Jacqueline Berrien, chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and Carolyn Lerner, head of the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC), signed a renewed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to enhance efficiency and enforcement of federal sector equal employment opportunity laws. This MOU promotes interagency coordination between the OSC and the EEOC in the enforcement of anti-discrimination laws and provides for information sharing as appropriate and to the extent allowable under law. The full text of the MOU is available online at http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/mous/eeoc_osc.cfm .
The MOU, which supersedes all prior ones, includes -- but is not limited to -- the following:
- EEOC shall refer to OSC for potential enforcement action cases in which the EEOC finds that an agency or an officer or employee thereof has discriminated against any employee or applicant for employment.
- EEOC shall refer to OSC for potential enforcement action cases in which an agency fails to comply with an EEOC order and any other case or matter that the EEOC believes warrants enforcement by OSC.
- If the EEOC has indicated that appropriate action has not and will not be taken by the employing agency, OSC may investigate the matter to the extent necessary to determine whether there is sufficient basis for initiating disciplinary action.
The EEOC's Office of Federal Operations and OSC's Investigation and Prosecution Division are designated to coordinate and implement the MOU's provisions.