I hope agencies really do take seriously their new ability to get rid of egregious cases. EEOC has tried to establish some relatively objective criteria, but it will take some case law before there's agreement on what complaints ought to be gotten rid of. Spin-off issues should be addressed as part of the original case, rather than as unique cases, EEOC said. The new regulations also give more power to EEOC's administrative judges, making their decisions binding unless agencies want to formally appeal them. Under current rules, agencies can reverse or modify EEOC judges' decisions if they don't like them.
Agencies do so in two-thirds of decisions found in favor of employees.
Shaw said EEOC has to better train its judges to make the change work. While the new rules are meant to streamline the EEO complaint process, EEOC Chairwoman Ida Castro expects the complaint backlog to rise, not fall, when the new regulations first take effect. The commission, as well as agencies, must go through the backlogs of complaints to see which ones filed by the same employee should be combined, which should be rejected under the new dismissal process and which are affected by other aspects of the new regulations. Shaw also expects a surge of new cases under the regulatory changes. I hope EEOC is able to handle that surge.