OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY
Washington, D.C.
20240
November 5, 1999
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY DIRECTIVE NUMBER 2000-02 (REVISED)
TO: Bureau/Office Equal Opportunity Directors
FROM:
E. Melodee Stith, Director
Office for Equal Opportunity
Subject: New 1614 Procedures - Revised Sample Form Letters
This revises and rescinds the attached sample form letters, dated November 5, 1999, and adds new form letters. This does not replace the cover letter of the Equal Opportunity Directive(EOD) 2000-2 which was previously issued since the information has not changed.
These sample letters reflect the changes that were made effective on November 9, 1999. Please feel free to use them as written or to modify them, as needed, in order to meet the specific needs of your Bureau. For your further convenience, these forms will be e-mailed as attachments for your immediate use and retention.
This Revised EOD includes the following
as attachments:
Attachments - as
stated
DISTRIBUTION: Bureau and EEO Officers
INQUIRIES:
Carolyn M. Burrell, Assistant Director, Complaints
Processing and Adjudication, 202-208-3442
EXPIRES:
When Superceded
Acknowledgment Letter
Certified Mail
Return Receipt Requested
Docket Number
Address
Dear Addressee
This letter is to acknowledge receipt of your complaint of discrimination filed against the Department of the Interior (Bureau)___________on (postmark date). Your complaint has been assigned docket number (XXX- - ). Please refer to this docket number in all future correspondence regarding your complaint.
If your complaint is accepted, it will be processed in accordance with Title 29, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Part 1614 which govern the processing of Federal sector discrimination complaints. You will be advised, in writing, in the near future, of the claims identified in your complaint that will be investigated and provided further information on the administrative process.
Should you have any further questions, please contact this office at ( ).
Sincerely,
Director, Office for Equal Opportunity
Disk: ack.wpd
ELECTION OF EEO COUNSELING OR ADR
I, _________________________ have been
offered ADR in an effort to resolve my informal complaint brought to the
attention of the EEO Counselor on (D/M/Y) . I have been fully informed
about the counseling process and the ADR program and understand both processes.
If I elect to enter ADR offered to me by the agency, I understand that
I have the right to file a formal complaint if the ADR does not achieve
a resolution.
I elect:
_____ (a) to participate in the traditional 30-day EEO counseling process, which may be extended to 90 days upon written agreement with the EEO counselor.
_____ (b) to participate in the Alternate
Dispute Resolution offered by the agency, which may extend the pre-complaint
process up to 90 days.
_________________________________________ ___________________
Aggrieved Person Date
Disk: ADR election.wpd
Accept Letter
Certified Mail
Return Receipt Requested
Docket Number
Address
Dear Addressee :
This letter is in further reference to
your complaint of discrimination filed against the U.S. Department of the
Interior (Department), (Bureau/Office) on (M/D/Y).
Your complaint has been assigned docket number (XXX- - ).
Please refer to this docket number in any correspondence referencing your
complaint.
We have reviewed your complaint and have
accepted the following claims of discrimination for investigation:
(Identify the claims of discrimination
with specificity and clarity. Avoid fragmentation.)
Please review the accepted claim(s) carefully.
If you are not satisfied with the accepted claim(s) as stated, you may,
within
five (5) calendar days of receipt of this letter, submit a statement
to this Office concerning our articulation of your claim(s). It is important
that your claim(s) are properly identified. Any unresolved differences
regarding the identified claims will be recorded in the complaint file.
You will be contacted by an Equal Employment
Opportunity (EEO) Complaints Investigator in the near future. It is expected
that the investigation will be completed within 180 calendar days
from the date you filed your complaint, or you will have the right to request
a hearing before an Administrative Judge (AJ) from the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission (EEOC) after that time.
Upon completion of the investigation, you
will be issued a copy of the Report of Investigation along with an election
notice to request a hearing before an AJ or an immediate final agency decision
without a hearing from the Director, Office for Equal Opportunity(OEO),
Department of the Interior.
If you elect to have a hearing, you are
required to certify to the AJ that you sent a copy of the hearing request
to the Department. Your request for a hearing should be made directly to
the EEOC and sent to the following address:
Address for the appropriate EEOC
Field Office
A copy of your request for a hearing should
also be provided to:
Address for the Bureau/Office
The hearing is an adjudicatory proceeding
that completes the process of developing a full and appropriate record.
The Administrative Judge will assume full responsibility for the adjudication
of the complaint, including overseeing the development of the record. See
29 C.F.R. 1614.109 for more information about the hearing process.
If you request a final agency decision
without a hearing, the Director, OEO will issue the decision within
60 calendar days of its receipt of your request.
If you are not satisfied with the final
agency decision, you may appeal the decision to the EEOC within 30 calendar
days of your receipt of the decision, with a copy of the appeal to
the Director, OEO. Your appeal must be mailed to:
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Office of Federal Operations
Post Office Box 19848
Washington, D.C. 20036
or, you may hand deliver your appeal to
the EEOC at the following address:
Office of Federal Operations
Appellate Review Programs
1801 L Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20507
Or, you may fax your appeal to the EEOC
at (202) 663-7022.
You have the right to file a civil action
in an appropriate U.S. District Court after 180 calendar days from
the date you filed your complaint, if the Department has not issued a final
decision and no appeal has been filed.
You also have the right to file a civil
action within 90 calendar days of your receipt of the EEOC's decision
on your appeal, or after 180 calendar days of filing an appeal if the EEOC
has not issued a decision.
You will continue to receive specific information about your rights and responsibilities in the
complaint process as your complaint progresses.
If at any time you have questions regarding the
process, you may contact (name of EEO
Person) at (telephone number).
Sincerely,
Chief, Office for Equal Opportunity
Enclosure - EEOC Appeal Form 573
cc: Complainant or Complainant's Representative
Complaint File
Disk: acceptance letter.wpd
Mixed-Case Accept Letter
Certified Mail
Return Receipt Requested
Docket Number
Address
Dear Addressee:
This letter is in further reference to
your complaint of discrimination filed against the U.S. Department of the
Interior (Department), (Bureau/Office) on (M/D/Y).
Your complaint has been assigned docket number (XXX- - ).
Please refer to this docket number in any correspondence referencing your
complaint.
We have reviewed your complaint and have
accepted the following claims of discrimination for investigation:
(Identify the claims of discrimination
with specificity and clarity. Avoid fragmentation.)
Please review the accepted claim(s) carefully.
If you are not satisfied with the accepted claim(s) as stated, you may,
within
five (5) calendar days of receipt of this letter, submit a statement
to this Office concerning our articulation of your claim(s). It is important
that your claim(s) are properly identified. Any unresolved differences
regarding the identified claims will be recorded in the complaint file.
Your complaint contains allegations of discrimination that are appealable to the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB). Therefore, your complaint will be processed in accordance with Title 29, Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.), Parts 1614.301 through 1614.310.
You will be contacted by an Equal Employment
Opportunity (EEO) Complaints Investigator in the near future. Upon completion
of the investigation, you will be issued a copy of the Report of Investigation
(ROI).
You will receive a final agency decision
on the merits of your complaint from the Departmental Director, Office
for Equal Opportunity within 45 calendar days of its receipt of
your ROI.
If you are not satisfied with the final
agency decision on your mixed-case complaint, you may appeal the decision
to the MSPB (not the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) within
30 calendar days of your receipt of the decision.
If a final agency decision is not issued
with 120 calendar days of the date you filed your mixed-case complaint,
you may appeal the matter to the MSPB at any time thereafter; or, you may
file a civil action in an appropriate U.S. District Court.
Upon receipt of the decision from the MSPB
on your mixed-case complaint, you may petition the EEOC to consider the
MSPB's decision. Filing the petition to the EEOC must be made by certified
mail to:
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Office of Federal Operations
Post Office Box 19848
Washington, D.C. 20036
The petition must be filed with the EEOC
either within 30 calendar days of receipt of the final decision of the
MSPB or within 30 calendar days of when the decision of an MSPB Field Office
becomes final. At the time the MSPB provides you with their decision, you
will be provided with information on how to file your petition with the
EEOC.
You will continue to receive specific information
about your rights and responsibilities in the complaint process as your
complaint progresses. If at any time you have questions regarding the process,
you may contact (name of EEO Person) at (telephone number).
Sincerely,
Chief, Office for Equal Opportunity
Enclosure - MSPB Appeal Form
cc: Complainant or Complainant's Representative
Complaint File
Disk: mixed-case acceptance letter.wpd
Accept letter with Partial Dismissal
Certified Mail
Return Receipt Requested
Docket Number
Address
Dear Addressee:
This letter is in further reference to
your complaint of discrimination filed against the U.S. Department of the
Interior (Department), (Bureau/Office) on (M/D/Y).
Your complaint has been assigned docket number (XXX- - ).
Please refer to this docket number in any correspondence referencing your
complaint.
We have reviewed your complaint and have
the following claims of discrimination:
(Identify the claims of discrimination
with specificity and clarity. Avoid fragmentation.)
