Council Meeting
Held Wednesday,
January 25, 2012
Host:
Ms. Delia J. Johnson
INTRODUCTION
Ms.
Delia L. Johnson, Co-Chair of the Council and Director, Office of Civil Rights
for International Broadcasting Bureau, opened the meeting by introducing the
guest speaker, EEOC Chair Jacqueline Berrien, and subsequently asked the
attendees to give their names, agencies, and positions.
Jorge
Ponce, Council’s Co-Chair, pointed out to EEOC Chair Jacqueline Berrien that
the main policy issue of the Council was to get the EEOC to issue guidance by
FY 2012 on the interference by “some” Offices of General Counsel in the
processing of discrimination complaints in the Federal Government. He pointed out that the Council had done a
survey on this issue back in 2003, which it had shared with the EEOC. Mr. Ponce asked Chair Berrien for assistance
on this matter, and indicated that he had asked EEOC Commissioner Chai Feldblum for the same assistance at the November 30, 2011
Council meeting. In addition, the
Council addressed this issue at its April 7, 2011 meeting, whose minutes you
can review here. Chair Berrien acknowledged his comments. She noted later in her remarks that hearing
about the intrusion issue and the references to conversations that occurred
before her tenure is like coming into a movie in the middle. She said she looked forward to learning more
about the issue. She noted that with
regard to the comments by Co-Chair Ponce on the issue of intrusion, EEOC’s
MD-715, in the “Efficiency” mandate, set forth the requirements for the
appropriate relationship between an agency’s EEO Office and its Office of
General Counsel. She assured the Council
that if it wanted to provide any formal statement on the issue of intrusion, it
would be considered. Co-Chair Ponce thanked Chair Berrien for her
comments. He indicated that although
MD-110 and MD-715, which have been around since 1999 and 2003, respectively,
addressed the interference issue, the civil rights community was in dire need
of having EEOC provide more thorough guidance on this issue. Co-Chair Ponce indicated that the fact that
the civil rights community was addressing this issue in 2012 was proof that it
was looking to EEOC for further assistance.
EEOC Chair Jacqueline Berrien
Chair
Berrien thanked Co-Chairs Ponce and Johnson for inviting her to address the
Council.
Chair
Berrien stated that one piece of information that is not found in her
biographies is the fact that both of her parents worked for the Federal
Government. She is no stranger to
federal service, as her first federal job was as a GS-2 clerk typist. Her first
official engagement as EEOC Chair was to attend a meeting of EEO Directors, and
she’s working currently on the FY 2012 – 2016 EEOC’s draft Strategic Plan –
which is posted on the EEOC’s webpage at http://www.eeoc.gov
to secure public comments through February 1, 2012.
Chair
Berrien indicated that when she got to EEOC in 2010, the agency had lost about
1/3 of its resources and staff between 2000 through 2008. President Obama restored these resources to
EEOC in FY 2009 and FY 2010 -- which allowed the agency to hire frontline
staff, increase its training budget, and invest in new technologies. While EEOC has made a lot progress lately, it
is not where it wants to be at, yet.
Nevertheless, EEOC took a $7M reduction in its FY 2012 budget.
Chair
Berrien reported generally on EEOC’s accomplishments in the last year. She indicated that EEOC received a record 99,947 charges of employment discrimination and obtained
$455.6 million in relief through its administrative program and litigation in
Fiscal Year 2011. For the second year in
a row, despite a record number of receipts, EEOC resolved more charges than it
took in with 112,499 resolutions (7,500 more resolutions than FY 2010 -- an
increase of 7%) --leaving 78,136 pending charges, a ten percent decrease in its
inventory, the first year the agency has seen a reduction since 2002.
With regard to EEOC’s accomplishments in the federal sector, Chair
Berrien stated that EEOC issued to federal agencies a 3-year trend analysis
letter on their MD-715 data, and conducted over 100 technical assistance visits
in FY 2011. She noted that MD-715 is the
“prophylactic” that serves to prevent discrimination complaints. She reported that EEOC had successfully
focused on resolving appeals that have been in the EEOC’s inventory for 500 or
more days – reducing the inventory of those appeals by one-third. She stated that EEOC resolved a total of
7,672 requests for hearings, securing more than $58 million in relief for
parties who requested hearings in FY 2011. It also resolved 4,510 appeals
from final agency determinations.
