As Cari Dominguez, Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), heads out to her farewell party on August 29, 2006, she will no doubt be passing by the empty desks of employees who have left the agency and not been replaced. Dominguez’s first act as EEOC Chair back in 2001 was to declare an agency wide hiring freeze, which resulted in the loss of 20% of the agency’s workforce. According to Gabrielle Martin, President of the National Council of EEOC Locals, No. 216, AFGE/AFL-CIO, "This Chair leaves behind a sad legacy. The impact of a threadbare workforce can be seen in EEOC’s rising backlogs and the declining benefits we are obtaining for those who seek our help."

The EEOC has counted on these "separation savings" to fund its controversial outsourced call center. When normal attrition did not yield enough staff departures by the 3^rd Quarter of 2006, EEOC offered early-outs and buy-outs to long time employees. As a result, going into its last quarter, EEOC has lost over 50 more employees in its field offices alone.

On August 29, 2006, Chair Dominguez is inviting District Directors and Regional Attorneys to fly into Washington, D.C., at the agency’s expense, to join her at a Farewell Party at the Hotel Sofitel on Lafayette Square. Meanwhile, in an attempt to polish up her legacy before she goes, Dominguez recently publicized that she had authorized the hiring of 70 employees. However, no date is attached to this "authorization," and a visit to EEOC jobs website reveals that these positions are not listed. Martin states, "This token gesture is too little too late. Even if we ever see these 70 hires, it’s a drop in the bucket compared to the hundreds of employees who have left and not been replaced – including over 50 field staff lost just in the last quarter."