EEOC Position Statement

Human Resources Manager · September 2002

I need to write a position statement in response to an EEOC Charge of Discrimination. I have never written one before. Does anyone have any advice as to what information should be included, (I have pretty good documentation as to why the ee was discharged, and it wasn't discriminatory), and how it should be worded? Any advice or examples would be greatly appreciated.xpray (I know this emoticon is supposed to be "praying," but in this case, consider it "begging!")

Thanks All!

Peyton Irby MS · September 2002

>I need to write a position statement in response to an EEOC Charge of
>Discrimination. I have never written one before. Does anyone have
>any advice as to what information should be included, (I have pretty
>good documentation as to why the ee was discharged, and it wasn't
>discriminatory), and how it should be worded? Any advice or examples
>would be greatly appreciated.xpray (I know this emoticon is supposed
>to be "praying," but in this case, consider it "begging!")
>
>Thanks All!

Peyton Irby MS · September 2002

there are no "magic" words. generally, the eeoc is looking for the reason the action was taken (with any supporting personnel documents), and any company policy or policies that would apply to the fact situation. they usually want to know if any other employees have acted similarly and the disciplineimposed[or not imposed]on them.

Gary Jiles AR · September 2002

>I need to write a position statement in response to an EEOC Charge of
>Discrimination. I have never written one before. Does anyone have
>any advice as to what information should be included, (I have pretty
>good documentation as to why the ee was discharged, and it wasn't
>discriminatory), and how it should be worded? Any advice or examples
>would be greatly appreciated.xpray (I know this emoticon is supposed
>to be "praying," but in this case, consider it "begging!")
>
>Thanks All!

I do not follow specifically comply with the EEOC's request for documentation and information. I have drafted hundreds of position statements, and I always have a very comprehensive position statement. If the employee has a history of disciplinary actions or adverse employment actions, you should go through that history in your position statement. You should also be comprehensive in the reasons for your actions and support the facts with policies, etc, that will be attached to the postion statement. Further, I would look for similarly situated employees (depending on what the charge is) within the department of the charging party to see how they were treated and point out the same or similar treatment. Sometimes you have to go outside the department. You should only give the termination document or discipline document for the similarly situtated employees not the entire personnel files. For the charging party, you will attach the entire personnel file. The best advice is to provide a detailed and comprehensive position statement and give the EEOC enough information and documentation that they hopefully will not make further requests or schedule an on-site visit.

If I can be of any assistance, or if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

Gary D. Jiles
Editor
Arkansas Employment Law Letter
Jack, Lyon & Jones, P.A.
3400 TCBY Tower
425 West Capitol Avenue
Little Rock, Arkansas 72201
(501) 707-5545
E-mail: [email]gdj@jlj.com[/email]

Theresa Gegen TX · September 2002

Always be truthful, because what you say in the position statement can and will be used against you. Also, be respectful of the EEOC and the charging party. You may want to make statements like this claim is "outlandish" or "frivilous" -- but they will not help your case. Even if the employee was down right rotten, do not use inflamatory language. The EEOC may very well tell the employee what you have said, and that may increase the chance that the employee will sue (oftentimes, these types of claims are not fueled by a true belief that the employee was discriminated against, but are fuled by a belief by the employee that he or she was not treated fairly). If the employee had performance problems that led to the termination, discuss them as objectively as possible.

Good Luck!

jhagan · September 2002

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 09-13-02 AT 08:54PM (CST)[/font][p]Here is an outline that I have found to be very successful:

I. Introduction

Identify the charge, and provided a brief statement why it is meritless. Then, state what you want the EEOC to do. I often "respectfully' request the EEOC to counsel the charging party to withdraw her charge. Although the EEOC rarely does this, such a statement shows how much you object to the contents of the charge.

II. The Facts

A. The Company

Identify what your company does, and that it is an EEO employer. Here, identify as Exhibit 1 your EEO policy. Then identify as Exhibit 2 that part of your policy relevant to the charge. For instance, if it is a race discrimination charge, then quote language from policy that prohibits race discrimination. Also if the charging party violated some policy, quote that too. For instance, if he was fired for fighting on the job, then include this language here.

Finally, the EEOC will want to see how you investigate claims of discrimination, harassment, etc. As Exhibit 3, put this language here.

B. The Charging Party

Identify who he is, what he has done wrong if anything that caused the adverse employment action, and what good things that the company has done for him prior to the conduct at issue. Identify and attach as many exhibits as possible, keeping a keen eye not to turn over anything irrelevant or, God forbid, anything that would hurt the company!

C. The Accused

If the charging party accuses one or more people, talk about the good things that they did for him up until the time of the conduct in question. For example, did the accused hire the charging party, give him raises, or accommodate him in some fashion? Exhibits help here as well.

D. The Incident(s)

Identify management's side of what happened. This should be a non-emotional narrative that makes no arguments -- "just the facts." The exhibits identified under this section include written complaints, management's responses, and repeat any cites to your personnel policy manual listed under section 1 that the responses correspond to.

III. The Company's Position

Here is where you take the above facts and meld them into your argument as to why the charging party's charge is meritless. Refer back and identify the exhibits you used in the "Facts" section to make it easier to read.

Note that by listing good facts under the "Facts" section, you have begun making a persuasive argument even before the reader gets to the "Company's Position." This sets up the "Company's Position" section up to further convince the EEOC to not investigate.

I hope that this helps!

John Hagan (jhagan@gmwdlaw.com)
Gibson, McClure, Wallace, & Daniels
Dallas, Texas
214-891-8068

Don D · September 2002

John Hagan: Now that is one fine outline. Thanks!

Human Resources Manager · September 2002

I concur with Don D. th-up I will follow that outline when writing my statement. Thank you all for your help and advice. I'm so glad this forum is available.

Thanks again,
Krista

Hatchetman · September 2002

It's been years since I did one, but as I recal EEOC, or maybe it was just my area office, used to include a seriooes of questions thye wanted answered as well as idnetify thespecific informaiton, such as other emplyees, they wanted identified. I answer teir requests but then alos included my onw informaiton that I thought was relevant in counter-argument to the emplyee's contention.

EEOC Position Statement

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