EEOC names Seely as new regional attorney for St. Louis District

St. Louis Daily Record & St. Louis Countian, Jul 10, 2008 by Angela Riley

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has selected a new regional attorney for the St. Louis District.

Barbara Seely, a 29-year veteran attorney of the EEOC, will fill the position. Seely has served as a litigator in the St. Louis District since 1979. For the last nine years, she has worked as the supervisory trial attorney.

Seely has stayed with the EEOC for so long because she loves her job.

"It's just the best job in the world," she said. "I get to do legal work that I believe is making the world a better place, just a step at a time. Every new lawsuit, summary judgment and new trial makes American citizens aware of their rights. Many things have changed in the last 29 years, and I'm glad to have been a part of it."

Prior to joining the EEOC, Seely was a law clerk to Judge James D. Clemens on the Missouri Court of Appeals. She is a graduate of Denison University and Washington University School of Law.

"Barbara has proven her skills as an experienced litigator and manager time and again over the course of nearly three decades with the EEOC," said Commission General Counsel Ronald S. Cooper at agency headquarters in Washington, D.C. "Under Barbara's leadership and guidance, we believe the litigation program in the St. Louis District will continue to have a great impact in the region and achieve even greater results in the future."

As the new regional attorney, Seely wants to bring systemic initiatives to the EEOC.

"The entire agency has been trying to attack systemic problems that are occurring across the board. We want to be bringing larger cases, so that these problems can be fixed and that the public can become more aware of them."

Currently, in its last quarter of the fiscal year, the St. Louis district is busier than normal as decisions need to be made on which cases can be litigated, Seely said. The St. Louis District of the EEOC covers Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska and southern Illinois.