In commenting on EEOC’s draft Strategic Plan for 2012-2016, Chair
Berrien stated that it seeks to have the work of the federal sector and private
sectors be accomplished in a more coordinated way.
Chair Berrien noted that the EEOC is working more collaboratively
with its sister agencies in several areas. EEOC continues to participate in
various interagency councils (like the DOJ’s Reentry Council that advances
prisoner reentry strategies into the workforce, and
the Equal Pay Council that ensures equal pay for equal work for women). Chair Berrien indicated that she was glad
that President Obama mentioned equal pay for women in his 2012 State of the
Union address. EEOC is working with OPM, the U.S. Department of Labor, and the
U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to address pay disparities in the public and
private sectors.
Chair Berrien stated that EEOC is working with the Office of
Management and Budget to enforce Executive Order 13548 to increase the
employment of persons with the disabilities in the federal sector, 13518 to
increase the employment of veterans (especially those with disabilities) in the
Federal Government, and 13583 to promote diversity and inclusion initiatives in
the federal workforce.
Chair Berrien mentioned that she took great pride in the increased
collaboration between EEOC and OPM.
Co-Chair Ponce suggested that EEOC should explore the possibility of
securing a permanent seat on the OPM’s Chief Human Capital Officers (CHCO)
Council. Chair Berrien responded that she’s always receptive to new ideas. EEOC’s Chief Operating Officer Claudia
Withers indicated that the EEOC’s staff meets regularly with OPM’s senior
staff, including Veronica Villalobos (OPM’s Director, Office of
Diversity and Inclusion). Carlton Hadden (EEOC’s Director, Office of Federal Operations)
noted that in years past, the cooperation between EEOC and OPM was not as
robust, and that this was a point of criticism from the Council, as well as the
GAO. However, now the level of
cooperation between EEOC and OPM is better than he could ever recall it
being. Co-Chair Ponce stated that while
he agreed with Mr. Hadden’s statement, he still saw a
need for the EEOC Chair to sit on the CHCO Council to ensure that civil rights
issues received the same amount of visibility as HR issues.
A
Council member from the Air Force and a former EEOC Legal Counsel recommended
the institutionalization of “free” barrier-analysis training in coming years –
given the current austere budgetary environment. He indicated that the barrier analysis
training provided by EEOC costs an average of $1,000, so the Air Force is
developing its own training at a much cheaper price. He suggested that EEOC should consider giving
free online training on barrier analysis – like OPM has done with HR-related topics.
Chair Berrien responded that EEOC does provide some training at no cost, but
the law that governs training costs associated with the revolving-fund requires
that costs be recovered through fee-for-service arrangements. Nevertheless, EEOC continues to explore new
ways to use technology to provide free training to federal agencies – like a
current effort being looked at to provide free training to small
businesses. Carlton Hadden
indicated that EEOC has conducted a series of free brown-bag trainings on
barrier analysis, as well as secured subject matter experts to address various
EEO Directors’ meetings. As well, he
noted that each agency is different with regard to what its needs are, but that
the EEOC staff provides technical assistance to federal agencies so that they
can address their unique situations. The Council member responded that the Air
Force has a global staff. Therefore, he
indicated that the training that Mr. Hadden discussed
would be of little use to the staff outside the Washington, DC area. Chair Berrien indicated that EEOC is looking
at a host of different ways to ensure that all stakeholders have the training
that they need, including offering on-demand webinars, and social media such as
YouTube training vehicles.
