Trump taps ex-EEOC member Sonderling to serve as deputy labor secretary

By Daniel Wiessner

Jan 15 (Reuters) - President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday said he had nominated lawyer Keith Sonderling, a veteran of federal government who recently left the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, for the number two position at the U.S. Department of Labor.

Trump's nomination of Sonderling, whose five-year term as an EEOC commissioner expired in August, to serve as deputy labor secretary must be approved by the Republican-led U.S. Senate.

Sonderling could not immediately be reached for comment.

The deputy labor secretary is the Labor Department's chief operating officer, managing its day-to-day operations and 17,000-member workforce and coordinating with heads of the various agencies within the department.

During Trump's first term, Sonderling held a number of roles at the Labor Department's Wage and Hour Division, including a brief stint as its acting administrator, before joining the EEOC in 2020.

At the commission, Sonderling focused much of his work on studying the impact of artificial intelligence on the workplace, including its potential to exacerbate discrimination.

He dissented from the Democratic-led EEOC's adoption of key policies during the Biden administration, including a rule on legal protections for workers who get abortions and guidance on workplace harassment.

Trump has nominated former Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer of Oregon, a Republican who has the support of some union leaders, to serve as labor secretary. The Senate, which began holding confirmation hearings on Trump's cabinet nominees this week, has not scheduled a hearing on her nomination.

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(Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York)

((daniel.wiessner@thomsonreuters.com))