Federal employees have 45-days from the date of a discriminatory act against them to initiate EEO contact. Although sometimes the discrimination is obvious to the federal employee, in some cases the federal employee may not suspect discrimination until after the 45-days has passed. For these cases, the EEOC has adopted a reasonable suspicion standard to determine when the 45-day deadline should begin. For example, as in the case of Dierdre A. v USPS, EEOC Appeal No. 2022000901 (2022), the employee received notice of her non-selection for a position but did not initiate EEO contact until past the 45-day mark. The employee successfully argued that she did not reasonable suspect discrimination until she learned of the identity of the selectees on a later date. Under these circumstances it was determined that her learning of the identity of the selectees triggered her “reasonable suspicion” of discrimination, thus starting the 45-day time period.
While this case was successful, I do caution all federal employees to err on the side of caution. Simply put if the federal employee suspects that an agency’s action are unlawful and motivated by discrimination, the federal employee should not wait until all the facts that support the charge of discrimination become obvious; nor should the federal employee wait to contact an EEO Counselor while they obtain additional information. Time does not stop for the federal employee to conduct their own investigation and due to the short 45-day deadline, the federal employee who suspects discrimination, or learns about the an action that may be discriminatory, should not delay in contacting an EEO counselor to stop the clock.
If you are a federal government employee who would like more information or require assistance with the processing of your federal workers compensation claim, please contact our office online or via telephone at (301) 869-8774 to schedule a consultation.
This blog is not intended to provide legal advice or representation, but rather to provide very general information regarding a variety of subject areas. The viewing of the information contained on this blog does not create or establish an attorney-client relationship. Further, this information should not be relied upon without first consulting with an attorney regarding your specific situation.