EEOC TO REOPEN ITS NEW YORK HEADQUARTERS

Office Previously Destroyed in September 11 Terrorist Attacks

NEW YORK - The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced today that it will hold the grand reopening and dedication of its New York District Office, which was destroyed in the September 11 terror attacks, this Friday, November 15, 2002, at 10:00 a.m., at its new headquarters at 33 Whitehall Street in Lower Manhattan.

"This event is emblematic of the indomitable will of the EEOC and its brave employees to carry on their mission despite all the related to the September 11 terrorist attacks," said EEOC Chair Cari M. Dominguez, who will officially open the new headquarters - accompanied by Deputy New York City Mayor Carol Robles Roman, U.S. District Court Judge Denny Chin, EEOC Commissioners, and other dignitaries

The event will also feature the premiere of Phoenix Rising: The EEOC in New York, a documentary video which tells the story of how the EEOC in New York rose from the ashes of the September 11 disaster to continue its mission. The EEOC's New York District Office has jurisdiction over New York State and New England.

The EEOC's previous New York headquarters was in 7 World Trade Center, which collapsed on the afternoon of September 11 after the twin towers were destroyed. All employees escaped without injury, but all files and equipment were destroyed, and EEOC staff, working out of temporary offices, had to reconstruct lost information to continue its work on behalf of employment discrimination victims.

The EEOC enforces Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, the Equal Pay Act of 1963, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and sections of the Civil Rights Act of 1991. Further information about the Commission is available on the Agency's web site at www.eeoc.gov.