A
Council member from NASA noted that while he appreciated how the Commission had
worked to reduce the inventory of aged appeals, he was concerned about EEOC
hearings. He asked whether EEOC has
considered outsourcing hearings that have sat in EEOC’s backlog for over 1,200
days. Chair Berrien noted that while
EEOC resources are limited, the Commission was exploring ways to address such
situations. Claudia Withers, EEOC’s
Chief Operating Officer, indicated that in order to provide better customer
service to complainants and agencies, EEOC had moved some hearings from one
district to another with smaller backlogs – as well as securing detail
assignments to increase the number of available Administrative Judges.
Era
Marshall, Director, Office of Equal Employment and Minority Affairs,
Smithsonian Institution and Council’s Vice-Chair, asked how EEO and HR
offices could work together on the Re-Entry Program. Chair Berrien encouraged Council members to
look at the transcript of the July 26, 2011 public meeting on the EEOC’s webpage,
as well as review the myth-busters blurbs by clicking here.
She indicated that EEOC also has provided technical assistance on this
issue upon request – as it’s done recently with the USDA.
Ms.
Marshall asked what are EEO offices to do if they are
approached by re-entry issues, considering that she thinks that they
bear no relationship to civil rights. A
Council member from the Air Force responded that they could fall under
prohibited personnel practices, in which case the employee could gain access to
the MSPB. Co-Chair Ponce stated that
they could also fall under EEO if the allegations fell under the disparate
impact theory.
Chair
Berrien ended her presentation by thanking the Council for the opportunity to
meet, saying that she looks forward to continue to work with the Council in the
future.
The Training Consortium
Charles
Pettit announced that the International Training Consortium and Gallagher &
Gallagher Worldwide were hosting a Thought Leadership Conference on Diversity
& Inclusion, Civility and Bias on March 26-28, 2012, at the Sheraton New
York Towers in New York City. He
indicated that the Council of Federal EEO and Civil Rights Executives would be
presenting at one of the workshops.
For
additional information on this conference, click on here.
The Diversity Group
Mauricio
Velasquez and Kevin Neal led a discussion and took notes on the reaction of
Council members on OPM’s call to federal agencies to prepare strategic plans on
diversity and inclusion.
For
additional information on this company, click here.
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Minutes9.98 contain the minutes for the September 22, 1998 meeting. (John Palguta, MSPB, discussed the Outstanding Scholar Program)
Minutes11.98 contain the minutes for the November 19, 1998 meeting. (Andrew Strojny, U.S. Dept. of Justice on Title VI)
Minutes1.99 contain the minutes for the January 20, 1999 meeting. (Discussion on the proposed 1614 regulations)
Minutes3-99 contain the minutes for the March 25, 1999 meeting. (Wilett Burton and Karen Freeman, Vice President Gore’s National Partnership for Reinventing Government; Council Recognizes Kathy Gause)
Minutes4.99 contain the minutes for the April 20, 1999 meeting. (Chris Kuczynski and Carol Miaskoff, EEOC, addressed reasonable accommodation issues for persons with disabilities)
Minutes699 contain the minutes for the June 4, 1999 meeting. (Miscellaneous)
Minut6-30 contain the minutes for the June 30, 1999 meeting. (Carlton Hadden, OFO Director)
Minutes799 contain the minutes for the July 16, 1999 meeting. (Miscellaneous)
Minutes999 contain the minutes for the September 22, 1999 meeting. (Miscellaneous)
Minutes1099 contain the minutes for the October 20, 1999 meeting. (U.S. Postal Service Mediation Program: REDRESS)
Minutes1199 contain the minutes for the November 16, 1999 meeting. (Henry Romero, OPM – Classification of EEO jobs)
