General EEO Complaint Procedure The Railroad
Retirement Board is an equal opportunity employer. It is
illegal to discriminate against employees or applicants for
employment on the bases of race, color, religion, sex,
national origin, physical or mental disability, or age. A
person who files a complaint or participates in an
investigation of an EEO complaint, or who opposes an
employment practice made illegal under any of the statutes
enforced by EEOC, is protected from retaliation.
Who May File a Complaint of Discrimination
If you are an RRB employee,
former employee or applicant for
employment and you believe you have been discriminated against
on the basis of one or more of the above categories, you have
the right to file a complaint of discrimination.
How to File
Your first step is to contact
the Office of Equal Opportunity (OEO) to make a request for an
EEO Counselor. The request must be made within 45 calendar
days of the alleged discriminatory act or, if the matter
involves a personnel action, it must be made within 45 days
after the effective date or the date you became aware of, or
reasonably should have become aware of, the alleged
discriminatory personnel action.
A member of the OEO staff
will assign and refer your complaint to a trained EEO
Counselor for an
informal inquiry. You may be provided the
option of participating in the agency’s Alternate Dispute
Resolution (ADR) Program. If offered, you may choose either
counseling or ADR. If counseling is elected, the EEO Counselor
will attempt to resolve the complaint, ordinarily within 30
days. An election for ADR will normally conclude within 90
days. At the end of counseling, or if ADR is unsuccessful, you
will be provided an opportunity to file a formal
complaint of discrimination.
You should also be aware that
there are federal protections from discrimination on other
bases including sexual orientation, status as a parent, and
marital status. OEO can provide information about the procedures for filing a complaint on
these bases.
Executive Order 13160 Complaint Procedure
This Executive Order provides that “No individual, on the basis of race,
sex, color, national origin, disability, religion, age,
sexual orientation and status as a parent, shall be excluded
from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be
subjected to discrimination in, a Federally conducted education
or training program or activity.”
Definitions
Federally conducted education
and training programs and activities include programs
and activities conducted, operated, or undertaken by an
executive department or agency.
Status as a parent
refers to the status of an individual who is:
- a biological parent;
- an adoptive parent;
- a foster parent;
- a stepparent;
- a custodian of a legal ward;
- in loco parentis over such an individual; or
- actively seeking legal custody or adoption of such an
individual.
To be covered by this procedure, the claimed parental status
must relate to a child or other individual who is under
the age of 18 or who is 18 or older but is incapable of
self-care because of a physical or mental disability.
Who may file a complaint under EO 13160
Any individual who believes that s/he has been discriminated
against by the RRB in violation of EO 13160 or its implementing
regulations, rules, or policies may, personally or through a representative,
file a written complaint with the RRB.
How to file a complaint
Complaints must be addressed, within 180 calendar days of
the alleged noncompliance or the date the complainant
became aware of the noncompliance, in writing, to the address
below:
Henry Valiulis
Director of Administration
Railroad Retirement Board
844 North Rush Street
Chicago, Illinois 60611-2092
The Director of Administration (DA) will forward all complaints
to the Office of Equal Opportunity (OEO) for processing.
The Director of Equal Opportunity (DEO), or his/her designee,
will accept and arrange for investigation of all complete
complaints for which the agency has jurisdiction.
Complete Complaints
In order to be accepted by the RRB, all written complaints
must be “complete complaints.” A complete complaint must:
- include the name, address, and telephone number of the
complainant;
- identify whether the complainant is a federal employee
and whether the complainant’s involvement in the relevant
education program was related to his/her employment;
- describe the alleged discriminatory conduct in sufficient
detail to inform the agency as to the nature and approximate
date of the alleged violation; and
- be signed by the complainant or by someone authorized
by the complainant to sign on his/her behalf.
Acceptance and processing of incomplete complaints will
be delayed pending receipt of additional information.
Time Limits for Filing
Complaints under EO 13160
As a general matter, all complaints must be filed within
180 days of the alleged discrimination. However, the RRB
may extend this time limit for the reasons cited below:
- if the complainant can demonstrate that s/he had no
notice of the time limit and was not otherwise aware of
it; or
- if the complainant can demonstrate that s/he was prevented
by circumstances beyond his/her control from submitting
the complaint in a timely fashion; or
- for other reasons, or under other circumstances, considered
sufficient by the RRB.
For purposes of determining when a complaint is timely
filed, a complaint mailed to the RRB will be deemed filed
on the date that it is postmarked. Any other complaint will
be deemed filed on the date that it is received by the DA,
OEO or any other RRB office, or by the RRB mailroom, whichever
is earlier.
