Janet Dhillon (née Wilcox) is an American lawyer. She is a former chair and commissioner 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 ...

, serving as chair from May 2019 to January 2021, and as commissioner from May 2019 to November 2022. Prior to that, Dhillon was the executive vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary of Burlington Stores.

Early life and education

Dhillon was born in New York and raised in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in History from

Occidental College Occidental College (informally Oxy) is a private liberal arts college in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1887 as a coeducational college by clergy and members of the Presbyterian Church, it became non-sectarian in 1910. It is one of the oldes ...

. Dhillon attended Occidental College at the same time that future President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

was on campus, before he would transfer to

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. She then earned 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

UCLA School of Law The UCLA School of Law is one of 12 professional schools at the University of California, Los Angeles. UCLA Law has been consistently ranked by '' U.S. News & World Report'' as one of the top 20 law schools in the United States since the inception ...

Career

Dhillon began her legal career at the law firm of

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates is an American multinational law firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1948, the firm consistently ranks among the top U.S. law firms by revenue. The company is known for its wor ...

LLP, where she was employed from 1991 to 2004. From 2004 to 2009, she held a variety of roles at

US Airways US Airways (formerly USAir) was a major United States airline that operated from 1937 until its merger with American Airlines in 2015. It was originally founded in History of aviation in Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh as a mail delivery airline called ...

. In 2009, Dhillon became executive vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary of

J. C. Penney Penney OpCo LLC, doing business as JCPenney and often abbreviated JCP, is a midscale American department store chain operating 667 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. Departments inside JCPenney stores include Mens, Womens, Boys, Girl ...

. She joined Burlington Stores in 2015. Donald Trump nominated Dhillon to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on June 29, 2017. She was confirmed on May 8, 2019, and became the agency's chair after being sworn in on May 15, 2019. Following the inauguration of President Joe Biden, Dhillon was replaced as chair of the EEOC by

Charlotte Burrows Charlotte A. Burrows is an American attorney and government official. Since 2021, Burrows has served as Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Burrows first joined the agency as a commissioner in 2015, and previously served a ...

. Although her term expired in July 2022, she remained in office until her resignation on November 18, 2022.

Personal life

She is married to

Uttam Dhillon Uttam Anthony Singh Dhillon (born September 4, 1960) is an American attorney and law enforcement official. He served as Acting Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration from July 2, 2018, to May 18, 2020. He is married to Janet Dhillo ...

, former acting administrator of the

Drug Enforcement Administration The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA; ) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating drug trafficking and distribution within th ...

References

External links

Biography at Burlington Stores
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dhillon, Janet Living people 21st-century American lawyers Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom people Trump administration personnel Year of birth missing (living people) Chairs of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission