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Diversity, Equity, 

Inclusion, and Accessibility

Issuance System

DEIA-003

Date: 

 Office: Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Accessibility (ODEIA)

 Subject: Processing Claims of Discrimination on the Basis of Status as a Parent

1. PURPOSE. This DEIA Issuance establishes Departmental policy and procedures for

processing complaints of discrimination on the basis of status as a parent.

2. SCOPE. The provisions of this Issuance apply to all bureaus, offices, and organizations in

the Department, including the Offices of Inspectors General within the Department. The

Issuance applies to all Treasury employees, including consultants, detailees, temporary

employees, and interns (hereafter called employees), and contractor employees performing

work for the Department of the Treasury, its offices, and bureaus, whenever the employee is

working in a government-designated office, traveling, or working from home on behalf of the

Department. The provisions of this issuance shall not be construed to interfere with or

impede the authorities or independence of the Offices of Inspector General.

3. POLICY. It is the policy of the Department of Treasury (the Department or Treasury) to

process allegations of discrimination on the basis of status as a parent through the

Department’s modified Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) complaint structure.

4. DEFINITION. The following terms used in this directive are defined as follows.

a. Status as a parent. Refers to the status of an individual who, with respect to another

individual who is under the age of 18 or who is 18 or older but is incapable of self-care

because of a physical or mental disability, is: (1) a biological parent; (2) an adoptive

parent; (3) a foster parent; (4) a stepparent; (5) a custodian of a legal ward; (6) in loco

parentis over such an individual; or (7) actively seeking custody or adoption of such an

individual.

January 1, 2023
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5. RESPONSIBILITIES.

a. Heads of Bureaus shall ensure that:

1) Bureau policies regarding non-discrimination include prohibitions against

discrimination on the basis of parental status, and

2) Managers and supervisors are aware of their responsibilities under Executive Order

11478 (as amended by Executive Order 13152) and established policies and

procedures, and are held accountable for their conduct.

b. EEO Officers shall ensure that EEO counselors are prepared to:

1) Explain to employees, applicants, and former employees that the current federal nondiscrimination statutes do not prohibit discrimination on the basis of status as a

parent, and thus, there is no right to file a civil action in Federal District Court;

2) Advise employees, applicants, and former employees that complaints of

discrimination on the basis of status as a parent may nevertheless be processed

through the Department’s “modified” EEO complaint structure, and explain the

differences between the regulatory and the modified complaint structures;

3) Advise employees, applicants, and former employees that there are also other

possible avenues of redress for discrimination on the basis of status as a parent such

as:

a) requesting mediation under the Bureau’s Alternate Dispute Resolution program

(ADR);

b) filing a grievance under the negotiated grievance procedure in an applicable

collective bargaining agreement, if any;

c) filing a complaint with the Office of Special Counsel;

d) appealing to the Merit Systems Protection Board (if applicable); and

e) filing an administrative grievance.

4) Advise employees, applicants, and former employees that if the individual elects to

use one or more of the avenues identified in Section 5(b)(3)(b) – (e), above, the

modified complaint process will not be available, and any complaint filed under the

process will be dismissed;

5) Advise employees, applicants, and former employees that they have a right to

representation and to anonymity in the modified complaint process;

6) Advise employees, applicants, and former employees that when claims of

discrimination based on status as a parent are included with other bases of

discrimination covered by applicable statutes (race, color, religion, sex (including

pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity), protected genetic information,

national origin, age, reprisal, or disability), status as a parent must be processed

through the modified procedure, while the other claims are to be processed through

the procedures established by 29 C.F.R. Part 1614 (the Equal Employment

Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) regulations governing federal sector EEO

complaints). The individual has the right to hearing or to appeal a final agency

decision only on the claims covered by applicable statutes and the EEOC regulations

but not on the parental status claims.
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6. PROCEDURES.

a. An individual who believes they have been discriminated against because of status as a

parent and wishes to raise a claim of discrimination must follow the Department’s

modified complaint procedure unless the employee elects to raise the matter in a forum

outside the EEO complaint process (see Section 5B.(3)(b) - (e), above). The modified

complaint procedure follows the same procedures and standards as the statutory and

regulatory EEO complaint process, but with the following key exceptions: there is no

right to an EEOC hearing and no right to appeal a final agency decision to the EEOC or

any other administrative or judicial forum.

