Review of Formal Complaint After Submission
After it is submitted, the Agency will begin to review the grounds of the EEO complaint. The Agency will then either accept the claims for investigation or dismiss some or all of them based on procedural grounds. In accepting claims, the Agency will send you an acceptance letter listing the claims to be investigated. In the letter, the Agency will spell out the next steps in the EEO process. The letter will also state that the investigation must be completed within 180 days. It is important to have federal employee EEO legal representation in these cases.
Dismissal of Claims
If the Agency dismisses all or a part of a complaint, the federal employee has options. If the Agency dismisses the EEO complaint, it must issue a final decision. The Agency should clearly set forth the reasons for dismissing the complaint. The Agency will provide the complainant appeal rights to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) where an appeal can be filed.
Acceptance of Claims and Investigation
If the Agency accepts a claim, it will initiate an investigation into the EEO complaint. An investigator will be appointed. These investigators can be in house federal employees or government contractors. Typically, the appointed investigator will contact you and ask you to provide some responses to questions about your EEO complaint. The investigator may also ask for documents or other supporting materials for your complaint.
What Does the Investigator Do?
Once the investigator is appointed, they are authorized to conduct the EEO investigation for the Agency. Investigators are authorized to administer oaths. In conducting their investigations, investigators use many different methods to conduct the investigation. These include affidavits, interviews, interrogatories or other methods to obtain facts about the EEO complaint.
The investigator will also ask for this type of information from others named in the Complaint or who are witnesses. The Agency will then conduct this investigation into the claim(s) and issue a Report of Investigation. This will be issued approximately 180 days after the formal complaint was filed. Federal Employee EEO investigations can include a variety of methods such as interviews, requests for responses to questions, and/or affidavits. The process varies by Agency and investigator. The investigative process is considered to be non-adversarial and often conducted by a third party contract investigator.
Rebuttals
In some cases, after the Complainant’s statement and responsive statements are taken, the investigator will want a rebuttal statement. This is just a statement responding to the information that was provided by one of the witnesses in the case.
Completion of Investigation Process
Federal agencies are required to complete an investigation within 180 days of the filing of a formal complaint. If the complaint is amended or consolidated with another complaint, the investigation must be completed 180 days after the filing of the last complaint or no later than 360 days after the filing of the original complaint, whichever is earlier.
Contact Us
Our law firm represents and advises federal employees in EEO complaint investigations. If you need legal assistance regarding an EEO complaint or other employment matter, please contact our office at (703) 668-0070 or at www.berrylegal.com to schedule a consultation.
