EEOC Celebrates 25th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act July 23

Announces Memorandum of Understanding with Department of Justice, Issues Updated "ABC's of Schedule A" Brochures and Launches ADA 25th Anniversary Webpage

 

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) will commemorate the 25th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) jointly with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) at an event at DOJ headquarters. During the event, the two agencies will announce a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) designed to strengthen EEOC and DOJ's Civil Rights Division's enforcement of the ADA and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA).

Title I of the ADA prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in employment. GINA bars the use of genetic information in making employment decisions.

Keynote speakers at the July 23 event will include EEOC Commissioner Chai Feldblum, Attorney General Loretta Lynch, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, former Senators Bob Dole and Tom Harkin, and Representative Steny Hoyer. Six individuals who EEOC or DOJ has assisted will participate in a panel discussion about the role the ADA played in their lives and the federal government's efforts to help them address the discrimination they faced.

"As we celebrate the ADA, the world's first comprehensive civil rights law for people with disabilities, we reflect on the critical role that EEOC plays in fulfilling its promise," said EEOC Chair Jenny R. Yang. "We look forward to working with employers and the disability community to make continued progress in the years ahead."

EEOC and DOJ together enforce the ADA's provisions concerning public sector employers. The MOU directs EEOC and DOJ to coordinate investigations of charges of discrimination on the basis of disability, while respecting the distinct responsibilities and enforcement priorities of each agency. Further, the MOU calls for the agencies to share information, as appropriate and to the extent allowable under law.

In time for the 25th anniversary of the ADA, EEOC also will issue its updated five "ABCs of Schedule A" brochures. Schedule A enables federal agencies to streamline the hiring process for qualified individuals with intellectual, severe physical or psychiatric disabilities. The brochures provide updated information on the Schedule A hiring authority for applicants with disabilities seeking federal jobs and for officials assisting people with disabilities to obtain federal jobs.

EEOC partnered with its sister agencies, including the Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy and the Office of Personnel Management, in updating the Schedule A brochures. The brochures can be found on the EEOC's website at: http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/initiatives/lead/abcs_of_schedule_a.cfm.

In addition, EEOC will launch an ADA 25th anniversary page on the Commission's website. The new webpage provides helpful details about disability rights and responsibilities, information on EEOC's efforts on behalf of people facing discrimination in their workplace based on disabilities, and milestones in the history of EEOC's enforcement of the Act. The webpage can be found at www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/history/ada25th/index.cfm.

EEOC Commissioner Chai Feldblum said, "We have accomplished so much since passage of the ADA 25 years ago, and we have much to celebrate. Still, there is more work to be done to ensure that the promise of the ADA becomes a reality for all.  I am proud that the EEOC has been such a stalwart player in enforcing the ADA over the past 25 years. But this agency will never rest on its laurels."

Source: EEOC

This information is intended to be educational and should not be considered legal advice on any specific matter.

DOJ and EEOC Sign Memorandum Of Understanding to Further the Goals of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in Prohibiting Employment Discrimination in State and Local Governments

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) Civil Rights Division yesterday signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to further the goals of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in prohibiting employment discrimination in the state and local government sector. The signing ceremony took place on Monday, March 2, at DOJ's headquarters in Washington, D.C., and included remarks from Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta of the Civil Rights Division and EEOC Chair Jenny Yang.

EEOC and DOJ share enforcement authority for public sector employers under Title VII. The EEOC receives, investigates and mediates charges of discrimination against public employers. Where the EEOC finds reasonable cause to believe an unlawful employment practice has occurred, the agency works with the employer to negotiate a mutually agreeable resolution to the charge. If conciliation of a charge fails, the EEOC refers the charge and its investigative file to DOJ, which has sole authority within the federal government to file a lawsuit against public employers under Title VII.

The MOU includes provisions for the coordination of the investigation of charges of discrimination on the basis of any characteristic protected by Title VII, while respecting the distinct responsibilities and enforcement priorities of each agency. Further, the MOU includes provisions for sharing information, as appropriate and to the extent allowable under law.
 
This MOU codifies a pilot project launched in 2009 by DOJ and EEOC. The pilot, which began with four of EEOC's district offices, has been expanded over the years and now includes the Chicago, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia and San Francisco District Offices, as well as the Washington, D.C. Field Office, among others. Over the years, the pilot has served to enhance the effectiveness of the nation's equal employment opportunity enforcement program in the public sector, ensuring the efficient use of resources and a consistent enforcement strategy.

