Over 19,000 complaints of discrimination were filed
against federal agencies according to the Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission’s fiscal 2004 report
on the federal workforce, which provides agency profiles
of discrimination complaint processing and other
measures.
Most complaints – 7,782 — were for reprisal, followed
by 5,449 for age, 5,021 for race, and 5,613 alleging
gender discrimination, according to the report, and
agencies took on average 300 days to investigate
complaints last year, which declined six percent over 2003.
“Despite some agencies’ better efforts to process
discrimination complaints, they are constrained by a
system that is costly, cumbersome and inefficient,” said
Chair Cari M. Dominguez.
Agencies continued to go over the regulatory 180-day
time frame to investigate the complaints of mostly
harassment, promotion or non-selection, and terms and
conditions of employment, while 11,876 investigations
were completed last year to the tune of $55 million in
total benefits, said the report.
It also said the use of alternative dispute resolution
increased last year, and that of the 42,412 instances
of counseling slightly less than half resulted in the
filing of a formal complaint because of settlements
and withdrawals.
