Acting EEOC chair defends undercutting transgender workers in dropping suits

The acting chair of the federal agency that enforces workers rights acknowledged Wednesday that transgender workers are protected under civil rights laws but defended her decision to drop lawsuits on their behalf, saying her agency is not independent and must comply with President Donald Trump’s orders.

Andrea Lucas, who was appointed to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2020 and elevated to chair in January, spoke at her Senate confirmation hearing.

Republican senators praised her leadership, especially her commitment to rolling back Biden-era regulations and guidance on gender-identity rights, which Lucas has argued overstepped the EEOC’s authority.

Lucas faced questions from Democrats who said she has eroded the traditional independence of the EEOC and acted on the president’s whims since Trump fired two of the agency’s Democratic commissioners before their terms expired in an unprecedented act.

Lucas, a strident critic of diversity and inclusion programs and proponent of the idea that there are only two immutable sexes, repeatedly declared that the EEOC is not independent and vowed to enthusiastically follow Trump’s executive orders.

She acknowledged that a 2020 Supreme Court ruling established that gender identity discrimination is illegal under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion and national origin.

But Lucas, citing confidentiality laws, declined to answer a question about how the EEOC intends to handle discrimination complaints from transgender workers.

Amazon sets big goal for robotaxis

Amazon is gearing up to make as many as 10,000 robotaxis annually at a sprawling plant near Silicon Valley as it prepares to challenge self-driving cab leader Waymo. Tesla CEO Elon Musk is also vying to join the autonomous race.

The 220,000-square-foot robotaxi factory announced Wednesday heralds a new phase in Amazon’s push into a technological frontier that began taking shape in 2009, when Waymo was launched as a secret project within Google.

Amazon began eyeing the market five years ago when it shelled out $1.2 billion for self-driving startup Zoox, which will be the brand behind a robotaxi service that plans to begin transporting customers in Las Vegas late this year before expanding into San Francisco next year.

Amazon’s Chief Executive Officer Andy Jassy also said this week that he expects the company’s workforce to decline in the next few years as the retail and cloud-computing giant uses artificial intelligence to handle more tasks.

Generative AI and AI-powered software agents “should change the way our work is done,” Jassy said in an email to employees on Tuesday that laid out his thinking about how the emerging technology will transform the workplace.

Nike delays Kardashian’s Skims release

Nike’s new brand with entrepreneur and reality TV star Kim Kardashian’s Skims label has pushed back its launch after initially planning to release its first collection this spring.

NikeSkims is dealing with production delays as it prepares to debut the brand this year, Bloomberg reported.

Despite the delays, Nike still expects to release NikeSkims products sometime this year. It’s unclear exactly when the first NikeSkims goods will be available for purchase, what products will be included in the line and if consumers will get a preview before the initial release.

Compiled from Associated Press and Bloomberg reports.