b. If the aggrieved individual elects to pursue a claim of discrimination on the basis of status

as a parent, they must contact an EEO counselor within 45 days of the date of the matter

alleged to be discriminatory or, in the case of personnel action, within 45 days of the

effective date of the action.

c. The EEO counselor will define the issues and bases of the claim and attempt resolution

through counseling activities and alternative dispute resolution. The counselor will also

advise the individual of their responsibilities under the modified complaint structure.

d. If the matter is not resolved within the 30-day counseling period (or the 90-day period for

ADR), the individual shall be provided with a Notice of a Right to File a Discrimination

Complaint. The individual must file the formal complaint with the Department of the

Treasury within 15 days of receipt of the Notice. The Notice of Right to File provided to

the individual contains instructions on where and how to file a complaint. If the

complaint is not filed within 15 days of receipt of the Notice, it may be dismissed as

untimely.

e. The Department of the Treasury shall acknowledge receipt of the complaint. The

Department will identify the issues raised in the formal complaint and may accept some

or all the allegations made. Dismissal of some or all the complaint allegations may occur

at any time pursuant to applicable statutory and/or regulatory provisions.

f. The Department will arrange for an investigation of the accepted allegations in the

complaint. Upon completion of the investigation, the individual is entitled to a final

agency decision. As indicated above, under the modified complaint structure, claims of

discrimination based on status as a parent are not entitled to a hearing before an EEOC

administrative judge.

g. The final agency decision will include a determination if discrimination occurred and will

prescribe corrective action, if appropriate. Under the modified complaint structure, for

claims of discrimination based on status as a parent, the decision of the Department is

final. There is no right to further review under the modified EEO complaint structure.

h. If the Department finds that discrimination has occurred, only “make whole” remedies

will be ordered. The goal is to place the Complainant in the same position as if the

discrimination had not occurred. Compensatory and/or any other monetary damages,

other than as specified herein, are not available. The remedy may include, but is not

limited to the following:

1) a commitment from the Agency that corrective or preventive action will be taken;

2) an offer of placement in the position at issue (or an equivalent position) the person

would have occupied absent discrimination;
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3) payment of any lost earnings or benefits the person may have been denied, including

back pay (only if the employee suffered a diminution in pay);

4) cancellation of any unwarranted personnel action and restoration of the employee’s

prior status;

5) expungement from the employee’s official personnel file of any adverse actions

relating to the discriminatory employment practice;

6) full opportunity to participate in the employee benefit denied (if any); and

7) attorney’s fees (only if the individual is entitled to a back pay award).

7. AUTHORITY. Executive Order 13152, amending Executive Order 11478, “Equal

Employment Opportunity in the Federal Government.”

8. CANCELLATION. The following guidance referencing Status as a Parent has been

cancelled. 

a. Office of Equal Opportunity Program (OEOP) Memorandum, “Processing Complaints of

Sexual Orientation Discrimination,” dated August 1, 1997, and as amended December

17, 1997.

b. OEOP Memorandum No. 007-01, “Parental Status Complaints,” dated October 30, 2001.

c. OEOP Memorandum No. 005-01, “Protected Genetic Information,” dated November 16,

2001.

d. Human Capital Issuance System Chapter 900, Transmittal Number 06-003, “Processing

Claims of Discrimination on the Basis of Sexual Orientation, Status as a Parent, and

Protected Genetic Information,” dated August 28, 2006.

e. CRD – 003 – Processing Claims of Discrimination on the Basis of Status as a Parent,

dated 05/16/2017.

9. OFFICE OF PRIMARY INTEREST. Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, (ODEIA) &

Accessibility and Office of Civil Rights and Equal Employment Opportunity (OCRE).

10. POLICY REVIEW. The provisions of this Issuance are subject to modifications by

changes in pertinent statutes and the EEOC regulations. The applicable provision or

provisions shall be amended or superseded through interim guidance effective on the dates

specified in any statutory or regulatory change. This Issuance will be reviewed after five

years.

____________________________

Snider Page

Acting Chief Diversity, Equity, Inclusion,

and Accessibility Officer