EEOC Informal Discussion Letter

EEOC Office of Legal Counsel staff members wrote the following informal discussion letter in response to an inquiry from a member of the public. This letter is intended to provide an informal discussion of the noted issue and does not constitute an official opinion of the Commission.

Title VII and Other EEOC Enforced Laws: General Inquiry

December 15, 2015

Dear_:

Your letter dated November 10, 2015 to former U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Chair Jacqueline A. Berrien has been referred to this office for a response. Specifically, you ask for a "copy of the EEOC's most recent annual report, as well as any other information regarding the agency's mission, history, programs, and publications." You also state that you do not have access to a computer.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC or Commission) enforces the federal equal employment opportunity (EEO) laws.⁽¹⁾ The EEOC's job is to investigate specific allegations -- or "charges" -- of unlawful employment discrimination that are brought by applicants and employees, and then to determine whether or not it is likely that discrimination occurred as defined in the EEO laws.⁽²⁾ A determination of whether discrimination occurred is highly fact-dependent. It depends on how (and for what purpose) a covered employer, employment agency, or union acts or fails to act. The Commission's regulations and policies set forth the basic legal principles that guide the EEOC in applying the law to the facts of a particular charge of discrimination.

Please find attached to this letter a copy (107 pages) of the EEOC's most recent "Fiscal Year 2015 Performance and Accountability Report." Regrettably, since you do not have access to a computer, we cannot provide the information that you seek on the history, programs, and other publications of the agency. Such a request would be unduly burdensome due to the voluminous nature of the available information. However, the information may be available in or through a library.

If you believe that you have been discriminated against under any of the laws referenced above, you may file a charge of discrimination with the EEOC. You may call 1-800-669-4000 to locate the EEOC field office nearest to you.

This discussion is an informal discussion of the information that you seek and is not an official opinion of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. For further information, you may contact me at (202) 663-4645.

We hope this information is helpful to you.

Sincerely,

s/Carol R. Miaskoff
Acting Associate Legal Counsel

Attachment

FOOTNOTES:

1 The EEOC enforces the federal laws that prohibit employment discrimination by employers, employment agencies, and labor organizations on the bases of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or genetic information. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended (Title VII), 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq.; The Equal Pay Act of 1963, as amended (EPA), 29 U.S.C.§ 206(d); The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, as amended (ADEA), 29 U.S.C. § 621 et seq.; Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended (ADA), 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq.; Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. § 791, and Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA), 42 U.S.C. § 2000ff et seq.

2 See, e.g., 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5.

This page was last modified on January 19, 2016.