"The MOU brings to life our vision to approach our shared Title VII enforcement responsibilities as a partnership," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Gupta. "It institutionalizes that partnership and provides a concrete framework for expanding our collaborations and increasing our effectiveness in protecting the employment rights of public sector workers."

"Our state and local governments provide essential services that affect all of us every day in every part of our lives," said EEOC Chair Yang. "One of the greatest tools that our public institutions have for inspiring trust and credibility in our communities is to ensure that all public employees enjoy equal opportunity at work. That is the significance of the MOU we sign today."

There have been several successful examples of the existing partnership between EEOC and DOJ, including the settlement of Murphy-Taylor v. State of Maryland, et al., a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit involving the Queen Anne's County Sheriff, in which the United States intervened; the settlement with the Board of Education, Berkeley School District 87, Cook County, Illinois, over religious accommodation discrimination; and a settlement with Clark County, Nevada, for wage discrimination and retaliation against an African-American female manager resulting in $179,000 in monetary relief.

The MOU is just one example of the enforcement partnership between the EEOC and DOJ. The agencies collaborate on several interagency taskforces and working groups, including the Federal Interagency Reentry Council, the National Equal Pay Enforcement Taskforce, the Curb Cuts to the Middle Class Initiative, the Task Force to Monitor and Combat Human Trafficking, the Interagency Working Group for the Consistent Enforcement of Federal Labor, Employment and Immigration Laws, and most recently an interagency working group on police force diversity.

The MOU and information about Title VII and other federal employment laws is available on the Employment Litigation Section of the Civil Rights Division's website or the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's website.

Source: Department of Justice and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

This information is intended to be educational and should not be considered legal advice on any specific matter.

EEOC and OSC Renew Agreement Strengthening Enforcement of Federal Sector EEO Laws

Memorandum of Understanding Addresses Agencies in Noncompliance

 

Jacqueline Berrien, chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and Carolyn Learner, head of the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC), today signed a renewed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to enhance efficiency and enforcement of federal sector equal employment opportunity laws. The full text of the MOU is available online at www.eeoc.gov/laws/mous/index.cfm.

"Renewing this important interagency agreement will increase efficiency and lessen duplication of efforts between our two agencies in joint enforcement efforts to further protect federal workers from employment discrimination," said EEOC Chair Berrien during a signing ceremony at the Commission's headquarters.

"We are pleased to renew our collaborative relationship with the EEOC," said Special Counsel Carolyn Lerner. "This agreement helps ensure that civil rights violations in the federal government don't go unpunished."

The MOU, which supersedes all prior ones, includes -- but is not limited to -- the following:

• EEOC shall refer to OSC for potential enforcement action cases in which the EEOC finds that an agency or an officer or employee thereof has discriminated against any employee or applicant for employment.
• EEOC shall refer to OSC for potential enforcement action cases in which an agency fails to comply with an EEOC order and any other case or matter that the EEOC believes warrants enforcement by OSC.
• If the EEOC has indicated that appropriate action has not and will not be taken by the employing agency, OSC may investigate the matter to the extent necessary to determine whether there is sufficient basis for initiating disciplinary action.

The EEOC's Office of Federal Operations and OSC's Investigation and Prosecution Division are designated to coordinate and implement the MOU's provisions.

Source: EEOC

This information is intended to be educational and should not be considered legal advice on any specific matter.

MOU - Employee Misclassification - Which States Have Signed?

The Federal Department of Labor and the Colorado Department of Labor and  Employment, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Dec. 5 regarding the improper classification of employees as independent contractors.  This partnership is the 11th of its kind for the U.S. Department of Labor.

Memorandums of understanding with state government agencies arose as part of the U.S. Department of Labor's Misclassification Initiative, which was launched under the auspices of Vice President Biden's Middle Class Task Force with the goal of preventing, detecting and remedying employee misclassification.  In 2010, the Wage and Hour Division collected nearly $4 million in back wages for minimum wage and overtime violations under the Fair Labor Standards Act that resulted from employees being misclassified as independent contractors or otherwise not treated as employees.

To see which states have signed and / or to read the MOUs visit http://www.dol.gov/whd/workers/misclassification/stateinfo-nojs.htm. 

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