Legal Process Outline

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is a Government agency, which exists to protect us all from employment discrimination based on race, color, sex, national origin, religion, retaliation, age and disability. Individuals who feel their employer has discriminated against them for any of these reasons have the right to file a complaint through the EEOC. This paper will outline this complaint process and attempt to explain the civil litigation that may follow if the EEOC, through arbitration and mediation cannot settle a complaint.

According to the EEOC website, (www.eeoc.gov, 2003) the first step in processing a complaint through the EEOC is to contact an EEO counselor before even filing a complaint. This contact needs to take place within forty-five days of the matter alleged to be discriminatory. The counselor is responsible for providing counseling to the individual making the complaint on how the EEO process works.

Sonny Cornelius, official portrait from .

English: William H. Brown, chairman of EEOC

John H Powell Jr, chairman of EEOC

The EEO counselor then has thirty days from the date the individual made contact with the Equal Employment Office to provide in writing to the individual his rights and responsibilities in the EEO complaint process.

After these requirements have been satisfied, there is a formal complaint process. According to the EEOC website, (www.eeoc.gov, 2003), A complaint must be filed against the agency that allegedly discriminated against the individual within fifteen days of receipt of the Notice of Final Interview. The web site also states, "The complaint must be a signed statement from the complainant or the complainant's attorney, and contain the complainant's (or representative's) telephone number and address. It must be sufficiently precise to identify the complainant and the agency, and describe generally the action or practice which forms the basis of the complaint. 29 C.F.R. Section 1614.106".

An agency may dismiss an entire complaint prior to...