§319 Office of Employment Discrimination Complaint Adjudication

Summary

Creates an Office of Employment Discrimination Complaint Adjudication and a Director to run it. The Director must be a career Senior Executive Service appointee and must report directly to the Secretary or Deputy Secretary. The Director must make the Department’s final decision on the merits of any discrimination complaint filed by an employee or job applicant, and must decide fairly. No one may have private one-sided contact with the Director or Office staff about a case the Director will decide. If the Director believes retaliation happened for asserting equal‑employment rights, the Director must tell the Secretary or Deputy Secretary, who must act. The Office must hire enough lawyers and staff to do its work. Lawyers must be paid at levels like those in the Office of the General Counsel. The Secretary must give the Director enough resources so the Office can work on time. Performance reviews for the Director or staff must not be based on whether their decisions favored or opposed the Department.