Legislative lowdown: EEOC votes to overhaul federal discrimination complaint process

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently voted to advance a proposed rule that would transform the process federal employees undergo when filing discrimination complaints against the agencies they work for.

Under the proposed changes, federal employees wouldn’t have the right to join class-action complaints, unless they wanted to file such a case in federal court.

Additionally, the EEOC would no longer provide mandatory counseling to complainants, which is intended to inform them of their rights under EEO laws, and sometimes pursue informal resolutions. In lieu of mandatory counseling, federal employees would be asked to file a complaint to the EEOC within 60 days of an alleged discriminatory incident occurring. They would no longer be guaranteed a hearing with an EEOC administrative judge, however.

The proposed rule would also limit parties’ ability to engage in discovery, which up until now has allowed both sides involved in a case to gather and exchange information relevant to it.

Why EEOC leaders want to push through this rule. The two EEOC members who voted to move this rule forward argued it’s necessary in order to make the process of resolving discrimination cases more efficient.

EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas pointed to data from 2021–2025 that showed EEOC complainants whose cases were successful during this time period waited more than two years, on average, for a decision granting them relief. She noted that some cases take even longer.

Lucas argued that such trends hampered the EEOC’s mission to “ensure equal opportunity to all Americans,” and said the changes outlined in the proposal were “long overdue” during an Aug. 26 commission hearing.

The other Republican appointee who voted in favor of the proposed rule, Brittany Panuccio, said that when federal employees file a complaint after experiencing discrimination in the workplace, “they shouldn’t have to wait years for an answer.”

What this could mean for federal discrimination cases. While Kalpana Kotagal, the Democratic member of the EEOC, said there is “room for improvement” in the discrimination resolution process, she said the agency’s proposal “will make it harder for federal employees to challenge discrimination and easier for agencies to evade responsibility.” Kotagal voted against the proposed rule.

The largest union representing federal government employees similarly expressed concern that federal employees will have a harder time seeking relief for workplace bias under these proposed changes.

“The EEOC is undermining its legal responsibility and obligation to keep our federal workplaces free from discrimination and retaliation by proposing these radical changes to the existing complaint process,” Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees National, said in a statement. “Congress has repeatedly said it wants the federal government to be a model employer, and these proposed changes will make that endeavor more difficult to attain.”

Members of the public have until Sept. 28 to submit comments about the proposed (130-page) rule—just 30 days from when it was published in the Federal Register. Kotagal proposed a motion to extend the public comment period to 60 days, but it was struck down.