NT Lakis attorneys submitted written comments this week to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on the agency’s Draft Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years (FY) 2018-22. Published for public comment on December 8, 2017, the draft Strategic Plan seeks to map out the EEOC’s enforcement and operational goals for the next four years. If approved by the Commissioners, it will replace the current Strategic Plan, under which the EEOC has been operating since 2012.

Our comments commend the EEOC for proposing to revise its current enforcement strategy by reining in some of the investigative and litigation abuses that became standard practice during the Obama Administration’s EEOC. For example, among the changes included in the draft Plan are abandonment of systemic litigation docket quotas in favor of numeric targets for achieving quality standards for agency investigations and conciliations.

Our comments also offer a number of recommendations on how the EEOC can further refine and improve its enforcement efforts, including:

  • Revising key strategic working documents such as the Strategic Enforcement Plan (SEP) and Quality Enforcement Practices Plan (QEP) to better align them with the objectives identified in the draft Strategic Plan;
  • Committing to resolve discrimination charge investigations within at least 180 days and resume publishing data on the average time it takes to process a charge;
  • Rescinding its delegation of litigation authority to the agency’s General Counsel; and

  • Making a concerted effort to expand its use of mediation and other forms of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) to resolve discrimination charges.

Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC) can read more here.