122 LRP 4799, EEOC OFO Appeal No. 2020003649 (OFO 2022)
Our client was a federal contractor at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). She filed an EEO complaint against ODNI, alleging race and sex discrimination. ODNI dismissed the complaint because our client was a contractor. We filed an appeal, with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Office of Federal Operations (OFO), arguing that ODNI was a joint employer under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The EEOC agreed, reversed the dismissal, and ordered ODNI to investigate the complaint.
After the investigation, our client requested a hearing with an EEOC administrative judge. The administrative judge issued a Notice of Dismissal for untimely EEO contact, concluding that our client should have reasonably suspected discrimination long before she initiated EEO counseling. We filed a second appeal with the EEOC OFO, arguing that our client was unaware of the 45-day deadline to initiate EEO counseling and that ODNI failed to prove her complaint was untimely. The EEOC again ruled in our client’s favor, concluding that ODNI must toll the deadline because the client was unaware of the time limit and did not know, until later, that discrimination had occurred. The EEOC remanded the case to the administrative judge for a hearing.
