Federal Employment Law

Types of EEO Claims

There are many different types of EEO claims. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is the federal agency responsible for enforcing federal laws against workplace discrimination and investigating discrimination complaints. The most frequent EEO complaints by federal employees include:

• Age Discrimination
• Disability discrimination
• Equal Pay/Compensation Discrimination
• Ethnic Discrimination
• Sex Discrimination
• Hostile Work Environment
• National Origin Discrimination
• Pregnancy Discrimination
• Race/Color Discrimination
• Religious Discrimination
• Retaliation
• Sexual Harassment
• Sexual Orientation Discrimination

Federal Employee Informal Complaint Process

Federal employees usually only have 45 days to notify their agency’s EEO office about discrimination, harassment, or retaliation complaints. Once a federal employee contacts their EEO office, the case can begin. This is known as the informal complaint process. The process usually starts with a decision to try to mediate the complaint or move ahead with a formal investigation. If mediation is not available or unsuccessful, the investigation of the formal EEO complaint proceeds. It is important to ensure that a federal employee keeps a record of what they reported to the EEO office and when they reported it. The initial reporting of the EEO complaint will begin the process.

Federal Employee Formal Complaint Process

If a federal employee does not resolve their case through ADR or mediation, they will then be given the option to file a formal EEO Complaint. The EEO office will provide the employee a letter indicating a deadline of 15 days for the federal employee to file a formal EEO complaint. When we represent federal employees in the formal complaint process, we use the form that has been provided by the agency, but also provide a detailed letter describing the background of the discrimination. It is important to put all of the issues raised in writing because an agency may deny that you provided details of your claims earlier. The documentation serves as proof of your claims. The agency will then review the EEO claims brought and decide whether or accept or dismiss them. As long as they are properly formatted, most EEO claims are accepted. A federal employee will then receive a letter indicating that an investigator will be assigned. As a side note, many federal agencies contract out the investigations process, so the complainant may be working with a contract investigator.

The Federal Employee EEO Investigation

Once an EEO investigator is assigned, he or she will normally interview witnesses, and gather affidavits and documents in addition to other potential evidence regarding the complaint. The federal employee will be interviewed, either in writing, telephone or by video. Following the initial interview, the other witnesses in the case will be interviewed. Additionally, the EEO investigator will gather documentation relevant to the case. It is important to have counsel during the investigation because they can request that the investigator focus on obtaining important documents. Additionally, sometimes an investigator can be asked to interview witnesses that they may not normally have. Once other important witnesses are interviewed, the federal employee complainant may be asked to offer a rebuttal to their testimony. For instance, if a supervisor claims that they didn’t discriminate, the complainant will be allowed to review and respond to these witness statements. Once the interviews have been conducted and the documents gathered, the investigator will prepare the Report of Investigation for the case. This is also known as an ROI. The ROI can range from 100 to several hundreds of pages about the case. Additionally, the investigator will summarize the claims, but will make no findings. The ROI will then be submitted to the complainant.

Following the Investigation

After receiving the ROI, the federal employee then has the right to elect a hearing before an EEOC administrative judge or to seek a Final Agency Decision (FAD). The procedures and timelines associated with filing an EEO Complaint can involve complex legal issues, so federal employees are urged to obtain counsel early in the EEO complaint process. It is often the case that we recommend that federal employees choose the EEO hearing process. FADs are basically decisions reviewed and made by the agencies involved so they tend to almost always find that there was no discrimination. In order to get a fair hearing, requesting an administrative judge is typically the far better option.

The Federal Employee EEOC Hearing Process

We usually recommend requesting a hearing before an EEOC administrative judge after the ROI is received. Once the hearing request is received, then a judge will be appointed. The judge will order the procedures for the case, and litigation will commence. The most critical part of the EEOC hearing process is discovery, where the federal employee has the opportunity to obtain documents and take depositions of key witnesses in the case. After discovery, an agency will usually seek to dismiss a federal employee’s case by filing a motion to dismiss. If the federal employee is granted a hearing the process is similar to other types of court cases. The hearing will usually last a few days. During that time, the parties will give opening statements, present witnesses, exhibits and give closing statements. After the hearing, a decision will be rendered, which can also be appealed. The EEOC hearing process is very similar to typical court litigation. Federal Employee EEOC lawyers are needed to present a good case.

EEO Flowchart

The following is a general flowchart for the EEO process for federal employees.

Contact Us for EEO Representation

We offer a full set of legal services to protect your federal employee rights in the EEO process. We represent federal employees in all stages of the EEO complaint process. For example, we represent employees at the initial complaint stage, during investigations, and before EEOC administrative law judges. In addition, we attempt to determine the best course of action for our clients to enable them to make an informed decision about how they should proceed in their EEO case. To schedule an initial consultation with one of our federal employment lawyers, please contact us at (703) 668-0070 or by visiting our website’s contact us page.

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