You And the Federal 

Sector

Employment 

Discrimination

Complaints Process

This leafet is intended to provide 

informaton about the Federal Sector 

Employment Discriminaton Complaints 

Process within the FRTIB. FRTIB is 

commited to ensuring that EEO 

complaints fled by employees and 

applicants for employment are given fair 

and tmely consideraton and to 

eliminatng discriminaton.

We administer the TSP solely in the interest 

of Participants and Beneficiaries.

FRTIB EEO, Diversity & Inclusion Initiatives

Don Sapp,

EEO Manager,Ofce of Resource Management

77 K Street, NE - Room # 10-098

Washington, DC 20002

202-864-8536 (Office)

202-748-2422 (Cell)

Donald.Sapp@tsp.gov 

The Final Agency Decision

If a hearing has been conducted, the Administratve Judge 

(AJ) will send you a copy of the decision with a copy to the 

FRTIB. The FRTIB OGC, will have 40 days to issue a FAD afer 

receipt of the AJ's decision. If the Department rejects the 

AJ's decision, it must simultaneously appeal to the EEOC. A 

copy of the appeal will be sent to you.

If you are dissatsfed with the FAD you may, within 30 

calendar days of the date on which you received the decision 

or notce of dismissal, appeal the decision to the Director, 

Ofce of Federal Operatons, Equal Employment 

Opportunity Commission, P.O. Box 19848, Washington, D.C. 

20036. You may also deliver the appeal in person to the 

EEOC, Ofce of Federal Operatons at 1801 L Street, N.W., 

Washington, D.C. or by fax at 202-663-7022. You must also 

send a copy of the appeal to the EEO Manager and FRTIB 

OGC.

The Investigation

Judge or (2) request a decision, without a hearing, by the FRTIB. 

This notce is called the notce of your right to an "electon."

If you have a claim that is also appealable to the Merit Systems 

Protecton Board (MSPB), you are not enttled to a hearing by 

the EEOC. A fnal agency decision (FAD) will be issued by the 

FRTIB, and you will be given appeal rights to the MSPB.

The Hearing

Your request for a hearing must be sent directly to the 

appropriate EEOC Field Ofce with a copy to the Bureau. Once 

you have elected a hearing, the Administratve Judge will have 

full and complete authority over your complaint. You will be 

allowed to present witnesses and evidence on your behalf. The 

hearing is recorded and transcribed verbatm. 

The Administratve Judge will have 180 days from the date the 

EEOC received your request for a hearing to conduct the 

hearing, issue fndings and conclusions and a decision on your 

complaint. This tme frame may be extended by the 

Administratve Judge. You should be advised, however, that 

there may be circumstances where the Administratve Judge 

may decide that a hearing is not necessary.

The Administratve Judge will issue a decision on your complaint 

which will become the fnal acton of the Department, if the 

Department does not appeal the Administratve Judge's 

decision within 40 days of the date the decision was received.

If you do not ask for either a hearing or a decision without a 

hearing within 30 calendar days afer you receive the notce of 

electon described above, the FRTIB will issue a FAD based 

upon the evidence in the ROI. You will be given appeal rights if 

you are dissatsfed with the FAD.

The Final Agency Decision

The FRTIB Ofce of General Counsel (OGC), as the designee of 

the Executve Director, will issue you a FAD on your complaint 

within 60 calendar days from (a) the date of your request for an 

immediate decision, or (b) the end of the 30-day period afer 

your receive the notce of electon.

The FAD will include an analysis on the merits of each claim 

accepted in your complaint, or a decision to dismiss some or all 

of your claims. If a fnding of discriminaton is made, the FAD 

will also identfy the correctve acton to which you are enttled.
The Formal Complaint Stage

your representatve, using the FRTIB Individual Formal 

Complaint of Discriminaton form, with the FRTIB EEO 

Manager. The formal complaint form may be obtained 

from the EEO Counselor or the EEO Manager.

You complaint will be reviewed and claims identfed. You 

will then be notfed you of the claims to be investgated. If 

some of your claims are accepted for processing but one or 

more of the claims are dismissed, only the accepted claims 

will be investgated. Your complaint fle will be documented 

with the reasons why some claims have not been accepted. 

If you complaint is partally dismissed, you must wait for 

the agency to issue a fnal acton on accepted claims prior 

to appealing the dismissed claims. However, if none of your 

claims are accepted, you will be given appeal rights to the 

EEOC immediately.

Once your formal complaint is accepted, it will be 

investgated by an impartal investgator as defned by 

EEOC regulatons at 29 CFR 1614.108 and implementng 

guidance in EEOC Management Directve (MD) 110, 

Chapter 6.

The Investigation

A thorough investgaton will be conducted. The 

investgaton will encompass all the informaton relevant to 

the accepted claims and may, when appropriate, include 

comparatve data on other individuals who were similarly 

situated. The investgatons may be conducted by verbatm 

statements, interrogatories, positon papers, or by other 

fact fnding methods. During the investgaton, you will 

have an opportunity to present all the facts which you 

believe show unlawful discriminaton.

