Agencies will no longer have the discretion to override Equal Employment Opportunity Commission rulings in federal discrimination cases, under final regulations published in the Federal Register Monday.
The new rules will eliminate agencies' power to make final decisions in discrimination cases that are being heard by EEOC judges. Currently, agencies can ignore or reverse EEOC judges' decisions. But the EEOC says agencies have abused their power, reversing decisions against them while upholding decisions favorable to them.
"The commission has broken new ground in making the federal EEO complaint process more efficient, expedient and fair for federal employees and agencies alike," EEOC Chairwoman Ida L. Castro said.
Under the new regulations, agencies must issue a statement on whether they will fully implement an EEOC administrative judge's decision. If they choose not to implement the decision in its entirety, the agency must file an appeal with the EEOC.
EEOC announced its intention to have the final word in federal discrimination cases in October 1997. The change was part of a broader effort to clean up the complaints process for federal discrimination charges by eliminating layers of review.
"The present system takes too long- as much as three years on average for a case to be resolved," said Kitty Peddicord, director of the American Federation of Government Employees' Women's and Fair Practices departments. "With new regulations in place, federal employees filing discrimination complaints can finally expect justice in a reasonable and timely manner."
The new regulations require agencies to attempt to resolve disputes informally using alternative dispute resolution programs before formal complaints are filed. To further streamline the complaints process, the regulations include a provision that encourages settlements. If any agency makes a settlement offer that is refused, and the complainant doesn't receive as much money as the settlement offered, the agency is protected from having to pay additional attorney's fees and costs.
The new regulations take effect Nov. 9.
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