I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 550 

To direct the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to maintain upto-date information on its website regarding charges and actions brought 

by the Commission, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 27, 2015 

Mr. WALBERG (for himself, Mr. ROKITA, and Mr. HUDSON) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the 

Workforce 

A BILL 

To direct the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission 

to maintain up-to-date information on its website regarding charges and actions brought by the Commission, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘EEOC Transparency 

5 and Accountability Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION ABOUT CASES ON 

2 THE EEOC WEBSITE. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning not later than 30 days 

4 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Equal Employ5 ment Opportunity Commission shall maintain the fol6 lowing up-to-date information on its public website: 

7 (1) A description of each case brought in court 

8 by the Commission, not later than 30 days after a 

9 judgment is made with respect to any cause of ac10 tion in the case, without regard to whether the judg11 ment is final. Such description shall identify— 

12 (A) the court in which the case was 

13 brought; 

14 (B) the name and case number of the case, 

15 the nature of the allegation, the causes of ac16 tion brought, and the outcome of each cause of 

17 action in the case; 

18 (C) each instance in which the Commission 

19 was ordered to pay fees and costs, including the 

20 amount of such fees and costs ordered to be 

21 paid and, when applicable, the amount of fees 

22 and costs actually paid by the Commission and 

23 the reason for the fee or cost award; 

24 (D) whether the case was authorized by a 

25 majority vote of the Commission or was brought 

26 pursuant to the Commission’s delegation of auVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:27 Feb 03, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H550.IH H550

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1 thority to the General Counsel of the Commis2 sion, including the basis on which the General 

3 Counsel determined that submission to the 

4 Commission for authorization was not necessary 

5 and a justification of that decision; 

6 (E) any case in which a sanction was im7 posed on the Commission, including the amount 

8 of such sanction and the reason for the sanc9 tion; and 

10 (F) any appeal and the outcome of the ap11 peal. 

12 (2) The total number of charges of an alleged 

13 unlawful employment practice filed during the pre14 ceding fiscal year by a member of the Commission, 

15 as authorized by the Commissioner charge authority 

16 under section 706(b) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 

17 (42 U.S.C. 2000e–5(b)) and section 107(a) of the 

18 Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 

19 12117(a)), and the total number of resolutions of 

20 such charges disaggregated by type of resolution. 

21 (3) The total number of charges of an alleged 

22 unlawful employment practice filed during the pre23 ceding fiscal year as a result of the Commission’s 

24 use of its directed investigation authority under sec25 tion 7(a) of the Age Discrimination in Employment 


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1 Act of 1967 (29 U.S.C. 626(a)) and section 11(a) 

2 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 

3 211(a)), and the total number of resolutions of such 

4 charges disaggregated by type of resolution. 

5 (4) Each case of systemic discrimination (in6 cluding pattern or practice discrimination) brought 

7 in court by the Commission under section 706 or 

8 707 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 

9 2000e–5, 2000e–6) within the preceding 30 days, 

10 the court in which the case was brought, the name 

11 and case number of the case, the industry involved, 

12 the employment practice or practices at issue, the 

13 nature of the alleged discrimination, and the cir14 cumstances of the systemic discrimination alleged in 

15 the case. 

16 (b) DISAGGREGATION.—With respect to the total 

17 number of charges of alleged unlawful employment prac18 tices provided under paragraphs (2) and (3) of subsection 

19 (a), the Commission shall, on its public website, 

20 disaggregate each such total number by the number of 

21 such charges filed in each Commission District, and within 

22 each Commission District, by the number of such charges 

23 alleging discrimination on the basis of, or filed under, each 

24 of the following: 

25 (1) Race. 


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1 (2) Sex. 

2 (3) National Origin. 

3 (4) Religion. 

4 (5) Color. 

5 (6) Retaliation. 

6 (7) Age. 

7 (8) Disability. 

8 (9) Section 6(d) of the Fair Labor Standards 

9 Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(d)). 

10 (c) ANNUAL PERFORMANCE REPORT.—Beginning 

11 fiscal year 2016, the Commission shall include in its an12 nual performance report under section 1116 of title 31, 

13 United States Code, the information described in para14 graphs (1) through (4) of subsection (a) for the preceding 

15 fiscal year, except that such information shall not be 

16 disaggregated in accordance with subsection (b). 

