PART V
THE EEOC'S HEARINGS PROGRAM

A. OVERVIEW OF THE EEOC'S HEARINGS PROGRAM PROCEDURES

The EEOC's regulations at 29 C.F.R. Part 1614 detail the federal sector EEO complaint processing rules.⁽¹⁾ These procedures provide complainants with the right to request a hearing before an EEOC Administrative Judge (AJ). The regulations provide a complainant with up to 30 calendar days to request a hearing after receiving the agency's investigative file. However, if the agency has not completed or transmitted the investigative file, the complainant may request a hearing anytime if 180 days have passed since the complainant filed his or her EEO complaint.

Under the Part 1614 regulations, an AJ may procedurally dismiss a case for any of the reasons set forth in 29 C.F.R. Section 1614.107 (e.g., the complaint was untimely, it failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted, etc.). In certain circumstances, the AJ may also issue a decision without a hearing (e.g., where no genuine issues of material fact are in dispute). If the AJ does conduct a hearing, however, the AJ will subsequently issue a decision to the complainant and to the agency, either finding discrimination or finding no discrimination. The agency then has 40 days to issue a final order either fully implementing the AJ's decision, or if not fully implementing the AJ's decision, simultaneously filing an appeal with the EEOC.

Requests for EEOC Hearings

FY 1999 - FY 2002

Figure V-A

B. SUMMARY OF HEARINGS RECEIPTS AND RESOLUTIONS

AJs are located in the EEOC's District Offices and Washington Field Office. Complainants submit their requests for a hearing directly to the appropriate EEOC office having geographic jurisdiction over the organizational component of the agency in which the complaint arose. Complaints in the EEOC's Hearings Program are ultimately resolved through AJ decisions, settlements, and withdrawals.

• In FY 2002, the EEOC's Hearings Units received 9,617 requests for hearings - a slight decrease from the 9,817 receipts in FY 2001.
• In FY 2002, the EEOC's Hearing Program resolved 11,666 cases - an increase of 24% over the 9,402 cases resolved in FY 2001. The FY 2002 resolutions included 11,568 individual complaints and 98 class action cases.
• In FY 2002, AJs issued 5,834 decisions (i.e., written, bench, record, and procedural decisions finding discrimination or no discrimination, or dismissing the case on procedural grounds).

Hearings Program Resolutions By Category

Figure V-B

• During FY 2002, the EEOC's Hearings Program increased its resolutions by 24% over the number of resolutions achieved in FY 2001.

Hearings Program Resolutions

FY 1999 - FY 2002

Figure V-C

C. SUMMARY OF HEARINGS PROGRAM INVENTORY

• The EEOC's Hearings Program had a total of 10,072 cases pending in its inventory at the end of FY 2002.
• This represents a 13.6% decrease from the inventory of 11,659 cases pending at the end of FY 2001.

Hearings Program Pending Inventory

FY 1999 - FY 2002

Figure V-D

D. SUMMARY OF BASES AND ISSUES AT THE HEARING STAGE

• At the hearing stage in FY 2002, most complaints alleged more than one basis.
• The overwhelming majority of complaints, 8,729, contained at least one claim of a Title VII violation, including 4,565 complaints alleging discrimination on the basis of race, 4,126 complaints alleging discrimination on the basis of sex, 3,942 alleging reprisal, 1,220 alleging discrimination on the basis of national origin, 1,816 alleging discrimination on the basis of "other," and 344 complaints alleging discrimination on the basis of religion.
• Additionally, 2,836 complaints contained at least one claim of discrimination on the basis of age, and 2,673 complaints contained at least one claim of discrimination on the basis of disability.
• Only 49 complaints contained at least one claim of discrimination under the Equal Pay Act.
• Most complaints at the hearing stage also included multiple issues.
• The most frequently designated issue in FY 2002 was "terms of employment," in 5,552 complaints, followed by the category "other" in 4,912 complaints. "Promotions" was designated as at least one of the issues in 3,100 complaints, and "harassment" in 2,515 complaints. "Discharge" was an issue in 1,256 complaints, "discipline" in 756 complaints, "reasonable accommodation" in 661 complaints, and "suspension" in 391 complaints. "Sexual harassment" was an issue in 358 complaints, "denial of training" was an issue in 331 complaints, and "failure to hire" was an issue in 322 complaints. "Wages" was an issue in 266 complaints, "benefits" in 220 complaints, "job classification" in 219 complaints, "reinstatement" in 166 complaints, "intimidation" in 165 complaints, and "demotion" in 163 complaints.

E. AVERAGE PROCESSING TIME

• In FY 2002, the average AJ processing time for cases was 420 days.
• The resolution of older inventory cases in FY 2002 caused the average hearings processing time to increase from 405 days in FY 2001.

F. AGENCY ACTIONS ON AJ DECISIONS

• Agencies may only accept and fully implement an AJ's final decision, or not fully implement and appeal the AJ's decision to OFO.
• In FY 2002, agencies fully implemented 3,841 AJ decisions and appealed 106 AJ decisions.

G. MONETARY BENEFITS GENERATED AT THE HEARING STAGE

• In FY 2002, AJs in the EEOC's Hearings Program ordered $92,700,506 in monetary benefits to complainants, including $15,219,300 in compensatory damages.
• The total monetary benefits in FY 2002 more than doubled the $44,306,269 in benefits ordered in FY 2001 (which in turn reflected a more than 50% increase over the $29,317,028 in benefits ordered in FY 2000).
• FY 2002 compensatory damages increased by more than 50% over the $9,950,024 in such damages ordered in FY 2001.
• The FY 2002 monetary benefits ordered reflects the resolution in FY 2002 of a number of significant class action cases.
• Of the total monetary benefits ordered in FY 2002, complainants received $78,796,489 from settlements or withdrawals with benefits.
• Of the total monetary benefits ordered in FY 2002, $39,165,808 resulted from Title VII-only complaints, $32,360,945 from Title VII/ADEA complaints, $18,464,053 from Rehabilitation Act complaints, and $1,694,834 from ADEA-only complaints. The remaining roughly $1,000,000 in monetary benefits ordered resulted from resolutions of cases brought under other statutes and/or other combinations of statutes.

1. For a synopsis of these rules, see Appendix II: Federal Sector EEO Complaint Processing Procedures.

This page was last modified on June 26, 2003.

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