U.S. Office of Personnel Management - Ensuring the Federal Government has an effective civilian workforce

The Office of Special Counsel

If you think you have been discriminated against based upon sexual orientation, you may wish to contact OSC at the address listed below.

The Office of Special Counsel is an independent investigative and prosecutorial agency within the Executive Branch that receives and investigates complaints alleging prohibited personnel practices, including those involving discrimination based upon sexual orientation.

The Office of Special Counsel:

• Receives and investigates allegations from applicants, employees and former employees of prohibited personnel practices and investigates allegations to determine whether there are reasonable grounds to believe that the agency has committed a prohibited personnel practice or will do so.
• May request MSPB to stop personnel actions from taking place while it is investigating whether they were taken as a result of a prohibited personnel practice. These prohibited personnel practices include 5 U.S.C.§ 2302(b)(10), which prohibits discrimination based on conduct which does not adversely affect either the employee's own job performance or the performance of others.
• May petition MSPB for corrective action to provide a remedy for the employee.
• May seek disciplinary action by MSPB against the individuals who committed a prohibited personnel practice.
• May achieve favorable results for employees without litigation before MSPB by achieving settlements of complaints prior to the initiation of any formal appeal to MSPB. May act as an intermediary between the employee and the agency to resolve issues. May seek an informal stay of a personnel action to prevent imminent harm when it has reasonable grounds to believe the employee has been subjected to a prohibited personnel practice.
• The procedures for corrective action by the Special Counsel are set forth in detail in 5 U.S.C. § 1214. The procedures for disciplinary action are contained in 5 U.S.C. § 1215.

For Additional Information about the Office of Special Counsel

Information about how the Office of Special Counsel operates may be obtained from:

Office of the Special Counsel
Suite 300
1730 M Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20036-4505

The Office of Special Counsel's phone numbers are:

Complaints Examining Unit (202) 653-7188 (TDD-ready)

Toll Free (800) 872-9855 (TDD-ready)

Public Information (202) 653-7984

OSC has a web site at www.osc.gov.

Complaints to the Office of Special Counsel must be in writing. Complaint forms may be downloaded from OSC's web site, or will be provided upon request. Complaints should be sent to the Complaints Examining Unit at the above address.