U.S. Department of the Interior
Office of the Secretary
Washington, D.C.  20240

February 8, 2001


EQUAL OPPORTUNITY DIRECTIVE 2001-04

To:            Bureau and Office Equal Opportunity Officers

From:        E. Melodee Stith
                 Director, Office for Equal Opportunity

Subject:    Officials Designated to Receive Complaints of Discrimination

The purpose of this Directive is to reaffirm Departmental policy on officials who are designated to received formal complaints of discrimination filed against the U.S. Department of the Interior. All EEO officials who are charged with administering any aspect of the complaints process should be informed that the persons designated to receive informal complaints of discrimination are as follows:

All persons who have been delegated authority to receive complaints have been identified above. Please note that these delegations of authority cannot be re-delegated to any other persons by the Bureau/Office Equal Opportunity Officers. For example, EEO Counselors and Dispute Resolution Specialists cannot be delegated to received complaints of discrimination filed by individuals. This impedes the processing of complaints of discrimination.

In light of the contents of this Directive, you are further reminded that all official correspondence on discrimination complaints that includes appeal rights, must be changed to reflect Gale A. Norton as the Secretary of the Interior as the defendant. Finally, please modify all complaint forms utilized such as the notice of final interview and other documents to accurately reflect those officials who are currently designated to receive formal complaints of discrimination.

The information in this Directive is to be provided to all persons in your field organizations.

Distribution:    Bureau/Office Equal Opportunity Officers
Inquiries:        Carolyn M. Burrell, Assistant Director, Complaints Processing and Adjudication, 202-208-3442
Expiration:      When superseded