Keith E. Sonderling

Born on November 25, 1982, in Manhattan, New York, Sonderling grew up in Boca Raton, Florida. Sonderling is Jewish and the grandchild of holocaust survivors.{{Cite web |title=Download File: Sonderling - HELP Committee Opening Statement.pdf {{!}} The U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions |url=https://www.help.senate.gov/download/sonderling_-help-committee-opening-statementpdf |access-date=2025-03-17 |website=www.help.senate.gov |language=en}} He graduated from Spanish River High School and attended the University of Florida. He received a Bachelor of Science, magna cum laude, majoring in broadcast journalism. Sonderling then obtained his Juris Doctor., magna cum laude, from Nova Southeastern University.

Sonderling began his legal career at Gunster in West Palm Beach, Florida. At Gunster, he practiced labor and employment law and was elevated to shareholder in 2015. In 2012, Florida Governor Rick Scott appointed Sonderling to serve as a commissioner on the 4th District Court of Appeal judicial nominating commission.{{Cite web|title=Gunster's Keith Sonderling appointed to judicial nominating commission|url=https://gunster.com/news/gunsters-keith-sonderling-appointed-to-judicial-nominating-commission/|access-date=2020-09-26|website=Gunster|date=12 October 2012 |language=en}} In 2016, his fellow commissioners elected him chair.{{Cite web|title=Gunster Attorney Keith E. Sonderling Reappointed by Gov. Scott to Judicial Nominating Commission|url=https://southflorida.citybizlist.com/article/378906|access-date=2020-09-26|website=Citybizlist}}

In September 2017, Sonderling joined the United States Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division.{{Cite web|title=Management Lawyer Joins DOL as First Wage-Hour Political Hire|url=https://news.bloomberglaw.com/business-and-practice/management-lawyer-joins-dol-as-first-wage-hour-political-hire|access-date=2020-09-26|website=news.bloomberglaw.com|language=en}} In 2019, Sonderling served as the acting administrator of the Wage and Hour Division.{{Cite web|title=DOL Names New Acting Wage and Hour Administrator|url=https://www.natlawreview.com/article/dol-names-new-acting-wage-and-hour-administrator|access-date=2020-09-26|website=The National Law Review|language=en}}

File:L-19-01-30-A - Keith Sonderling-OFFICIALPORTRAIT.jpg

In 2019, Sonderling issued the department's first opinion letter on the gig economy, concluding that gig workers were independent contractors, not employees of a company, under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).{{Cite news|last=Scheiber|first=Noam|date=2019-04-29|title=Labor Dept. Says Workers at a Gig Company Are Contractors|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/29/business/economy/gig-economy-workers-contractors.html|access-date=2020-09-26|issn=0362-4331}} This opinion was later withdrawn by the Biden administration in 2021, but reinstated in May 2025.{{Cite news |first1=Shannon |last1=Farmer |first2=Karli |last2=Talmo |date=2021-02-19 |title=DOL Withdraws 2019 FLSA Opinion Letters on Independent Contractors and Compensable Time for Truckers |url=https://www.hrlawwatch.com/2021/02/19/dol-withdraws-2019-flsa-opinion-letters-on-independent-contractors-and-compensable-time-for-truckers/ |access-date=2025-04-10 |work=Ballard Spahr |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=US Department of Labor issues guidance on independent contractor misclassification enforcement |url=https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/whd/whd20250501}} Sonderling also issued proposed rules for marquee labor issues, such as updating the overtime threshold and joint employer standards under the FLSA.{{Cite web |title=U.S. Department of Labor Releases Overtime Update Proposal {{!}} U.S. Department of Labor |url=https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/osec/osec20190307 |access-date=2023-01-24 |website=www.dol.gov}}{{Cite web |title=U.S. Department of Labor Issues Proposal for Joint Employer Regulation {{!}} U.S. Department of Labor |url=https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/whd/whd20190401 |access-date=2023-01-24 |website=www.dol.gov}}

Sonderling developed the Payroll Audit Independent Determination (PAID) the Agency's first comprehensive self-audit program.{{Cite web |date=2025-01-15 |title=Former EEOC Commissioner and Acting WHD Administrator Keith Sonderling Announced as Pick for Deputy Secretary of Labor {{!}} Littler |url=https://www.littler.com/news-analysis/asap/former-eeoc-commissioner-and-acting-whd-administrator-keith-sonderling-announced |access-date=2025-04-26 |website=www.littler.com |language=en}} The program recovered $7 million in wages to 11,000 workers. {{Cite web |title=U.S. Department of Labor’s PAID Program Helps Workers and Employers as America Reopens |url=https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/whd/whd20200714 |access-date=2025-04-26 |website=DOL |language=en}}

