MINUTES FOR THE February 28,200 MEETING OF

MINUTES FOR THE MARCH 27, 2000 MEETING OF

THE COUNCIL OF FEDERAL EEO AND CIVIL RIGHTS EXECUTIVES

Sponsor: Ms. Delia Johnson, U.S. Information Agency

President: Mr. Luther Santiful (Director, Department of the Army EEO Agency) opened the meeting at 10:15 am.

All members in attendance identified their agency and introduced themselves.

Ms. Madeline Caliendo of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and a member of the National Partnership for Reinventing Government/ EEOC Interagency Federal EEO Task Force provided updates to the Council on the progress of the Task Force thus far.

The Task Force is looking for agencies to volunteer for pilot projects to test the proposed changes to the EEO process. Agencies interested in volunteering should email Ms. Delia Johnson, at djohnso@exchange.usia.gov. A series of Town Hall meetings are being held around the country to determine perceptions about the Commission's ongoing efforts to eradicate workplace bias in the federal government and to make the EEO process fairer and more efficient for federal employees and agencies alike. Information about the EEOC Interagency Task Force can be found at the EEOC website--http://www.eeoc.gov. A report of Task Force recommendations should be available by July 2000.

Edward Passman Esq. and Stephen Spitz Esq. of the Plaintiff’s Bar, discussed the lack of clarity for complaint processing and other procedures in the EEOC revision of 29 CFR 1614; for example, do changes apply to pending cases. There are similar problems in Management Directive (MD) 110; as an example, acknowledgement time frames differ widely. Previously, complainants were strictly held to EEOC time frames, but now, the same rules apply to agencies.

There was wide agreement on Office of Federal Operations (OFO) case management problems; for instance, OFO does not appear to have a docketing system. Moreover, where does correspondence go once received in OFO?

Further discussion included agency procedures during investigations, such as the need for starting complaint investigations earlier and the frequent reluctance of agencies to designate settlement authority to the official "at the table."

The Council recommended that Messieurs Passman and Spitz present the issues concerning 29CFR1614, MD 110, and OFO to the EEOC/NPR Task Force for consideration.

No further business was discussed, Mr. Santiful adjourned the meeting at 12:15 PM.