MINUTES FOR THE OCTOBER 31, 2000 MEETING OF THE COUNCIL OF FEDERAL EEO AND CIVIL RIGHTS EXECUTIVES

Sponsored by Brenda Manuel-Alexander, Director, Discrimination Complaints Division, National Aeronautics & Space Administration.

Adalberto (Beto) Bernal, from the Department of the Navy, gave a briefing on the latest developments on the Navy ADR Program. President Clinton signed legislation on October 30, 2000, authorizing the Department of Defense to set up an EEO Pilot Program that is NOT subject to certain EEOC requirements. The Navy Dept. played an important part in developing this Program, which was previously invalidated by EEOC for not following its own regulations. Considering that it saved the Navy $3M and cut down significantly on the time it took to get a final decision, the Navy fought back to get the Program reinstated, which the President finally did by signing H.R. 4205, section 1111. GAO will issue its first assessment report on the Pilot Program on December 2001. Among the things that stand out with the Pilot Program is that complainants do NOT get a chance to request an EEOC hearing, which partially explains why the time to get a decision is shortened. So far, MSPB cases and class action complaints are excluded from the Pilot Program. For additional information on the White House press release and on the previous invalidation of the program, go to the Council’s webpage and click on the What’s New directory. For a comparison of the Pilot Program with the traditional EEO program, go to http://www.donhr.navy.mil/general/eeoreeng.doc. [The Council notes that the Navy Pilot Program is primarily run by the Human Resources Office (HRO)].

Delia Johnson, Vice-Chair, stated that Department of State Broadcasting Board of Governors has purchased copies of the FPMI publication entitled Federal Manager’s Guide for Liability for all its supervisors. If you order multiple copies of this publication, you can get a big discount. For ordering information, go to the FPMI webpage at http://www.fpmi.com.

Bonita White, from the Department of Health and Human Services, said that at the latest Senior Leadership Committee meeting, it was announced that NPR expects to issue all the EEO reports, with 45 recommendations, by the end of November 2000.

Luther Santiful appointed a Nominating Committee for the next election of Council officers. The Committee is made up of Kathleen Aram, from the Smithsonian Institution, John Tomas from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and Bonita White from the Department of Health and Human Services. The slate of candidates will be presented at the November 28^th meeting, and the election will be held at the December meeting.

Jorge Ponce, Vice-Chair, explained that the Council charter called for the candidates running for office to have attended at least fifty percent of the Council meetings during the pertinent 2-year period, and that officers cannot hold the same office for more than two consecutive terms.