On July 3, 2019, President Trump nominated Sonderling to be a member of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for a term expiring July 1, 2024. On June 3, 2020, the Senate Health Education Labor and Pension Committee, by unanimous consent, favorably reported his nomination,{{Cite web|title=Nominations {{!}} The U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions|url=https://www.help.senate.gov/hearings/nominations6320|access-date=2020-09-26|website=www.help.senate.gov|language=en}} and he was confirmed by the Senate in a 52–41 vote on September 22, 2020.{{Cite web|title=On the Nomination (Confirmation: Keith E. Sonderling, of Florida, to be a Member of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission)|url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=116&session=2&vote=00189|access-date=2020-09-26|website=www.senate.gov}} He was also designated by the president to serve as vice chair of the commission.{{Cite web|title=Keith E. Sonderling Sworn in as EEOC Commissioner and Vice Chair {{!}} U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission|url=https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/keith-e-sonderling-sworn-eeoc-commissioner-and-vice-chair|access-date=2020-10-07|website=www.eeoc.gov}} Sonderling left the commission at the expiration of his term on August 30, 2024. {{Cite web |title=Republican EEOC Commissioner Sonderling to Exit as Term Ends |url=https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/republican-eeoc-commissioner-sonderling-to-leave-as-term-ends |access-date=2024-07-15 |website=www.news.bloomberglaw.com |language=en}}

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During his tenure at the EEOC, Commissioner Sonderling’s highest priority was ensuring that AI-informed employment technologies are designed and deployed in ways that comply with longstanding laws.{{Cite web |title=Podcast - Managing the Future of Work - Harvard Business School |url=https://www.hbs.edu/managing-the-future-of-work/podcast/Pages/podcast-details.aspx?episode=1110268856 |access-date=2025-04-26 |website=www.hbs.edu}} Commissioner Sonderling published numerous articles and spoke globally on the benefits and potential harms of using artificial intelligence-based technology in the workplace.{{Cite journal |last=Sonderling |first=Keith |last2=Kelley |first2=Bradford |last3=Casimir |first3=Lance |date=2022-11-08 |title=The Promise and The Peril: Artificial Intelligence and Employment Discrimination |url=https://repository.law.miami.edu/umlr/vol77/iss1/3/ |journal=University of Miami Law Review |volume=77 |issue=1 |pages=1}}{{Cite web |last=Sonderling |first=Keith E. |date=2021-12-06 |title=How People Analytics Can Prevent Algorithmic Bias - International Association for Human Resources Information Management |url=https://www.ihrim.org/2021/12/how-people-analytics-can-prevent-algorithmic-bias-by-commissioner-keith-e-sonderling/ |access-date=2025-04-26 |language=en-US}} Commissioner Sonderling also focused on human capital management compliance, working with human resource leaders worldwide on compliance.{{Cite web |date=2025-03-18 |title=You searched for sonderling |url=https://hrexecutive.com/?s=sonderling |access-date=2025-04-26 |website=HR Executive |language=en-US}}

Sonderling also served as an adjunct professor at the George Washington University Law School, teaching employment discrimination.{{Cite web |title=Keith E. Sonderling |url=https://www.law.gwu.edu/keith-e-sonderling |access-date=2023-01-24 |website=www.law.gwu.edu |language=en}}

On January 15, 2025, President-elect Trump announced his intention to nominate Sonderling as the United States Deputy Secretary of Labor.{{cite news |last=Wiessner |first=Daniel |date=2025-01-15 |title=Trump taps ex-EEOC member Sonderling to serve as deputy labor secretary |url=https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/trump-taps-ex-eeoc-member-sonderling-serve-deputy-labor-secretary-2025-01-15/ |access-date= 2025-01-15 |publisher=Reuters}} On March 6, the United States Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee reported his nomination in a 12–11 vote.{{cite web | url = https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2025/03/senate-committee-greenlights-keith-sonderling-for-labor-deputy-00210110 | title = Senate committee greenlights Keith Sonderling for Labor deputy | work = Politico | date = 2025-03-06 | access-date = 2025-03-17 | first = Nick | last = Niedzwiadek }} Sonderling was confirmed 53–46 by the United States Senate on March 12.{{cite web | url = https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/sonderling-confirmed-as-no-2-at-dol-filling-out-top-leadership | title = Sonderling Confirmed as No. 2 At DOL, Filling Out Top Leadership | work = Bloomberg Law | date = 2025-03-12 | access-date = 2025-03-17 | first = Rebecca | last = Rainey }} As the United States Deputy Secretary of Labor, Sonderling is the second-highest ranking official and serves as the Department's Chief Operating Officer.{{Cite web |title=Deputy Secretary of Labor Keith E. Sonderling |url=https://www.dol.gov/agencies/osec/keith-sonderling |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250416065028/https://www.dol.gov/agencies/osec/keith-sonderling |archive-date=2025-04-16 |access-date=2025-04-26 |website=DOL |language=en}}

On March 18, 2025, President Trump designated Sonderling as the acting director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), an independent government agency that is the primary source of federal funding for the nation's museums and libraries.{{Cite web |date=2025-03-20 |title=Keith E. Sonderling Sworn In as Acting Director of Institute of Museum and Library Services |url=https://www.imls.gov/news/keith-e-sonderling-sworn-acting-director-institute-museum-and-library-services |access-date=2025-03-22 |website=www.imls.gov |language=en}} Sonderling announced that he would lead IMLS "in lock step with this administration to enhance and foster innovation", referencing a March 14, 2025 executive order that directed the agency, along with six others, be "eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law."{{Cite news|last=Schuessler |first=Jennifer |date=25 March 2025 |title=Library Advocates Rally as Trump Targets Federal Funding |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/24/arts/trump-libraries-museums-archives.html }}{{Cite web|last=Trump |first=Donald J. |date=March 14, 2025 |title=Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy |publisher=The Whitehouse |url=https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/continuing-the-reduction-of-the-federal-bureaucracy/ }}

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Category:21st-century American lawyers

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