For federal employees or applicants who want to appeal a discrimination case, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) just released a guide to help those who don’t have lawyers navigate the appeals process and write better arguments.
- Edmund Chiang, senior attorney advisor at the EEOC, said his organization developed the guide after conducting focus groups a couple years ago that revealed a need for additional information about the appeals process.
- Chiang explained that a federal employee or job applicant who believes an agency discriminated against him or her should first contact the agency, and if the claim is dismissed, appeal the decision to the EEOC’s Office of Federal Operations with an optional appeals brief.
- He said there are about 5,000 appeals every year, about 75% are submitted without lawyers and approximately half of those do not include appeals briefs.