Minutes124 contain the minutes for the January 24, 2000 meeting. (Classification of EEO jobs; Armando Rodriguez, OPM – Outstanding Scholar Program)
Minutes200 contain the minutes of the February 28, 2000 meeting. (Update on the National Partnership for Reinventing Government/ EEOC Interagency Federal EEO Task Force)
Minutes300 contain the minutes of the March 27, 2000 meeting. (Update on the National Partnership for Reinventing Government/ EEOC Interagency Federal EEO Task Force)
Minutes400 contain the minutes of the April 19, 2000 meeting. (National Science Foundation Diversity Initiative)
Minutes500 contain the minutes of the May 25, 2000 meeting. (Miscellaneous)
Minutes600 contain the minutes for the June 28, 2000 meeting. (Miscellaneous)
Minutes700 contain the minutes for the July 20, 2000 meeting. (Ponce receives the Secretary of the Treasury Award; Charles Fowler III – IRS EEO Office Modernization Initiative)
Minutes900 contain the minutes for the September 20, 2000 meeting. (Miscellaneous)
Minutes100 contain the minutes for the October 31, 2000 meeting. (Adalberto Bernal – Navy ADR Program)
Minutes101 contain the minutes for the January 30, 2001 meeting. (Miscellaneous; Council Recognizes Luther Santiful)
Minutes 301 contain the minutes for the March 16, 2001 meeting. (Miscellaneous)
Minutes 401 contain the minutes for the April 24, 2001 meeting. (Miscellaneous)
Minutes 501 contain the minutes for the May 22, 2001 meeting. (Miscellaneous)
Minutes601-2 contain the minutes for the June 19, 2001 meeting. (Sharon Rennert, EEOC, Office of Legal Counsel – Reasonable Accommodation Procedures)
Minutes701 contain the minutes for the July 24, 2001 meeting. (Dinah Cohen, CAP)
Minutes901 contain the minutes for the September 14, 2001 meeting. (EEOC Chair Cari Dominguez)
Minutes1001 contain the minutes for the October 30, 2001 meeting. (EEOC OFO Director Carlton Hadden)
Minutes302 contain the minutes for the March 19, 2002 meeting. (Council Report on the Reporting Authority of EEO Directors)
Minutes502 contain the minutes for the May 22, 2002 meeting. (Multiple Attorneys – Improving the Federal Sector Complaints Process)
Minutes902 contain the minutes for the September 24, 2002 meeting. (Don Names, EEOC – ADR)
Minutes 103 contain the minutes for the January 28, 2003 meeting. (Miscellaneous)
Minutes 503 contain the minutes for the May 20, 2003 meeting. (Gary Gilbert, Esq. – Compensatory Damages)
Minutes 603 contain the minutes for the June 17, 2003 meeting. (Joe Riddle, SES Learning Center, OPM – OPM’s New SES Development Program)
Minutes 703 contain the minutes for the July 22, 2003 meeting (Fair Credit Reporting Act). (Christopher Keller, FTC -- Fair Credit Reporting Act)
Minutes 903 contain the minutes for the September 23, 2003 meeting. (Mona Papillon, EEOC Office of Legal Counsel -- Title III of the No FEAR Act)
Minutes 104 contain the minutes for the January 21, 2004 meeting. (Title III of the No FEAR Act and OGC Interference Survey)
Minutes 204 contain the minutes for the February 25, 2004 meeting. (Julie Ferguson Queen, OPM -- Title II of the No FEAR Act)
Minutes 404 contain the minutes for the April 20, 2004 meeting. (Leroy Warren, NAACP)
Minutes 504 contain the minutes for the May 25, 2004 meeting. (Douglas Gallegos, EEOC -- MD-715)
Minutes 604 contain the minutes for the June 22, 2004 meeting. (Miscellaneous)
Minutes 704 contain the minutes for the July 27, 2004 meeting. (EEOC Commissioner Ishimaru)
Minutes 205 contain the minutes for the February 23, 2005 meeting. (George Nesterczuk – National Security Personnel System; Tonya Odom and Andrew Culbertson, EEOC AJs – expediting hearing requests)
Minutes 305 contain the minutes for the March 29, 2005 meeting. (MD-715)
Minutes 405 contain the minutes for the April 26, 2005 meeting. (MD-715)
Minutes 505 contain the minutes for the May 25, 2005 meeting. (EEOC Presentation & Title VI/IX Association)