17 SEC. 3. GOOD FAITH CONFERENCE, CONCILIATION, AND 

18 PERSUASION. 

19 Section 706(b) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 

20 U.S.C. 2000e–5(b)) is amended— 

21 (1) in the sixth sentence— 

22 (A) by striking ‘‘shall endeavor’’ and in23 serting ‘‘shall use good faith efforts to endeav24 or’’; and 


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1 (B) by inserting ‘‘bona fide’’ after ‘‘con2 ference,’’; 

3 (2) in the seventh sentence— 

4 (A) by inserting ‘‘, good faith’’ after ‘‘such 

5 informal’’; and 

6 (B) by striking ‘‘persons concerned’’ and 

7 inserting ‘‘employer, employment agency, or 

8 labor organization, except for the sole purpose 

9 of allowing a party to any pending litigation to 

10 present to the reviewing court evidence to en11 sure the Commission’s compliance with its obli12 gations under this section prior to filing suit’’; 

13 and 

14 (3) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘No ac15 tion or suit may be brought by the Commission 

16 under this title unless the Commission has in good 

17 faith exhausted its conciliation obligations as set 

18 forth in this subsection. No action or suit shall be 

19 brought by the Commission unless it has certified 

20 that conciliation is at impasse. The determination as 

21 to whether the Commission engaged in bone fide 

22 conciliation efforts shall be subject to judicial review. 

23 The Commission’s good faith obligation to engage in 

24 bona fide conciliation shall include providing the em25 ployer, employment agency, or labor organization beVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:27 Feb 03, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H550.IH H550

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1 lieved to have engaged in an unlawful employment 

2 practice with all information regarding the legal and 

3 factual bases for the Commission’s determination 

4 that reasonable causes exist as well as all informa5 tion that supports the Commission’s requested mon6 etary and other relief (including a detailed descrip7 tion of the specific individuals or employees com8 prising the class of persons for whom the Commis9 sion is seeking relief and any additional information 

10 requested that is reasonably related to the under11 lying cause determination or necessary to conciliate 

12 in good faith).’’. 

13 SEC. 4. REPORTING TO CONGRESS REGARDING CASES IN 

14 WHICH THE EEOC IS ORDERED TO PAY FEES 

15 AND COSTS OR SANCTIONS. 

16 (a) INVESTIGATION AND REPORT OF INSPECTOR

17 GENERAL.—In any case brought by the Equal Employ18 ment Opportunity Commission in which a court orders the 

19 Commission to pay fees and costs or imposes a sanction 

20 on the Commission, the Inspector General of the Commis21 sion shall— 

22 (1) notify the Committee on Education and the 

23 Workforce of the House of Representatives and the 

24 Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pen25 sions of the Senate of the order or sanction within 


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1 14 days of the court’s decision, including the name 

2 of the case, the nature of the court’s determination, 

3 and the amount of fees and costs ordered or the 

4 amount of the sanction imposed by the court; and 

5 (2) conduct an investigation to determine why 

6 an order for sanction, fees, or costs was imposed by 

7 the court, and, not later than 90 days after the 

8 court’s decision, submit a report to the Committee 

9 on Education and the Workforce of the House of 

10 Representatives and the Committee on Health, Edu11 cation, Labor and Pensions of the Senate that in12 cludes— 

13 (A) information obtained from interviews 

14 and affidavits of each member and staff person 

15 of the Commission involved in the case; 

16 (B) the amount of resources allocated to 

17 the case, including in terms of full-time equiva18 lents; 

19 (C) a comparison of the case to other cases 

20 in which a court ordered fees and costs or im21 posed sanctions against the Commission; 

22 (D) if the determination to bring the case 

23 was not by a vote of the full Commission, the 

24 reasons such a vote was not held; and 

25 (E) any other relevant information. 


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1 (b) REPORT OF THE COMMISSION.—For any case de2 scribed in subsection (a), the Commission, in consultation 

3 with the General Counsel of the Commission, shall— 

4 (1) not later than 60 days after the court’s de5 cision, submit a report to the Committee on Edu6 cation and the Workforce of the House of Rep7 resentatives and the Committee on Health, Edu8 cation, Labor and Pensions of the Senate detailing 

9 the steps the Commission is taking to reduce in10 stances in which a court orders the Commission to 

11 pay fees and costs or imposes a sanction on the 

12 Commission; and 

13 (2) not later than 30 days after the report is 

14 submitted to the Committee on Education and the 

15 Workforce of the House of Representatives and the 

16 Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pen17 sions of the Senate under paragraph (1), post such 

18 report on its public website. 

Æ 


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