The claims of discrimination identified
above as numbers x, x, and x, have been accepted for investigation.
Please review the accepted claim(s) carefully. If you are not satisfied
with the accepted claim(s) as stated, you may, within five (5) calendar
days of receipt of this letter, submit a statement to this Office concerning
our articulation of your claim(s). It is important that your claim(s) are
properly identified. Any unresolved differences regarding the identified
claims will be recorded in the complaint file.
You will be contacted by an Equal Employment
Opportunity (EEO) Complaints Investigator in the near future. It is expected
that the investigation will be completed within 180 calendar days
from the date you filed your complaint, or you will have the right to request
a hearing before an Administrative Judge (AJ) from the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission (EEOC) after that time.
Upon completion of the investigation, you
will be issued a copy of the Report of Investigation along with an election
notice to request a hearing before an AJ or an immediate final agency decision
without a hearing from the Director, Office for Equal Opportunity(OEO),
Department of the Interior.
The claims of discrimination identified
above as numbers x, x, and x have not been accepted for investigation.
We are recommending dismissal of these claims for the following reasons.
Give the rationale for dismissing
each claim and citing the appropriate dismissal regulation.
The following claims of discrimination
have not been accepted for investigation:
(Identify the claims of discrimination
that are being dismissed pursuant to 1614.107(a) and the reasons for the
dismissal).
There is no immediate right to appeal the
dismissal of the above identified claims. If you elect to have a hearing
on the accepted claims of your complaint, the AJ will evaluate our reasons
for dismissing a portion of your complaint. If the AJ does not agree with
our partial dismissal of claims, your entire complaint or all of the claims
not meeting the standards for dismissal will continue in the hearing process.
The AJ's decision on the partial dismissal will become part of the AJ's
final decision on your complaint.
If you elect a hearing, you are also required
to certify to the AJ that you sent a copy of the hearing request to the
Department. Your request for a hearing should be made directly to the EEOC
and sent to the following address:
Address for the appropriate EEOC
Field Office
A copy of your request for a hearing should
also be provided to:
Address for the Bureau/Office
The hearing is an adjudicatory proceeding that completes the process of developing a full and appropriate record. The Administrative Judge will assume full responsibility for the adjudication of the complaint, including overseeing the development of the record. See 29 C.F.R. 1614.109 for more information about the hearing process.
If you request a final agency decision
without a hearing, the Director, OEO will issue the decision within
60 calendar days of its receipt of your request. The Director, OEO's
decision will address all claims in your complaint, including its rationale
for dismissing claims, if any, and its findings on the merits of the remainder
of the complaint.
If you are not satisfied with the final
agency decision, you may appeal the decision to the EEOC within 30 calendar
days of your receipt of the decision, with a copy of the appeal to
the Director, OEO. Your appeal must be mailed to:
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Office of Federal Operations
Post Office Box 19848
Washington, D.C. 20036
or, you may hand-deliver your appeal to
the EEOC at the following address:
Office of Federal Operations
Appellate Review Programs
1801 L Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20507
Or, you may fax your appeal to the EEOC
at (202) 663-7022.
You have the right to file a civil action
in an appropriate U.S. District Court after 180 calendar days from
the date you filed your complaint, if the Department has not issued a final
decision and no appeal has been filed.
You also have the right to file a civil
action within 90 calendar days of your receipt of the EEOC's decision
on your appeal, or after 180 calendar days of filing an appeal if the EEOC
has not issued a decision.
You will continue to receive specific information
about your rights and responsibilities in the complaint process as your
complaint progresses. If at any time you have questions regarding the process,
you may contact (name of EEO Person) at (telephone number).
Sincerely,
Chief, Office for Equal Opportunity
Enclosure - EEOC Appeal Form 573
cc: Complainant or Complainant's Representative
Complaint File
Disk: Partial Dismissal.wpd
New Incident That is Part of the Existing
Claim
Memorandum
To: EEO Investigator
From: Chief, Office for Equal Opportunity
Subject: New Incident in Support of the
Complaint of Discrimination
You have been assigned to investigate the complaint of discrimination filed against the
(Bureau) by (name of
complainant), (docket number). On (M/D/Y) ,
the Complainant brought to our attention new incident(s) that provide additional
evidence in support of the claim raised in the complaint currently under
investigation. The additional evidence involves the following:
(Identify the new incident(s) with specificity
and clarity)
We are authorizing you to incorporate the
new incident(s) and the facts surrounding them in the investigation. You
must investigate the new incident(s) thoroughly along with the original
claim(s) raised by the Complainant.
