THE COUNCIL OF FEDERAL EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY AND CIVIL RIGHTS EXECUTIVES

Minutes

May 22, 2001

This month’s meeting was hosted by Ana Ortiz, Co-Vice Chair at the National Science Foundation, Stafford II, Rm. 555, 4201 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA. Ms. Delia L. Johnson and Mr. Jorge E. Ponce, Council Co-Chairs, convened the meeting at 10:15 am.

The following Council Officers were present:

Delia L. Johnson, Co-Chair
Jorge E. Ponce, Co-Chair
Era L. Marshall, Co-Vice Chair

Ana Ortiz, Co-Vice Chair

Letter to President Bush

Jorge Ponce reported that the White House had not responded to the letter sent to the President on February 28, 2001, and, thus, he prepared a sequel letter that will be mailed shortly.

NPR EEO Task Force Draft Report

Delia Johnson asked the Council members in attendance to stay after the meeting to finalize the Council’s comments to the NPR EEO Task Force draft report.

Status of H.R. 169 (Notification and Federal Employee Antidiscrimination and Retaliation Act of 2001)

The Council Co-Chairs compiled the comments made at previous meetings and prepared a letter, which will be sent to House Judiciary Committee shortly, that documents the Council’s position on this bill. Latest status on HR 169: hearing held by the House Judiciary Committee on May 9, 2001. This bill will require federal agencies to foot the bill for any judgments or settlements resulting from complaints of discrimination or retaliation against whistleblowers—rather than having these awards paid out of a government-wide general fund.

Council Membership Directory

Jorge Ponce thanked Jackie Hoffman (Department of Navy) for her help in updating this directory. After receiving the directory from Ms. Hoffman, Jorge said that he contacted every Council member via e-mail to ensure that it contained the most current information. He will keep it on the What’s New directory of the Council’s webpage through Thursday, May 24, 2001, and he encouraged all members to download it. Jorge explained that the reason for not maintaining the directory indefinitely on the Council’s webpage was to protect the members from receiving unsolicited mail.

Mission Discussion

Jackie Hoffman introduced Mary Ryan (Department of Navy), who facilitated a discussion on developing a Council’s mission statement. After much discussion, the members decided on the following:

Provide leadership to Equal Employment Opportunity professionals in EEO, civil rights, and diversity, and effect improvement in these areas throughout the federal government.

Future Meetings

Delia Johnson asked members to contact the Council’s officers and suggest agenda items for upcoming meetings. She stressed that the planning of Council meetings had to be a collaborative effort, and urged members to share best practices with the group.

EEOC Meeting

Delia Johnson stated that she will attend a meeting with EEOC on June 7 to discuss the reaction of EEO professionals to the federal sector complaint processing regulations (29 CFR 1614), which became effective on November 9, 1999. Delia asked Council members to e-mail her their comments, before June 7, to djohnso@ibb.gov.

FDR Conference

Era Marshall reminded the group that several Council members will host the following training sessions at the FDR conference: settlement authorities; managing diversity effectively; and, getting along with your Office of General Counsel. FDR will be held this year in New Orleans on August 13-16.

The meeting was adjourned by the Co-Chairs at 12:10 pm.