MINUTES FOR THE JUNE 28, 2000 MEETING OF
THE COUNCIL OF FEDERAL EEO AND CIVIL RIGHTS EXECUTIVES
Sponsor: Ms. Ruby Thomas, Office of Thrift Supervision
Vice Chair: Mr. Jorge Ponce opened the meeting at 10:10 am.
All members in attendance identified their agency and introduced themselves.
Ms. Thomas gave an overview of the Department of the Treasury’s Diversity Day activities in her agency and provided copies of handouts, used as training aids.
Mr. Ponce discussed the highlights of Summit III, which was held on May 17, 2000, at the State Department. The goal of Summit III, which was co-sponsored by the National Association of Hispanic Federal Executives (NAHFE) and the Department of Treasury, was to develop strategies that would increase the representation of Hispanics in the GS-15 through SES levels in the federal sector. Approximately 145 SESers and 20 GS-15s attended the Summit. NAHFE was tasked with writing the Summit III report, which it hopes to complete by November 14, 2000.
Mr. Ponce also indicated that Summit IV, which will be sponsored by NAHFE and the Departments of Commerce and Labor, is tentatively scheduled for September 2001. NAHFE has decided to invite a greater number of GS-15s to this Summit.
For additional information about these Summits, or the upcoming NAHFE Conference (November 14-17, 2000), go to the NAHFE webpage at http://www.nahfe.org.
Attendees were reminded to check the Council website for vacancy announcements and information about upcoming Council meetings.
Council members discussed the impact of Executive Order (EO) 13160, Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Race, Sex, Color, National Origin, Disability, Religion, Age, Sexual Orientation, and Status as a Parent in Federally Conducted Education and Training Programs. Members agreed that the EO would require agencies to better track employee training opportunities. The consensus was that agencies do a poor job of tracking employee training, and that training is often the key to advancement. It was suggested that employees and employee professional organizations should make inquires to agencies about how training is documented.
The Council’s position letter on the Office of Personnel Management’s draft Job Family Standard for Administrative Work in the Human Resources Management Group, GS-0200A, and the JFS for Assistance Work in the Human Resources Management Group, GS-0200C and proposal for changes to series performing equal employment opportunity and civil rights work is now posted on the Council’s website at http://www.fedcivilrights.org/260Series.html. Mr. Ponce exhorted Council members to consider the consequences of OPM’s proposed occupational series for EEO and civil rights work and the importance of conveying the roles of EEO and civil rights professionals within their respective agencies.
Members were informed about the following postings on the Council website: Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Products, Inc. (99-536) 197 f.3d 688, Reversed – a recent US Supreme Court decision, making it easier for complainants to prove management’s intentional discrimination; an excerpt of the EEOC decision invalidating Department of the Navy’s pilot Alternate Dispute Resolution program (Philips and Littlejohn v. Danzig, Secretary, Department of the Navy, 100 FEOR 3173 (EEOC 6/8/00); a copy of the Department of Commerce Hispanic Employment Plan; a letter to OPM requesting feedback on the 1996 Adarand Task Force (see Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Pena 115 S. Ct. 2097 (1995).
Mr. Ponce indicated that in the absence of guidance from the 1996 Adarand Task Force, EEO and Personnel Specialist still have many unanswered questions on the impact that the Supreme Court’s Adarand decision had on affirmative employment programs in the federal sector. He stated that while the 1996 Adarand guidance from the Department of Justice was helpful, many considered it too legalistic. Council members decided to send a letter, similar to the one sent to OPM, to the EEOC Chairwoman on this issue.
Council members also decided to prepare a letter to the Presidential Management Council regarding the lack of implementation of previous recommendations developed by the National Partnership for Reinventing Government. The majority of Council members considered this a priority item in light of upcoming recommendations from NPR.
Mr. Adalberto Bernal, from the Department of the Navy, gave a presentation on the presently suspended ADR pilot program. Mr. Bernal indicated that using the reengineered complaint process dramatically reduced the complaint processing time, 55% of complaints were resolved at the counseling stage, and resulted in a 30 million dollar cost savings. A complete description of the pilot program is at http://www.donhr.navy.mil/general/eeoreeng.doc.
This year, the Council is sponsoring an interactive pre-conference session at the annual Federal Dispute resolution conference in Los Angeles, California. Topics for discussion include ADR, framing claims, and processing complaints under the revised 29CFR1614.
Mr. John Tomas (john.tomas@eeoc.gov) requested agency feedback on pages 6-17 of MD110, regarding a federal sector requirement to establish a process to request official time for complaint processing.
Please contact Ms. Marcia Coates (marcia.coates@do.treas.gov) if you are interested in being part of an Inter-Agency Group for sharing and writing final agency decisions—similar to the shared-neutral program with ADR.
The July Council agenda includes a discussion by the Chief of Diversity from the US Department of the Treasury Department, Ms. Thelma Harris, on the Modernization of IRS as an Organization and the Impact on the Agency and EEO.
The meeting adjourned at 12:05. The date of the next meeting is Thursday, 20, 2000. For additional details, check the "What's New" directory in the Council's webpage at http://www.fedcivilrights.org.