Minutes 605 contain the minutes for the June 28, 2005 meeting. (ADA-ABA Guidelines)
Minutes 705 contain the minutes for the July 26, 2005 meeting. (EEOC Customer Service Survey)
Minutes 1005 contain the minutes for the October 26, 2005 meeting. (MD-715 Reports, Gerald Lucas, IWG)
Minutes 1105 contain the minutes for the November 30, 2005 meeting (IWG)
Minutes 206 contain the minutes for the February 22, 2006 meeting (EEO Survey, and the EEOC/IWG meeting)
Minutes 306 contain the minutes for the March 21, 2006 meeting. (Title VI and LEP presentations)
Minutes 406 contain the minutes for the April 26, 2006 meeting. (EEOC Vice Chair Naomi C. Earp)
Minutes 606 contain the minutes for the June 27, 2006 meeting (GAO Report on the lack of EEOC and OPM cooperation)
Minutes 906 contain the minutes for the September 26, 2006 meeting (HHS Hispanic Employment Initiative)
Minutes 1006 contain the minutes for the October 31, 2006 meeting (GAO Report on Hispanic Underrepresentation)
Minutes 1106 contain the minutes of the November 28, 2006 meeting (Virginia Andreu-Rosario discussed the EEOC Task Force on Hispanics)
Minutes 107 contain the minutes of the January 30, 2007 meeting (John Salamone, CHCO Council, EEOC Commissioner Christine Griffin, & draft applicant form)
Minutes 207 contain the minutes of the February 27, 2007 meeting (Steve Nelson, MSPB, Causes and Cures of Under-Representation)
Minutes 307 contain the minutes of the March 27, 2007 meeting (April Harris, OPM’s Attracting Talent Presentation)
Minutes 407 contain the minutes of the April 24, 2007 meeting (Contract Employees & Challenges of MD-715 Reports)
Minutes 507 contain the minutes of the May 30, 2007 meeting (Carlton Hadden, OFO Director)
Minutes 607 contain the minutes of the June 26, 2007 meeting (ADR Survey; Destin Enterprises, LLC; JDG Associates, Inc.; Contract Employees)
Minutes 707 contain the minutes of the Sept. 15, 2007 meeting (William Gil – HACU and HNIP)
Minutes 1007 contain the minutes of the October 23, 2007 meeting (EEOC Commissioner Stuart Ishimaru)
Minutes 1107 contain the minutes of the November 27, 2007 meeting (Matthew Perry -- EHRI Presentation)
Minutes 108 contain the minutes of the January 29, 2008 meeting (Congressman Danny K. Davis)
Minutes 208 contain the minutes of the February 27, 2008 meeting (EEOC Supervisory AJ Kokenge and Thadius Sale)
Minutes 308 contain the minutes of the March 26, 2008 meeting (applicant-flow; No Fear regulations; Matthew Fogg)
Minutes 408 contain the minutes of the April 30, 2008 meeting (EHRI Update)
Minutes 508 contain the minutes of the May 27, 2008 meeting (HSI lists and EEOC’s AAPI Work Group)
Minutes 908 contain the minutes of the September 23, 2008 meeting (Carlton Hadden provides EEO Update)
Minutes 1208 contain the minutes of the December 2, 2008 meeting (MicroPact’s E-versity; Lori Grant and part 2 of proposed changes to the MD-715 report; and Gary Gilbert and the ADAAA). In addition, a summary of the minutes of the October 28, 2008 meeting are included (Lori Grant and proposed changes to the MD-715 report).
Minutes 109 contain the minutes of the January 29, 2009 meeting (Presentations made by representatives from FEW, FAPAC, and the National Council of Hispanic Employment Program Managers).
Minutes 209 contain the minutes of the February 25, 2009 meeting (discussion on the pitfalls of preparing MD-715 reports).
Minutes 309 contain the minutes of the March 25, 2009 meeting (Christy Compton and Wilfredo Sauri discussed improvements to future MD-715 reports)
Minutes 409 contain the minutes of the April 22, 2009 meeting (Jorge Ponce discussed improvements to future MD-715 reports; NIH’s competency model for the 260 and 361 series; American Association for Affirmative Action)
Minutes 509 contain the minutes of the May 19, 2009 meeting (DHS proposal on collecting RNO data; Carol Miaskoff (EEOC) gave a presentation on E.O. 12067; Will Peratino, OPM, gave a presentation on GoLearn).
