Via The Digest of Equal Employment Opportunity Law | Volume 1, Fiscal Year 2019
Commission Sanctioned Agency for Failing to Conduct Thorough Investigation & Found Evidence Would Have Established Discrimination. Complainant filed a formal EEO complaint alleging that the Agency discriminated against her on the basis of disability and age when it terminated her contract employment. The Agency conceded, and the record supported a finding that Complainant established a prima facie case of discrimination, and the Commission found that the Agency articulated a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for the decision to terminate Complainant, that is its realignment of her office due to budgetary constraints. The Commission noted that while the EEO Investigator was thorough and pursued affidavits from both Complainant’s supervisor and the Assistant Administrator of her office, the Investigator only obtained a statement from the supervisor. The Assistant Administrator had moved to another agency and informed the Investigator, by email, that she would not cooperate with the investigation, did not supervise Complainant, and did not believe the questions posed by the Investigator were pertinent or applicable to her. The Commission stated that the Agency did not show good cause for its failure to engage in further efforts to obtain the Assistant Administrator’s affidavit. In addition, there was ample indication in the record that her testimony constituted highly relevant evidence, including a note by the EEO Counselor that the Assistant Administrator confirmed she made comments about Complainant’s health in the context of Complainant’s termination.
Therefore, the Commission concluded that the imposition of sanctions was warranted for the Agency’s failure to obtain testimony from the Assistant Administrator. While the Assistant Administrator moved to another federal agency, as a federal employee she retained the duty to respond to an EEO investigation, and the Agency provided no indication that it took any steps to obtain her cooperation. The Commission presumed that had the Assistant Administrator submitted an affidavit, she would have admitted she was directly involved in the decision to terminate Complainant’s contract, and that Complainant’s disability played a significant role in that decision. The Agency was ordered, among other things, to require Complainant’s contracting employer to reinstate her to her former position if possible or pay her one year of front pay if there was no position to which she could be reinstated; pay Complainant appropriate back pay; and investigate her claim for compensatory damages. Aileen C. v. Agency for Int’l Dev, EEOC Appeal No. 0120170399 (Sept. 18, 2018).
According to the EEOC, sanctions serve a dual purpose: 1) they aim to deter the underlying conduct of the non-complying party and prevent similar misconduct in the future, and 2) they are corrective and provide equitable remedies to the opposing party. Given these dual purposes, sanctions must be tailored to each situation by applying the least severe sanction necessary to respond to a party’s failure to show good cause for its actions and to equitably remedy the opposing party.
Several factors are reportedly considered in “tailoring” a sanction and determining if a particular sanction is warranted:
(1) the extent and nature of the non-compliance, and the justification presented by the non-complying party;
(2) the prejudicial effect of the non-compliance on the opposing party;
(3) the consequences resulting from the delay in justice; and
(4) the effect on the integrity of the EEO process.
The EEOC’s sanctions in this case include reinstatement, back pay, front pay, compensatory damages, EEO site visit, and coverage of attorney’s fees and costs.
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