The EEOC has revised a policy aimed at protecting the privacy of federal employees who bring complaints of workplace bias and other violations under that agency’s authority, saying its solution made it difficult to use its decisions.
The EEOC in 2013 stopped using the complaining employee’s real name in the captions of its decisions, labeling them as “complainant” versus the pertinent employing agency, with an identifying number. However, the agency now will use a random name, generated by a computer program, consisting of a first name and last initial and that will have no relation to the employee’s actual name.
The goal is to make it easier to cite decisions for their precedential value and also to improve educational and outreach efforts, EEOC said.
“EEOC’s federal sector appellate decisions are a vital resource for our stakeholders in both the federal and private sectors to better understand the Commission’s application of the laws we enforce,” said chairwoman Jenny R. Yang in a statement. “The use of randomly generated names strikes a good balance between privacy interests and the ability of our stakeholders to readily reference the important principles in these decisions.”
An employee wishing to be identified by his or her real name in a case caption rather than by a randomly generated name may submit a written request to the EEOC.
Other agencies hearing complaints from federal employees, such as the MSPB, use the person’s real name in their citations unless there is a compelling reason for anonymity.
