The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced last month that it has launched an online inquiry form.
The online system is in the testing phase and available for only five offices: Charlotte, Chicago, New Orleans, Phoenix, and Seattle. Whether this new system will result in more charges is yet to be determined, but my guess is that it will do so dramatically! The purpose behind the system is to “make the EEOC much more accessible to the public,” according to the agency's Acting Chair, Victoria Lipnic. Currently the EEOC receives more than 585,000 calls a year. With that many reported calls, one can only imagine how many calls are dropped or cancelled when the caller loses patience with the looping elevator hold music.
Greater ease in filing EEOC charges means that this is a good time for employers to review what to do when a company receives a charge. Here are some tips:
- Don’t ignore it! The EEOC almost never sends a charge to the registered agent of a company. Sometimes, especially with small employers, the charge will end up at the receptionist’s desk or some other random location. Don’t let the charge fall through the cracks. Enter the response deadline in your calendaring system. Then go onto the EEOC web portal and enter the contact information of the appropriate company representative. That will ensure that the EEOC communicates with the right person.
- Contact your insurance company. If your company has Employment Practices Liability Insurance, the expenses incurred in responding to the charge may be covered or counted toward your deductible. If you are not sure whether you have EPLI, contact your broker. You have a limited amount of time to notify the insurer once you are on notice of a potential lawsuit, and an EEOC charge puts you on notice. You don’t want to skip this crucial step in case the charge turns into a lawsuit, possibly putting your company on the hook for the defense costs and any judgment that is entered.
- Contact your attorney. If you have an employment attorney, promptly notify him or her of the charge. If you do not have an employment attorney, seriously consider retaining one. You can represent yourself at the EEOC stage -- or you can be represented by an attorney who is not an employment lawyer -- but it is best to have the help of someone who is familiar with the applicable law and the agency processes.
- Gather all of your information/documents. Receiving a charge usually triggers what attorneys consider “litigation hold obligations." That is a fancy term for preserving documents that may be relevant to the dispute. In addition to paper documentation, it is important to preserve emails, text messages, and relevant social media sites from automatic destruction. (In the case of social media sites or web sites, you may have to "preserve" by taking screen shots.) Consult with your IT department or whoever performs your IT work. Any "default" destruction of electronic evidence should be deactivated while the charge is pending, and possibly longer.
- Decide whether to mediate. There are pros and cons to mediation, as opposed to submitting a response to the charge and letting the EEOC issue its determination. The EEOC has a good mediation program that is free to both parties and can often result in resolution of the charge before the costs and hostilities escalate too much.
⇥
⇥
⇥
⇥
⇥
Receiving a charge is never fun. But being knowledgeable about first steps helps ease the pain. Cross your fingers and hope that the new inquiry portal won’t have too much impact on the volume of filed charges!
- Partner
Alyssa works in Constangy's Macon, Georgia office. Alyssa practices in all areas of employment and labor law with an emphasis in employment litigation and management training. Alyssa has represented a broad range of clients in ...
Robin Shea has 30 years' experience in employment litigation, including Title VII and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act (including the Amendments Act).
Continue Reading
Subscribe
Contributors
- William A. "Zan" Blue, Jr.
- Obasi Bryant
- Kenneth P. Carlson, Jr.
- James M. Coleman
- Cara Yates Crotty
- Lara C. de Leon
- Christopher R. Deubert
- Joyce M. Dos Santos
- Colin Finnegan
- Steven B. Katz
- Ellen C. Kearns
- F. Damon Kitchen
- David C. Kurtz
- Angelique Groza Lyons
- John E. MacDonald
- Kelly McGrath
- Alyssa K. Peters
- Sarah M. Phaff
- David P. Phippen
- William K. Principe
- Sabrina M. Punia-Ly
- Angela L. Rapko
- Rachael Rustmann
- Paul Ryan
- Piyumi M. Samaratunga
- Robin E. Shea
- Kristine Marie Sims
- David L. Smith
- Jill S. Stricklin
- Jack R. Wallace
Archives
- December 2024
- November 2024
- October 2024
- September 2024
- August 2024
- July 2024
- June 2024
- May 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010