If you are:

• A United States citizen,
• A Navy civilian employee,
• A former employee, or
• An applicant for employment with the U.S. Navy

And you feel you have been discriminated against because of:

• Race
• Color
• Religion
• Sex (including sexual harassment)
• National origin
• Age (over 40)
• Mental or physical handicap
• Reprisal
• Genetics

Informal Compalint:

You (Aggrieved), must contact the EEO counselor within 45 calendar days of the incident that gave rise to your complaint or, if it is a personnel action, within 45 calendar days of the effective date of action.

The counselor has 30 calendar days from the time you report your issue to attempt an informal resolution. The 30-day counseling period may be extended up to an additional 60 days if you agree in writing.

You may elect Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) as a means of resolving your concern(s).  If you elect to participate in the ADR program, the pre-complaint processing period extends to 90 days. 

If at the end of the traditional 30-day counseling or ADR processing, the matter is not resolved, you will be advised in writing, of your right to file a formal complaint as specified in the "Formal Complaint" section below.

Formal Complaint:

You (Complainant) must submit your formal complaint in writing to the EEO office not later than 15 days after a final interview and receipt of your notice of right to file a formal complaint. (It is important to note that if you do not file your formal complaint within the15-day time limit, the agency may dismiss your complaint).

Your written complaint must be specific and must be limited to the matters discussed with the EEO Counselor.

Your formal complaint should be filed with your servicing NPS EEO Office where the alleged discriminatory incident occured.

The NPS EEO Officer will review and identify your claims and notify you in writing of the claims accepted to be investigated.

If the EEO Officer accepts a claim for processing but dismisses one or more of the claims, only the accepted claims will be investigated.

Once your formal compalint is accepted, it will be investigated by an impartial investigator as defined by EEOC regulations at 29 CFR 1614.108 and implementing guidance in EEOC Management Directive (MD) 110, Chapter 6.

Investigation:

The investigation will encompass all the information relevant to the accepted claims and may, when appropriate, include comparative data on other individuals who were similarly situated.

The investigation may be conducted by verbatim statements, interrogatories, position papers, or by other fact finding methods.

During the investigation, you will have an opportunity to present all the facts which you believe show unlawful discrimination.

The Agency has 180 calendar days from the date you filed your complaint to notify you that the investigation has been completed. (By written agreement, you may agree to an extension of an additional 90 days for completion.  You may also request to amened your complaint with like or related claims raised before the completion of the investigation).

If your complaint is amended, the time period will be extended by 180 days from the date of the amendment.

At the completion of the investigation, a Report of Investigation (ROI) and a summary of the ROI will be sent to you.

Upon issuance of the ROI, you will have 30 days from the date of your receipt of the ROI to exercise your right to one of the following:

• Request a hearing before an EEOC Administrative Judge; or
• Request a Final Agency Decision (FAD) - request a decision, without a hearing.

The complainant may withdraw from the administrative process and go to Federal District Court after 180 days since the filing of a formal complaint.

Note: If there is a resolution at any stage, the complaint process is terminated. The complainant may withdraw the complaint at any time.