized in discrimination, whistleblower cases and adoption, among other employer-related cases. She has appeared in administrative and federal court actions on behalf of workers and businesses. In 2014, she advocated for a pregnant worker in a U.S. Supreme Court case that created a new test for discrimination law.

The U.S. Justice Department filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of claims brought by Gustafson's client, Peggy Young, who sued United Parcel Service Inc.

“The EEOC has consistently explained that employers are required to offer employment benefits on the same terms to pregnant employees and to nonpregnant employees with similar limitations,” DOJ lawyers, led by then-U.S. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli, wrote in the amicus brief.

The justices created a new balancing test to bring pregnancy discrimination cases: A pregnant employee must show her employer refused to provide accommodations and that the employer later provided accommodations to other employees with similar restrictions. The court sent the case back to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to determine whether UPS discriminated against Young when the company allegedly required her to lift 70 pounds in her role, even though she was pregnant.

The Metropolitan Washington Employment Lawyers Association in 2016 awarded Gustafson “lawyer of the year” for her civil rights work, including her advocacy in Young's case, according to the White House's nomination announcement.

Sam Bagenstos, a University of Michigan law professor, argued Young's case in December 2014 at the Supreme Court.

“Sharon fought for Peggy Young for years, facing obstacle after obstacle, when there seemed like little hope,” Bagenstos said Tuesday. “Without her efforts, we would not have won the victory for pregnant workers that we won in that case.”

Bagenstos said while she has fought for workers, as well as employers, her nomination was not surprising given her conservative leanings. Gustafson was not immediately reached for comment Tuesday.

Gustafson received her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1991. After law school she worked for four years in the labor and employment law group at Jones Day in Washington.

Gustafson is married to David Gustafson, a U.S. Tax Court judge. Her son Adam is a partner at Washington's Boyden Gray & Associates. President Donald Trump recently dined at the Georgetown home of name partner C. Boyden Gray.

EEOC nominees Janet Dhillon and Daniel Gade at their confirmation hearing in September in Washington. EEOC nominees Janet Dhillon and Daniel Gade at their confirmation hearing in September in Washington. Credit: Diego M. Radzinschi/ ALM

Trump's nominees to the EEOC, Janet Dhillon, a former Burlington Stores Inc. general counsel, and West Point professor Daniel Gade, have not yet been confirmed. It's unclear what direction the commission will take under a new Republican majority and general counsel.

Former EEOC general counsel P. David Lopez at Outten & Golden said Gustafson would have the benefit of a “talented and committed career staff.” He added: “That will definitely bolster her opportunities to successfully enforce civil rights laws.”

Under Lopez, the EEOC championed several causes, including an interpretation of civil rights law that extends to LGBT workers, and expanded systemic investigations. The EEOC also planned to collect pay data from companies with more than 100 employees to address the pay gap, an effort that was scuttled under the Trump administration.

 

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