Eric Stefan Dreiband (born September 23, 1963) is an American lawyer. While a partner at

Jones Day Jones Day is an American multinational law firm. As of 2021, it was the eighth largest law firm in the U.S. and the 13th highest grossing law firm in the world. Originally headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Jones Day ranks first in both M&A le ...

, he was nominated by President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

to serve as the

United States Assistant Attorney General Many of the divisions and offices of the United States Department of Justice are headed by an assistant attorney general. The president of the United States appoints individuals to the position of assistant attorney general with the advice and ...

for the

Civil Rights Division The U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division is the institution within the federal government responsible for enforcing federal statutes prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, sex, disability, religion, and national origin. The ...

. The Senate confirmed his appointment on October 11, 2018. He resigned on January 8, 2021, without providing a specific reason for the departure.

Early life and education

Dreiband graduated from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

with a B.A. in history in 1986. He has a

Master of Theological Studies A Master of Theological Studies (MTS) is a graduate degree, offered in theological seminary or graduate faculty of theology, which gives students lay training in theological studies. Under Association of Theological Schools in the United States a ...

from the

Harvard Divinity School Harvard Divinity School (HDS) is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school's mission is to educate its students either in the academic study of religion or for leadership roles in religion, gov ...

, and a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from the

Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law is the law school of Northwestern University, a Private university, private research university. It is located on the university's Chicago campus. Northwestern Law has been ranked among the top 14, ...

Career

Upon graduating from law school, Dreiband served as a law clerk to Judge

William J. Bauer William Joseph Bauer (born September 15, 1926) is an inactive senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago and previously a United States district judge of the United States District ...

of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (in case citations, 7th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the courts in the following districts: * Central District of Illinois * Northern District of Il ...

. Following his clerkship, Dreiband served in the

Independent Counsel The Office of Special Counsel was an office of the United States Department of Justice established by provisions in the Ethics in Government Act that expired in 1999. The provisions were replaced by Department of Justice regulation 28 CFR Part ...

's office for the

Whitewater controversy The Whitewater controversy, Whitewater scandal, Whitewatergate, or simply Whitewater, was an American political controversy during the 1990s. It began with an investigation into the real estate investments of Bill and Hillary Clinton and their ass ...

. After a stint in private practice, Dreiband served in the administration of

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

as deputy administrator of the

United States Department of Labor The United States Department of Labor (DOL) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is responsible for the administration of federal laws governing occupational safety and health, wage and hour standards, unemploym ...

Wage and Hour Division The Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the United States Department of Labor is the federal office responsible for enforcing federal labor laws. The Division was formed with the enactment of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. The Wage and Hour mi ...

(WHD) from 2002 to 2003 and as general counsel of the

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is a federal agency that was established via the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to administer and enforce civil rights laws against workplace discrimination. The EEOC investigates discrimination ...

from 2003 to 2005. He again returned to private practice in 2005 and joined

in 2008.

Notable cases

Eric Dreiband Takes Oath As EEOC General Counsel

* In 2002, Dreiband was part of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) team that sued Chicago meat processing company Carl Buddig & Co. for not hiring black people at its Chicago and South Holland meat processing plants and for limiting higher pay opportunities for women. The company settled and agreed to pay US$2.5 million and reform its hiring practices. *'' González v. Abercrombie & Fitch'' – in 2004, he represented the EEOC in a lawsuit against retailer

Abercrombie & Fitch Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) is an American lifestyle retailer that focuses on casual wear. Its headquarters are in New Albany, Ohio. The company operates three other offshoot brands: Abercrombie Kids, Hollister Co., and Gilly Hicks. As of Februar ...

. The company was accused of discriminating against African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, and women by preferentially offering floor sales positions and store management positions to white males. The company agreed to a settlement of the

class-action A class action, also known as a class-action lawsuit, class suit, or representative action, is a type of lawsuit where one of the parties is a group of people who are represented collectively by a member or members of that group. The class action ...

suit."National Clothing Retailer Must Pay For Discrimination" ''The Defender''. Winter 2005, 1. A publication of the NAACP LDF. Description of the settlement of ''Gonzalez''. *'' Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores'' – he represented Abercrombie & Fitch in a lawsuit filed in 2009 in U.S. District Court by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. In June 2008, 17-year-old Samantha Elauf, who wears a hijab due to her religious beliefs, applied for a sales position at an Abercrombie Kids store in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

. She claimed the manager told her the headscarf violates the store's "Look Policy". The

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

ruled 8–1 against the company in 2015. *In 2016, Dreiband defended the University of North Carolina in its choice to abide by the

Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act The Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act, commonly known as House Bill 2 or HB2, was a North Carolina statute passed in March 2016 and signed into law by Governor Pat McCrory. The bill amended state law to preempt any anti-discrimination o ...

that had been passed earlier that year. The statewide law disallowed people from using public bathrooms corresponding to the gender with which they identify; it was repealed in March 2017.

Controversies

On June 10, 2020, Dreiband sent a letter to Montgomery County Maryland executives expressing First Amendment concerns regarding county orders. The letter urges County Executive Elrich and the County Council to ensure that the county's executive orders and enforcement of them respect both the right of residents to assemble and practice their faith. But the letter was based on flawed reporting, which the Justice Department has failed to publicly correct. The DOJ was trying to make a point about a Black Lives Matter protest organized by high school students on the grounds of the Connie Morella Library in Bethesda on June 2. Dreiband's letter informed County officials that if they were going to support “hundreds of people packed into a library” for a protest, they should be equally supportive of people gathering to worship during the pandemic. But the Connie Morella Library was closed. Photos captured by local ABC-affiliate WJLA show that the protest was in the library's parking lot. A makeshift lectern for the rally was set up in front of the library's doors, and hundreds of attendees can be seen in photos seated on the ground outside the library. Asked about the discrepancy, a Justice Department spokesperson acknowledged to HuffPost that local Fox News affiliate WTTG had gotten the facts wrong in its story about the protest, though the station has since corrected its report. The DOJ's original letter containing the claim that hundreds of people packed into the library could still be found on the department's website.

References

External links

Biography at Jones Day
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Dreiband, Eric Stefan 1963 births Living people 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American lawyers Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Federalist Society members George W. Bush administration personnel Harvard Divinity School alumni Illinois lawyers Illinois Republicans Jones Day people Lawyers from Washington, D.C. Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law alumni People from Indianapolis Princeton University alumni Trump administration personnel United States Assistant Attorneys General for the Civil Rights Division United States Department of Justice lawyers United States Department of Labor officials Washington, D.C., Republicans