If a complaint is filed within 180 days of the alleged
discrimination, but the RRB subsequently determines that
the complaint is not a “complete complaint,” the complainant’s
claims shall nevertheless be deemed filed in a timely manner,
and the complainant shall be given an appropriate opportunity
to amend his/her original complaint.
If a complaint is rejected as untimely filed, the complainant
will be so notified within 10 work days of receipt of the
complaint and will be afforded an opportunity to present
any mitigating reasons for the untimely filing of the complaint.
Class Complaints
Any individual who believes that any specific class of
persons has been subjected by the RRB to discrimination
prohibited by EO 13160 or any of its implementing regulations,
rules, policies, or guidance, including DOJ’s Guidance Document,
may file a class complaint with OEO, provided that the individual
is either a member of the allegedly aggrieved class of persons
or a representative of a member of the allegedly aggrieved
class of persons.
If a claim of class discrimination is employment related
and the individual bring-ing the claim has not already filed
an EEO claim, OEO will give the individual the option of
having the claim handled in the EEO complaint forum (provided
such a complaint would be timely filed). This procedure
will provide the most structured manner of adjudicating
the claim and will maximize the class members’ ability to
obtain relief if the claim is sustained.
Class complaints filed solely under EO 13160 will be handled
in a manner similar to individual complaints, relying on
EEOC guidance and applicable case law relative to processing
and adjudicating class complaints of discrimination.
Section 501/504/508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 Complaint Procedure
- Section 501 – prohibits discrimination and requires
affirmative action in Federal employment for individuals
with disabilities
- Section 504 – prohibits discrimination on the basis
of disability in Federally conducted programs
- Section 508 – requires accessibility of electronic
and information technology for Federal employees and
individuals with disabilities who are members of the
public seeking information or services from a Federal
agency. Section 508 also
requires that individuals with disabilities, who are
members of the public seeking information or services
from a Federal agency, have access to and use of
information and data that is comparable to that
provided to the public who are not individuals with
disabilities, unless an undue burden would be imposed
on the agency.
- Reasonable Accommodation – RRB procedure for providing
reasonable accommodation to the known physical or mental
limitations of a qualified applicant or employee with
a disability
Who may file a complaint under Section
501/504/508
Any individual with a disability
who believes that the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) has
failed to comply with these requirements may
file a complaint regarding the allegation(s).
Complaints from RRB employees
will be processed in accordance with existing procedures
set forth in 29
CFR Part 1614, pursuant to
Section
501 of the Rehabilitation Act.
All other complaints will be
processed in accordance with the procedures set forth below.
Responsibility for this procedure
is vested in the RRB's
Director
of Administration and delegated to the
Director
of Equal Opportunity for implementation.
How to file a complaint
Complaints alleging noncompliance must be addressed, in writing, to the address below, within 90 calendar
days of the alleged noncompliance or the date the complainant
became aware of the noncompliance.
Henry Valiulis
Director of Administration
Railroad Retirement Board
844 North Rush Street
Chicago, Illinois 60611-2092
The Director of Administration
will forward all complaints to the Office of Equal Opportunity
(OEO) for processing. The Director of Equal Opportunity,
or his/her designee, will accept and arrange for investigation
of all complete complaints for which the agency has jurisdiction.
Complete Complaint
A "complete complaint"
is a written statement that contains the complainant's name
and address and describes the agency's actions in sufficient
detail to inform the agency of the nature and date of the
alleged violation. A complaint filed on behalf
of a class or third party(s) must describe or identify (by
name, if possible) the alleged victims of the noncompliance.
- it must be signed by the complainant
or by someone authorized to do so on his/her behalf.
- it must describe the date of
the alleged noncompliance; the identity and location (as
applicable) of the office, program or activity where the
alleged noncompliance occurred; the nature of the alleged
noncompliance; the identity (if known) of any agency official(s)
responsible for the alleged noncompliance; and the relief
sought.
- acceptance and processing of
incomplete complaints will be delayed pending receipt
of additional information.
Further Information
For further information regarding
laws, regulations, EO's,
AFGE Bargaining Agreements, complaint processing procedures,
appeals or other questions regarding any
of the aforementioned complaint procedures,
contact:
Lynn Cousins |
Office of Equal Opportunity |
US Railroad Retirement Board |
844 North Rush Street, Room 844 |
Chicago, IL 60611-2092 |
Telephone:
|
(312) 751-4942
|
Facsimile: |
(312) 751-7179 |
TDD: |
(312) 751-4334 |
Email: |
Lynn.Cousins@rrb.gov |
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