The Agency has 180 calendar days from the date you fled 

your complaint to notfy you that the investgaton has 

been completed. Afer the investgaton is completed, a 

Report of Investgaton (ROI) and a summary of the ROI will 

be sent to you. By writen agreement between you and the 

FRTIB, the tme period may be extended an additonal 90 

days. Your complaint may also be amended with like or 

related claims raised before the completon of the 

investgaton.

If your complaint is amended, the tme period will be 

extended by 180 days from the date of the amendment. 

Once the ROI is issued to you, you will have 30 days from 

the date of your receipt of the ROI to exercise your right to 

either (1) request a hearing before an EEOC Administratve

Complaints Procedures

Efectve November 9, 1999, the U.S. Equal Employment 

Opportunity Commission (EEOC) published a revised set of 

regulatons governing the processing of Federal Sector Equal 

Employment Opportunity (EEO) complaints. If, as an employee, 

former employee, or an applicant for employment, you believe 

that you may have been discriminated against on one or more 

of the following bases: race, color, religion, sex (including 

pregnancy, gender identty, and sexual orientaton), natonal 

origin, age, disability, genetc informaton and/or reprisal, you 

must contact and discuss the mater with an EEO Counselor. 

The goal of the EEO Counselor is to facilitate an informal 

resoluton of the mater between the partes when possible.

The Informal Complaint Stage

You must contact an EEO Counselor within 45 calendar days of 

the date of the incident that gave rise to your complaint or, if it 

is a personnel acton, within 45 calendar days of its efectve 

date.

The EEO Counselor has 30 calendar days from the tme you 

report your issue to atempt an informal resoluton of the 

mater. The 30-day period for EEO counseling may extend up to 

an additonal 60 days if you agree in writng to such an 

extension.

Instead of EEO Counseling, you may elect Alternatve Dispute 

Resoluton (ADR). If you elect to partcipate in the ADR 

Program, the pre-complaint processing period will be 90 days.

If, at the end of this tme (including any extension), the mater 

is not resolved, you will be advised, in writng, of your right to 

fle a formal complaint as specifed in the "The Formal 

Complaint Stage" secton. 

You have a right to be represented at any stage of the process 

in presentng your complaint, including the counseling stage. As 

a general rule, you may select any person to represent you, 

including an atorney. You and your representatve, if an 

employee of FRTIB, are enttled to a reasonable amount of 

ofcial tme in preparing and presentng your complaint.

The EEO Counselor will:

 Explain the process to you and advise you in writng of your 

rights and responsibilites.

 Listen and help you identfy your claims.

 Inform you about Alternatve Dispute Resoluton.

 Conduct a limited inquiry into your claims.

The Informal Complaint Stage

 Discuss your concerns with an appropriate ofcial who has 

authority to resolve your claims.

 Atempt to resolve your concerns informally.

The EEO Counselor will report regularly to the EEO Manager 

about their actvites. They will also discuss your claims with 

appropriate ofcials, but they will use your name only with your 

permission. You have a right to remain anonymous during the 

counseling period.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

Alternatve Dispute Resoluton Program (ADR) is a viable 

alternatve to the formal discriminaton complaint process which 

can be complex, lengthy, tme consuming, and expensive. The 

EEO Counselor will ofer you ADR at the beginning of the EEO 

counseling period if your claim meets established criteria. You 

may elect to proceed in the ADR program or to remain in the 

EEO Counseling Program. 

If you elect to enter the ADR Program, a trained mediator from 

will be assigned to mediate your claim. The mediator is a 

neutral, objectve, and impartal problem solver who will be able 

to assist you and management in joint problem solving. If your 

claim is resolved during the ADR process, the resoluton will be 

put in writng to be signed by you and the appropriate 

management ofcial. 

If your claim is not resolved during counseling or ADR, the EEO 

Counselor will issue you the Notce of Right to File a 

Discriminaton Complaint. Discussions held during the ADR 

process will not be recorded in the complaint fle.

The Formal Complaint Stage

If the atempts to informally resolve your complaint have 

been unsuccessful, you will be notfed by the EEO Counselor, 

in writng, of your right to fle a formal complaint. If you 

decide to fle a formal complaint, you or your representatve 

have 15 calendar days from the date of receipt of this notce to 

submit your formal complaint in writng. It is important to know 

that if you do not fle your formal complaint within the 15-day 

tme limit, the agency may dismiss your complaint.

It is not the duty of the EEO Counselor to fle your complaint for 

you. However, he or she can answer your questons concerning 

the fling of your complaint. If you wish, your representatve may 

fle your complaint for you. Your writen complaint must be 

specifc and must be limited to the maters discussed with the 

EEO Counselor. The formal complaint should be fled, by you or