Minutes 609 contain the minutes of the June 24, 2009 meeting (I-Complaints Dashboard; Jorge Ponce discussed meeting with OPM officials on the classification of EEO jobs).
Minutes 909: meeting was held on September 29, 2009, at the Hubert H. Humphrey Building, in Washington, DC. Ernest Hadley and Garry Gilbert, both prominent attorneys, discussed the impact that the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in Ricci v. DeStefano will have on EEO programs. Gary also serves as Director of the Federal Employment Law Training Group, while Ernest is the President of the Federal Employment Law Training Group.
Minutes 1009 No. 2 contain the minutes of the October 27, 2009 meeting (Jody Wildy and Not in My Neighborhood; David Frank discussed the ADAAA Amendments; Janet Bashen discussed a case management and tracking software, EEOcaselink)
Minutes 1109 contain the minutes of the November 17, 2009 meeting (Dexter Brooks, EEOC, gave a presentation on the barrier analysis process under Management Directive 715. Mike Dole, U.S.. Dept. of Veterans Affairs, gave a presentation on ways to present the statistical information in MD-715 reports in a more user-friendly way for managers).
Minutes 110 contain the minutes of the January 26, 2010 meeting (Sue Webster, FEW National President; Madeline Caliendo, Associate Administrator, Office of Civil Rights, U.S. General Services Administration, gave a presentation on a training geared to managers and supervisors; discussion on the conflict with the 2010 EXCEL conference and the national conferences of LULAC, FEW, and NAACP).
March 310 contain the minutes of the March 4, 2010 meeting (OPM Director John Berry and Deputy OPM Director Christine Griffin).
Minutes 310-2 contain the minutes of the March 30, 2010 meeting (LRP Publications and the Ivy Planning Group).
Minutes 410 contain the minutes for the April 27, 2010 meeting (Dr. Ferentinos, MSPB; June Horner, HRSA).
Minutes 510 contain the minutes for the May 25, 2010 meeting (Dottie Li and accent reduction/modification; Kelly Goode and EEOC TAV’s; Nicole Johnson and OPM hiring reform).
Minutes 610 contain the minutes for the June 22, 2010 meeting (Jane Hyun and Cultural Fluency).
Minutes 910: meeting was held last meeting on September 29, 2010, at the Wilbur J. Cohen Building, in Washington, DC. Stephen M. Paskoff, Esq., founder and CEO of LEI, will give a compliance training entitled, “Why Teaching the Law Alone Just Won’t Do It.”
Minutes 1010 contain the minutes for the October 27, 2010 meeting (Carlton Hadden, EEOC)
Minutes 1110 contain the minutes for the November 17, 2010 meeting (John Benison, OPM, and Dr. Fountaine).
Minutes 111 contain the minutes for the January 11, 2011 meeting (Discussion by Council members of multiple civil rights issues).
Minutes 211 contain the minutes for the February 22, 2011 meeting (INSIGHT Into Diversity Magazine and website).
Minutes 411 contain the minutes for the April 7, 2011 meeting (Gary Gilbert and Ernest Hadley and OGC interference).
Minutes 411-2 contain the minutes for the April 28, 2011 meeting (Lee Mun Wah and the “future of diversity).
Minutes 511 contain the minutes for the May 25, 2011 meeting (Mark Williams discusses diversity, inclusion and FIND).
Minutes 911 contain the minutes for the Sept. 28, 2011 meeting (Sarah M. Montgomery and E-Discovery).
Minutes 1011 contain the minutes for the October 26, 2011 meeting (iDoxSolutions + Veronica Villalobos and the Diversity and Inclusion Initiative).
Minutes 1111 contain the minutes for the November 30, 2011 meeting (EEOC Commissioner Chai Feldblum and JJA Consultants).
Minutes 112 contain the minutes for the January 25, 2012 meeting (EEOC Chair Jacqueline Berrien).