EEOC to Revamp Procedures for Handling Systemic Discrimination

April 11, 2006 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has adopted recommendations from an internal task force report that focus on strengthening the commission's nationwide approach to investigating and litigating systemic cases.

According to an EEOC news release, the recommendations adopted by the commission include:

  • Systemic investigations and litigation will be conducted in the field, and the systemic investigation and litigation units in headquarters will be eliminated.
  • Each district in the field must develop Systemic Plans to ensure that the Commission is identifying and investigating systemic discrimination in a coordinated, strategic, effective agency-wide manner.
  • The Office of General Counsel should facilitate the staffing of systemic cases using a national law firm model, whereby cases are staffed with employees who have the expertise needed in each particular case.

In addition, EEOC Chair Cari Dominguez issued a new directive to the Office of Information Technology to prepare an action plan addressing the Task Force’s recommendations related to technology, the release said. She also encouraged members of the commission to educate employers and other members of the public about systemic discrimination, including trends and issues the agency has identified and cases the agency has handled.

The task force was established in 2005 and charged with examining the EEOC’s systemic program and recommending new strategies for addressing this type of employment discrimination. The task force defined systemic discrimination as “pattern or practice, policy and/or class cases where the alleged discrimination has a broad impact on an industry, profession, company, or geographic location.”

The full task force report can is here .

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