Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)

EEOC Public Portal User’s Guide

Vol 6 – Hearings with the EEOC

February 27, 2019
EEOC Public Portal User’s Guide – Vol 6 Page i

Table of Contents

Table of Contents .....................................................................................................i

Introduction to the EEOC Public Portal....................................................................1

About the User’s Guide............................................................................................1

Chapter 1 Request a Hearing with EEOC..............................................................2

Chapter 2 Viewing and Managing Information About Your Case..........................8
EEOC Public Portal User’s Guide – Vol 6 Page 1

Introduction to the EEOC Public Portal

The EEOC Public Portal is a secure, web-based application developed for individuals to interact 

with the EEOC regarding a complaint of employment discrimination. Using the EEOC Public 

Portal, you may file a complaint against an employer in the Private Sector (i.e. Business or 

non-profit) or a State or Local Government Agency. If you work or worked for the U.S. Federal 

Government as an employee or a contractor, or applied to work for the Federal Government, 

you may request a hearing with or appeal a decision to the EEOC regarding your formal EEO 

complaint. The EEOC Public Portal is the primary point of communication between you and 

the EEOC. 

About the User’s Guide

The EEOC Public Portal User’s Guide (“User’s Guide”) provides comprehensive guidance for 

using the EEOC Public Portal’s features and functions. The User’s Guide is published as 

individual documents, each of which covers a particular feature or related features of the 

EEOC Public Portal. 

The following EEOC Public Portal User’s Guide documents are available; the highlighted 

Document Name is the one you’re reading right now:

❖ Vol 1 – Getting Started (learn about logging into the EEOC Public Portal, the Portal 

structure, and other basic information)

❖ Vol 2 – Submit an Online Inquiry to the EEOC 

❖ Vol 3 – Post-Inquiry Tasks (learn about scheduling an interview with the EEOC, 

entering Supplemental Information, filing a Charge of Discrimination)

❖ Vol 4 – Post-Charge Tasks (learn how to check the status of your case, respond to an 

Invitation to Mediate, request/respond to a Respondent’s Position Statement) 

❖ Vol 5 – Charge Closure (learn what happens during the conclusion of an 

investigation/conciliation/closure and about your right to sue)

❖ Vol 6 – Hearings with the EEOC

❖ Vol 7 – Appealing Federal Agency Decisions to the EEOC

❖ Vol 8 – Manage Your Case/Charge Information (learn how to display information 

about your case, enter/update your personal information, add Legal Representatives, 

and submit/receive documents associated with your case)
EEOC Public Portal User’s Guide – Vol 6 Page 2

Chapter 1 Request a Hearing with EEOC

When you file a formal EEO Complaint with a Federal Government agency, that agency is 

expected to complete its investigation within 180 days from the day the complaint was filed; 

or, if the complaint was amended, 180 days from the day it was amended. The agency is then 

expected to issue a final decision on your complaint, and issue you its Report of Investigation 

and/or a Notice of Right to Request a Hearing. If you have received the Report or the Notice, 

or if more than 180 days have passed since you filed or amended your complaint, you may 

request a hearing with an EEOC Administrative Judge

To request a hearing on your complaint through the EEOC Public Portal, perform the following 

steps:

Step 1. On the home page, click Filing with EEOC.

Step 2. When asked to identify the Type of Employer you believe discriminated against 

you, select ‘Federal Government agency...’ and click on the Next button.

Step 3. An informational page displays with links to help you learn more about EEOC and 

the hearing and appeal processes. When you are ready to continue, click on the 

Next button.

Step 4. The What would you like to do? page displays. Select Request a Hearing 

about my formal EEO complaint, and click on the Next button.
EEOC Public Portal User’s Guide – Vol 6 Page 3

Step 5. You will now be asked some questions to determine if the EEOC can help you. 

Select the appropriate response or fill in the requested information for each 

question. When you have completed the questions, click on the Next button.

➢ Tip! You may be asked more or fewer questions depending on your answers. The 

illustration below shows one possible outcome.

Step 6. To submit a Hearing request, you must have a user account. If you have not used 

the EEOC Public Portal before, click on the Sign-Up Now button to create your 
EEOC Public Portal User’s Guide – Vol 6 Page 4

user account (see EEOC Public Portal User’s Guide Vol 1 – Getting Started for 

details).

➢ Tip! If you already registered with the EEOC, click on the Returning Users button and 

login.

Step 7. Once you are logged in, you will be asked to confirm your contact information and 

provide additional information to complete the request. When you have confirmed 

your contact information, click on the Continue button. 

Step 8. Next, you will be asked if you want to enter information about your legal 

representative (this is optional, but if you are being represented by an attorney or

another individual in the EEO process, you should identify your representative 

here). Select Yes or No and click on the Next button to continue.

➢ Tip! If you choose not to enter a legal representative now, you will be able to enter one 

later on the My Case Page.

Step 9. If you selected Yes, a form will display for you to fill in the representative 

information. When you are finished, click on the Next button to continue.
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➢ Tip! EEOC verifies that the representative represents you. EEOC expects a reply from 

the representative within 10 days of sending a verification email; if they haven’t received 

a reply after 10 days, then you will receive an email notifying you that EEOC has been 

unable to verify the representative.

Step 10. A page displays showing the representative(s) you have entered. Click on the Add 

Another Representative button to add another representative. Click on the 

View/Update Delete button to make changes. When you are finished, click on 

the Next button to continue.
EEOC Public Portal User’s Guide – Vol 6 Page 6

Step 11. Next you must upload your Notice of Right to Request Hearing document, which 

you should have received from the agency named in your complaint. Click on the 

Upload button.

When the pop-up window displays, select the document and ‘Request for Hearing’ 

as the document type, and click on the Upload button on the window. The Hearing 

Document page will then display the file that you uploaded. You must upload the

hearing request document before you can submit the hearing request.

Step 12. Finally, you will be asked to enter information to identify your complaint. You must 

enter the Agency number, Agency name, and the EEOC office. When you are 

finished, click on the Submit Request button.
EEOC Public Portal User’s Guide – Vol 6 Page 7

When the request is sucessfully submitted, you wil receive an email with a 

document called a “Preliminary Acknowledgement Notice”. The Notice may be 

downloaded from the My Cases page for the hearing request.

In the Portal, you will also see confirmation of your hearing request with your 

hearing number as shown below (Note: the hearing number displayed is for a 

fictional hearing.)

Be sure to write down the hearing number so you can refer to it later.

Click on the My Cases button to display the page for your case, or the Home

button to return to the Home page.
EEOC Public Portal User’s Guide – Vol 6 Page 8

Chapter 2 Viewing and Managing Information About Your Case

After you have requested a hearing with the EEOC, you may view the details of your case and 

associated documents by clicking on My Cases on the EEOC Public Portal Home Page. From 

the My Case page you may also add Legal Representatives, update your contact information, 

and submit documents to the EEOC. 

For Details see EEOC Public Portal User’s Guide Vol 8 – Managing Case and Charge 

Information.