Should you have any questions, please contact
me immediately at (name of person to contact) at (telephone
number).
cc: Complainant
Complainant's representative
Complaint File
Disk: Part of Existing Claim.wpd
New Incident that Raises a New Claim
Like or Related to the Pending Claim
CERTIFIED MAIL
RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED
In Reply Refer to:
(Docket Number)
Address
Dear Addressee :
This letter is to acknowledge receipt of
the new claims of discrimination you filed against the agency on (M/D/Y)
.
The new claims have been identified as:
(Identify with specificity and clarity
the new claim(s) of discrimination)
We have determined that the above claims
are like or related to the original claim(s) you raised in complaint docket
number XXX- - , dated M/D/Y , in that they
add to or clarify the original claim and could have reasonably been expected
to grow out of the investigation of the original claim. Therefore, we are
amending your complaint XXX- - to include the new claims
identified above.
As you know, we are required to complete
the investigation of complaints within 180 days of the filing of the complaint
unless there is a written agreement to extend the time period. Since your
original complaint is now amended, we are adjusting the deadline for completing
the investigation to 180 days from the filing of the amendment or 360 days
from the filing of the original complaint. 29 C.F.R. 1614.106(e)(2)
You still have the right to request a hearing
with an Administrative Judge of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
180 days after the filing of your original complaint. If you request a
hearing with the EEOC, the Administrative Judge may develop the record
through discovery and the hearing process, or utilize other means within
his or her discretion to ensure that the amended complaint is properly
addressed.
Should you have any questions regarding
the processing of your complaint, please contact (name of
EEO Person) at (telephone number).
cc: Complainant or Complainant's representative
EEO Investigator
Complaint File
Disk: Like or Related to Pending Claim.wpd
Report of Investigation Checklist
_____ Correct Name of Complainant:
_____ Correct Docket Number(s)
_____ Copy of Complaint
_____ Copy of EEO Counselor's Report
_____ Acknowledgment and/or acceptance letter
_____ If partial dismissal, letter dismissing claims and supporting documentation
_____ Affidavit of Complainant
_____ Affidavit of Primary Witness(es); statement must include a response to each claim
_____ Affidavit of Supplemental Witnesses
Affidavits of witnesses contain:
_____ a thorough review of the circumstances under which the alleged discrimination occurred
_____ a description of the treatment of members of the Complainant's group as compared with the treatment of other similarly situated employees
_____ each claim has been discussed thoroughly; individually, and
_____ all witnesses have been asked to respond to claims they have knowledge of
_____ Rebuttal Statement of Complainant
Documents
_____ Related DOI/Bureau policies
_____ Related federal regulations
_____ Comparative data on each witness: e.g., if case based on race, each witness must be asked to identify his/her race, etc.
_____ Relational Organization Chart with names, position titles, grade levels, comparative data
_____ Statistical Evidence or Survey of the Environment
_____ Supporting documents: e.g., merit promotion file if the claim involves non-selection; performance appraisals of complainant and similarly situated employees if the claim involves performance rating
_____ Documents of comparative employees with the identification of the individuals by alleged basis (race, sex, age, etc.)
_____ Documentation on the question of
remedies: complainant's interim earnings or subsequent promotions, compensatory
damages, or other mitigating factors
Compilation
_____ Summary of Investigative Record (contains no conclusion on the merits)
_____ Documents are readable
_____ Documents in the ROI should not be sanitized.
_____ Affidavits are signed
_____ Pages are numbered
_____ Includes index to documents and exhibits
_____ File is tabbed and indexed
_____ Binder is sturdy
Disk: ROI Checklist.wpd
ROI Letter and Election Form & ROI Letter for Mixed Case
Certified Mail
Return Receipt Requested
Docket Number
Address
Dear Addressee :
The Report of Investigation (ROI) and Summary regarding your complaint of discrimination (XXX- - ) is enclosed for your review and retention. Please read this letter carefully. It explains your rights and responsibilities in further processing of your complaint.
Although there is no pledge of confidentiality
for witnesses submitting sworn statements, such statements and other related
documents contained in the ROI are not public documents and may not be
publicly disclosed. You are required to safe-guard this information and
use it only in connection with the processing of your Equal Employment
Opportunity (EEO) complaint.
With the issuance of the ROI, you have
the right to request a hearing before an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
(EEOC) Administrative Judge (AJ), or to request a Final Agency Decision,
without a hearing. If you request a hearing, an EEOC Administrative Judge
will conduct the hearing and a final decision regarding your case.
