Appeals

You have the right to appeal an agency's final action (including one that dismisses your complaint) to EEOC's Office of Federal Operations. You must file your appeal no later than 30 days after you receive the agency's final action. You may file your appeal with EEOC online by using the EEOC Public Portal.  If you choose not to use the EEOC Public Portal to file your appeal, you must send your appeal by mail or hand deliver it.  

Filing Appeals Online Through the EEOC Public Portal

Complainants now have the ability to file their appeals and supporting documents online. The EEOC Public Portal is a secure, web-based application that allows individuals with discrimination complaints against the federal government to, among other things:

• Create an account
• File an appeal of an agency's final action on a formal EEO Complaint.
• Identify a representative and provide their contact information
• Submit and receive documents supporting their appeal

If you use the EEOC Public Portal to submit your appeal and/or supporting/opposing statement, the Public Portal will automatically notify the agency. 

If you choose to not use the EEOC Public Portal, you can

Mail your appeal or statement supporting or opposing an appeal to:

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Office of Federal Operations
P.O. Box 77960
Washington, D.C. 20013

If your appeal or statement is 10 pages or less, you can also fax it to the Office of Federal Operations at (202) 663-7022.

Finally, you can hand-deliver your appeal to:

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Office of Federal Operations
131 M Street, N.E.
Washington, D.C. 20507

However, if you elect not to use the Public Portal, you must provide a copy of your appeal to the agency and certify how and when you delivered this copy to the agency.

Form used to file the appeal by mail or hand delivery

To file your appeal, you should use EEOC Form 573, Notice of Appeal/Petition. This form is located at Appendix K to the EEOC's Management Directive 110 and is available on the EEOC's web site at https://www.eeoc.gov/federal/directives/md-110_appendix_p.cfm.

Submitting a statement either supporting or opposing an appeal

You are not required to send a statement in support of (or in opposition to) an appeal, but you can if you want to. If you do decide to send a statement, you must do so within 30 days of the day you file your appeal or, if it is a statement opposing an appeal, within 30 days from the day you receive a statement in support of appeal from the other party to the case. If you send your statement by mail, the date postmarked by the U.S. Postal Service is the date we use as the day your statement was filed.

If you need more time to send us your statement, you can ask for more time in writing. You can request the extension using the Public Portal, by uploading the request and identifying it as an "Extension Request" document type.  Alternatively, you can send the request to the Office of Federal Operations at the address above, or fax it to (202) 663-7022.  Regardless of how you submit your extension request, it must be sent (postmarked or faxed and received) before the 30 days pass. In your request, you should include specific justification for why you need more time.

How EEOC decides an appeal

EEOC lawyers review the entire file, including the agency's investigation, the decision of the Administrative Judge, the transcript of what was said at the hearing (if there was a hearing), and any timely statements submitted by the parties to the appeal. If there was a hearing, the facts decided by the Administrative Judge are taken as correct, unless the record clearly shows that the Administrative Judge made a mistake.

As a general rule, EEOC will not consider new evidence on appeal unless you can show that the evidence was not reasonably available when the agency's decision was made.  

Most appellate decisions are issued by EEOC's Office of Federal Operations (OFO). In some instances, such as when a case presents an issue not previously decided by the EEOC, the Commission will issue a decision.  Whether issued by OFO or by the Commissioners, the appellate decision represents EEOC's official position on the matter decided. Official dissenting opinions are not issued.

How to find out the status of my appeal?

If you want to find out the status of your appeal, you can check the status by logging into your case on the EEOC Public Portal once you have registered and created an account. Or, you can contact the EEOC Call Center at (800) 669-4000. Please have your ten-digit EEOC appeal number when you call to make it easier for us to serve you.

When the agency does not follow EEOC's decision on appeal

In most cases, agencies must give you the relief awarded within the time frame ordered by EEOC in its decision on appeal. If the agency fails to give relief within these time frames, you can either file a petition for enforcement with EEOC or file a lawsuit in court for enforcement of the award.

If the agency fails to follow an EEOC appeal decision, you can send a petition for enforcement to:

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Office of Federal Operations
131 M Street, N.E.
Washington, D.C. 20507

There is one exception to this general rule. An agency does not have to provide the relief awarded by an  Administrative Judge or EEOC on appeal while the agency's appeal of that award is being decided by EEOC. In such cases, if the agency loses its appeal, the agency will generally have to pay you interest on any money you are entitled to as part of the award.