I
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1703
To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for improved and expedited
procedures for resolving complaints of unlawful employment discrimina-
tion arising within the Department of Veterans Affairs.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 22, 1997
Mr. EVERETT (for himself, Mr. EVANS, Mr. STUMP, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. BILI-
RAKIS, and Mr. BUYER) introduced the following bill; which was referred
to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
A BILL
To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for im-
proved and expedited procedures for resolving complaints
of unlawful employment discrimination arising within the
Department of Veterans Affairs.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Department of Veter-
ans Affairs Employment Discrimination Prevention Act’’.
SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS EMPLOY-
MENT DISCRIMINATION RESOLUTION PROCE-
DURES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title 38, United States Code, is
amended by inserting after chapter 7 the following new
chapter:
‘‘CHAPTER 8—EMPLOYMENT
DISCRIMINATION
‘‘Sec.
‘‘801. Scope of chapter.
‘‘802. Office of Employment Discrimination Complaints Resolution.
‘‘803. Informal complaint resolution.
‘‘804. Investigation of complaints.
‘‘805. Final agency decision; hearings.
‘‘806. Review of final agency decisions.
‘‘807. Unlawful employment discrimination defined.
‘‘§ 801. Scope of chapter
‘‘(a) The procedures established in this chapter shall
be implemented in a manner consistent with procedures
applicable under regulations prescribed by the Equal Em-
ployment Opportunity Commission.
‘‘(b) In the case of an employee of the Department
who alleges that the employee has been subjected to un-
lawful employment discrimination (as defined in section
807 of this title), the allegation shall be considered under
the procedures applicable to the Merit Systems Protection
Board under title 5 (rather than under the procedures set
forth in this chapter) if the action (or failure to act) of
which the employee complains is an employment action or
practice that is otherwise appealable to the Merit Systems
Protection Board.
‘‘(c) Nothing in this chapter supersedes—
‘‘(1) the rights and remedies available to em-
ployees under title VII of the Civil Rights Act of
1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.), including the rights
and remedies provided in section 1977A of the Re-
vised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1981a); or
‘‘(2) any right or obligation of an employee to
elect (in lieu of procedures under this chapter) to
raise an allegation of unlawful employment discrimi-
nation under grievance procedures established under
a collective bargaining agreement.
‘‘§ 802. Office of Employment Discrimination Com-
plaints Resolution
‘‘(a)(1) There is in the Department an Office of Em-
ployment Discrimination Complaints Resolution (herein-
after in this chapter referred to as the ‘Office’), which
shall be headed by a Director. The Director shall report
only to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary.
‘‘(2) Subject to the direction of the Secretary, the Di-
rector shall have sole responsibility within the Department
for administering the procedures under this chapter for
resolving complaints of unlawful employment discrimina-
tion arising within the Department.
‘‘(3) In addition to the functions of the Director
under paragraph (2), the Director shall perform such
other functions as the Secretary may prescribe consistent
with the functions of the Director under paragraph (2).
‘‘(b) The Secretary shall employ within the Office ad-
ministrative law judges appointed in accordance with sec-
tion 3105 of title 5 for the purposes of this chapter and
such other personnel as the Office may require. In ap-
pointing administrative law judges, the Secretary should
consider the composition of the persons appointed, taken
as a group, in terms of race, sex, and veterans status,
compared with the composition of the total Department
workforce in terms of race, sex, and veterans status.
‘‘(c) The Secretary shall ensure that the Director is
furnished sufficient resources to enable the Director to
carry out the functions of the Office under this chapter
in a timely manner.
‘‘(d) The Secretary shall include in the documents
submitted to Congress by the Secretary in support of the
President’s budget for each fiscal year—
‘‘(1) detailed information on the budget for the
Office;
‘‘(2) the Secretary’s opinion as to whether the
resources (including the number of employees) pro-
posed in the budget for that fiscal year are adequate
to enable the Secretary to comply with statutory and
regulatory deadlines for the administration of the
procedures under this chapter and other provisions
of law relating to the resolution of complaints of un-
lawful employment discrimination involving the De-
partment; and
‘‘(3) a report on the activities of the Office dur-
ing the preceding fiscal year, including (A) a state-
ment of the number and nature of complaints of un-
lawful employment discrimination received and the
number and nature of complaints resolved, and the
results of any appellate review, during the year, (B)
a description of the timeliness of the resolution of
complaints during the year, and (C) a statement of
significant decisions and trends affecting the work of
the Office.
‘‘(e)(1) The Director shall prescribe—
‘‘(A) standards of timeliness for the expeditious
resolution of complaints of unlawful employment dis-
crimination under this chapter;
‘‘(B) the qualifications and training require-
ments for employees of the Office;
‘‘(C) requirements for record-keeping pertaining
to counseling and investigations by employees of the
Office; and
‘‘(D) standards for the conduct of investigations
under section 804 of this title.
‘‘(2) Regulations under paragraph (1) shall be con-
sistent with regulations prescribed by the Equal Employ-
ment Opportunity Commission, except that, in the interest
of the expeditious resolution of complaints, the Director
may prescribe shorter time periods with respect to any
deadline or administrative period that is applicable only
to the time within which the Government may (or is re-
quired to) act.
‘‘§ 803. Informal complaint resolution
‘‘Employees of the Office shall counsel employees of
the Department, and applicants for employment with the
Department, who allege that they have been subject to un-
lawful employment discrimination by an officer or em-
ployee of the Department. The Office shall seek to resolve
such complaints in an expeditious and impartial manner
through informal investigation and conciliation using pro-
cedures prescribed by the Director.
‘‘§ 804. Investigation of complaints
‘‘(a) If a complaint of unlawful employment discrimi-
nation is filed with the Department and the complaint is
not resolved through the informal resolution process under
section 803 of this title, the Director shall assign the com-
plaint to an administrative law judge, who shall determine
whether the complaint shall be accepted for investigation.
‘‘(b)(1) The administrative law judge assigned to a
complaint shall make such determination in accordance
with regulations of the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission, except that if the administrative law judge
determines that the complaint is without merit, the admin-
istrative law judge may determine that the complaint is
not to be accepted for investigation.
‘‘(2) A decision that a complaint is not to be accepted
for investigation is a final agency decision of the matter.
‘‘(c)(1) If the administrative law judge determines
that the complaint is to be accepted, the Director shall
promptly provide for an investigation of the complaint,
which shall be carried out by employees of the Office (or
by contract personnel acquired by the Director). The em-
ployee (or contractor) conducting the investigation shall
submit to the Director a complete written report of the
results of the investigation.
‘‘(2) If a portion of a complaint is accepted for inves-
tigation and a portion is not accepted, the individual filing
the complaint or the Department may request the admin-
istrative law judge to direct the suspension of the inves-
tigation of the portion of the complaint accepted for inves-
procedures in effect on the date of the enactment of this
Act.
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