If you elect to have a hearing, you are
required to certify to the AJ that you sent a copy of the hearing request
to the Department. Your request for a hearing should be made directly to
the EEOC and sent to the following address:
Address for the appropriate EEOC
Field Office
A copy of your request for a hearing should
also be provided to:
Address for the Bureau/Office
The hearing is an adjudicatory proceeding
that completes the process of developing a full and appropriate record.
The Administrative Judge will assume full responsibility for the adjudication
of the complaint, including overseeing the development of the record. See
29 C.F.R. 1614.109 for more information about the hearing process.
If you request a final agency decision
without a hearing, the Director, OEO will issue the decision within
60 calendar days of its receipt of your request.
If you are not satisfied with the final
agency decision, you may appeal the decision to the EEOC within 30 calendar
days of your receipt of the decision, with a copy of the appeal to
the Director, OEO. Your appeal must be mailed to:
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Office of Federal Operations
Post Office Box 19848
Washington, D.C. 20036
or, you may hand deliver your appeal to
the EEOC at the following address:
Office of Federal Operations
Appellate Review Programs
1801 L Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20507
Or, you may fax your appeal to the EEOC
at (202) 663-7022.
You have the right to file a civil action
in an appropriate U.S. District Court after 180 calendar days from
the date you filed your complaint, if the Department has not issued a final
decision and no appeal has been filed.
You also have the right to file a civil
action within 90 calendar days of your receipt of the EEOC's decision
on your appeal, or after 180 calendar days of filing an appeal if the EEOC
has not issued a decision.
You will continue to receive specific information
about your rights and responsibilities in the complaint process as your
complaint progresses. If at any time you have questions regarding the process,
you may contact (name of EEO Person) at (telephone number).
Sincerely,
Chief, Office for Equal Opportunity
Enclosures - ROI
Notice of Selection
cc: Complainant or Complainant's Representative
Complaint File
Election Form
TO: Address for the Bureau/Office
FROM: Addressee
SUBJECT: NOTICE OF SELECTION - (XXX-
- )
I am returning the selection form regarding
the processing of my complaint. I have made the following selection:
(1) I hereby request a hearing before the
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Administrative Judge and I have
sent and certified a copy to the Department of the Interior.
(2) I request a Final Decision from the
Department without a hearing..
Signature
Date
Mixed Case - ROI Letter
Certified Mail
Return Receipt Requested
Docket Number
Address
Dear Addressee :
The Report of Investigation (ROI) and Summary regarding your complaint of discrimination (XXX- - ) is enclosed for your review and retention. Please read this letter carefully. It explains your rights and responsibilities in further processing of your complaint.
Although there is no pledge of confidentiality
for witnesses submitting sworn statements, such statements and other related
documents contained in the ROI are not public documents and may not be
publicly disclosed. You are required to safe-guard this information and
use it only in connection with the processing of your Equal Employment
Opportunity (EEO) complaint.
Since the allegations you raised in (XXX-
- ) are appealable to the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB),
the complaint is considered a "mixed case", and has been processed in accordance
with Title 29, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Section 302.
The Director, Office for Equal Opportunity
(OEO) will now issue a final decision, without a hearing, within forty-five
(45) calendar days, from the date that you receive your ROI. If you
are not satisfied with the decision, you may file an appeal with the Merit
Systems Protection Board (MSPB), not EEOC, within thirty
(20) calendar days from the date that you receive the Agency's
decision.
If a final agency decision is not issued within one hundred-twenty (120) calendar days of the date of filing of the mixed case complaint, you now have the right to file an appeal with the MSPB, as specified at 5 CFR 1201.154(b)(2), or you may file a civil action in an appropriate
U. S. District Court, as specified at 29
CFR 1614.310(a), but not both.
If you are dissatisfied with the agency's
final decision on the mixed case complaint, you may appeal the mater to
the MSPB (not EEOC) within 30 days of receipt of the agency's final decision.
You may file a civil action within thirty
(30) calendar days of your receipt of the Agency's decision, if no
appeal has been filed with MSPB.
You may also file a civil action after
one
hundred-twenty (120) calendar days from the date that you file an appeal
with the MSPB, if the MSPB has not issued a decision.
If you file a civil action, you must
specifically name Bruce Babbitt, Secretary of the Interior, as defendant.
Failure to do so may result in the loss of any judicial redress to which
you may be entitled. It is important to note that the filing of a civil
action will terminate processing of the appeal.
If you have any questions regarding this
matter, you may reach (name of EEO Person) at (telephone number).
Sincerely,
Chief, Office for Equal Opportunity
Enclosures - ROI
cc: Complainant or Complainant's Representative
Complaint File
Disk: roiltrform2.wpd