Attachment 5: Sample Case File - Investigator Services

Sample Case File
EEO Basics Packet, 2-34
Sample Case, 35-121

UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE

NATIONAL EEO INVESTIGATIVE SERVICES OFFICE

JANUARY 2017

EEO BASICS

THRESHOLD ISSUES – Every Complainant must meet a threshold issue in order to be investigated. This determination requires the agency to separate adverse actions which may be merely unfair, but not unlawful, from those which are unlawful. CLAIM – An assertion that an employment practice or policy is unlawful under the Federal EEO laws and for which, if the assertion is proven, there is a remedy under the law. All complaints must allege that the complainant has suffered an adverse employment action as a result of his/her protected status. The employment practices or policy being challenged may include things such as failure to hire, demotion, discipline, job assignment, training, discharge, layoff, denial of benefits, harassment, and failure to provide a reasonable accommodation. Generally, every action which could occur in the course of an individual’s employment may be raised in an EEO complaint.
BASES/PURVIEWS – The basis/purview (used interchangeably) of the complaint refers to the individual’s protected status (i.e., race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or retaliation). Only those bases covered by Title VII, ADEA, EPA, and the Rehabilitation Act are covered by the federal EEO process. Each complainant must include at least one basis and identify one employment practice being challenged. Many complaints include multiple bases, sometimes under different statutes/theories.

THEORIES OF DISCRIMINATION and PRIMA FACIE ELEMENTS

DISPARATE TREATMENT

1. Is Complainant a member of a protected group?
2. Was Complainant the object of an adverse employment action? 3. Was Complainant treated differently in this regard than similarly situated individuals who were not members of the protected group, or is there direct evidence that shows discriminatory intent?

DISPARATE TREATMENT—NON-SELECTION

1. Is Complainant a member of a protected group?
2. Did he/she apply for and was qualified for the position? 3. Was he/she not selected for the position?
4. Was an individual not in his/her protected group selected under circumstances which, if left unexplained, would support an inference of discrimination?

DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION—DISPARATE TREATMENT

1. Is Complainant a person with a disability (i.e. Does he/she have a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major This document is property of the United States Postal Service National Equal Employment Opportunity Investigative Services