Division of Civil Rights

STATUTES: The Division is responsible for the legal work arising out of the Department’s administration and enforcement of Executive Order 11246, Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act, the affirmative action provisions of the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act, the civil rights provisions of the Workforce Investment Act, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, and related laws which require equal opportunity on the basis of characteristics such as race, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability and status as a Vietnam-era, disabled or other protected veteran.

ORGANIZATION: The Division is headed by an Associate Solicitor and Deputy Associate Solicitor. There are three supervisory attorneys (Counsels), two Senior Trial Attorneys, a Senior Program Attorney, and approximately fifteen Staff Attorneys. The attorneys are divided into a Litigation Section and a Interpretations and Advice Section. The support staff is comprised of three paralegals, one staff assistant, and four support staff members.

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES: The Litigation Section is comprised of two Co-Counsels (one of which is a regional counsel), two Senior Trial Attorneys and seven Staff Attorneys. Enforcement cases are litigated before the Department’s Administrative Law Judges. Many cases include large classes of employees; virtually all require use of expert witnesses, usually statisticians or labor economists in race and sex discrimination cases and physicians or vocational rehabilitation experts in disability discrimination cases. Litigation attorneys are also responsible for administrative appeals before the Administrative Review Board; monitoring and assisting Regional attorneys; and defending the Department in Federal court litigation. A typical caseload is ten cases at a given time divided among the various areas. On large cases, two or more attorneys may work together as a team. An average staff attorney travels approximately 5% of the time, but there may be considerable travel in some circumstances.

Significant cases of recent date include:

OFCCP v. Ford Motor Company in which the Department recovered $3.8 million in back pay for a class of several hundred women and minorities to remedy discriminatory hiring practices for assembly line positions.

OFCCP v. American Airlines in which we obtained $1.7 million in back pay and other relief for an affected class of 96 applicants who were rejected for various non-flight fleet service positions due to a variety of perceived and actual disabilities.

The Interpretations and Advice Section is comprised of a Counsel, a Senior Program Attorney, and six Staff Attorneys. The Section provides a wide range of non-litigation legal services and assistance to the program agencies, to the Regional Solicitors' offices, to other offices within DOL and to the public. The work may be broken down into three major categories:

Opinions. Prepare written legal opinions and provide oral legal advice on novel, complex legal issues faced by the program agencies in the course of their law enforcement activities. Also, assist the program agencies in preparing policy statements, operations manuals, training materials and the like. Significant recent activities include:

• Assisting the Department’s Employment and Training Administration in developing an electronic resume database (America’s Job Bank) that complies with civil rights laws.
• Assisting in the development of a guide to provide advice about compliance with disability-based discrimination laws in the One Stop and Welfare-to-Work system.
• Addressing the reach of laws prohibiting disability discrimination in federal, state and local government programs or activities and the elements of demonstrating disability discrimination in health benefits programs (specifically in workers’ compensation programs).
• Providing advice on issues relating to genetics discrimination and accessibility of information technology.
• Preparing opinions on the applicability of laws administered by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) to financial institutions entering into a variety of relationships with the Federal government.

Regulations. Provide legal advice and drafting support to the program agencies in the preparation of regulations. A significant recent project was revising the regulations pertaining to written affirmative action programs to enhance program effectiveness while reducing regulatory burdens.

Legislation. Review and analyze proposed legislation for impact on the program agencies, advise DOL officials whether to support or oppose such legislation and occasionally draft legislative proposals. Significant recent activity has included analyzing the impact of procurement streamlining legislation on the laws administered by OFCCP.

Work in the Interpretations and Advice Section requires strong writing, research, and analytical skills. Virtually no out-of-town travel is required.

For further information on the departmental agencies that address the areas described above, please use one of the links listed below:

Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP)

Civil Rights Center (CRC)

Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management

Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS)