AUTHORITY TO ISSUE AGENCY DISPOSITIONS OF EEO COMPLAINTS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP83M00914R002000120061-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 7, 2006
• Sequence Number: 61
• Publication Date: February 2, 1982
• Content Type: MEMO

Approved For Release 2006/09/07: CIA-RDP83M00914R002000120061-4
7DbC 'rSQ - 639
C 0 N F I D }i N T T A L
MEMORANDUM FOR: Director, Equal Employment Opportunity.
Deputy Director for Operations
Authority to Issue Agency Dispositions of l:l;()
Complaints
REFERENCE: Memorandum EEO-82-598, dated 21 January 1982
1, 1 am disturbed by the implications of your memorandum
to me concerning your authority "to prepare, issue, and imple-
ment if accepted by Complainants (emphasis added), all Agency
Proposed. Dispositions" o EEO complaints. This radical. depar-
ture from established procedures appears to me to be unisc and
unwarranted.
2. As Deputy Director for Operations I am -responsible for
preserving the integrity of the personnel management system in
this di.ectorate. Because of my commitment, and that of my
pred censors, to the basic principles of fairness and equality
of opportunity for all DO employees, this directorate has com-
piled what I believe to be a commendable record of accomplishing
most of its affirmative action goals and of resolving EEO-related
disputes. Resolution of such matters has been accomplished in
ways which satisfy not only the needs and aspirations of the
employees involved, but also the unique needs of the D Career
Service: In most cases, DO employees who feel they have been
subjected to discriminatory treatment have chosen to work wih_in
our career management system to resolve such issues. Because of
the high caliber and dedication of officers assigned to the
DO Career Management Staff (including the DO EEO officer, a
D careerist whom I appointed to t1.i:; sensitive position because
of my confidence in her ability to balance her strong commitment
to racial and sexual equality with hor thorough understanding of
and dedication to the mission of this directorate), DO employees
who seek career counselling have come to expect equitable ;uld
timely resolution of a wide range of professional and personal
problems. In fact, on several. occasions DO employees with EEO-
related complaints have requested specifically that DO management,
L .2i8
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rather than the Office of EEO, address their concerns because
they- believed that the OEEO investigative system was too bureau-
cratic and that preconceptions on the part of certain investi-
gators might have created an atmosphere of hostility within their
offices which would not have been conducive to resolving their
problems.
3. As for those complaints which have not been resolved
to the employees' satisfaction in-house, and which have been
investigated by your office and returned to us for administrative
adjudication at the directorate level, we have made good-faith
efforts to reach accommodations with complainants. When those
efforts have failed, it has been because our own investigation
of the complainants' charges (including our assessment of rel-
evant information which is sometimes overlooked by OEEO in;-esti-
gators), does not support their perceptions of discrimination
and/or because granting the sometimes disproportionate restitu-
tion they have sought would, in itse.l f, be unfair to all other DO
employees who compete for promotion and key assignments on the
basis of merit. Our re-investigation of EEO complaints, which
requires substantially longer than the two weeks provided for in
your memorandum, is necessary because we have found that in-
vestigative files supplied by your office have omitted relevant
substantive information which directorate and Agency managers
require to make informed judgements aboppt the merits of a com-
plaint. As long as I am responsible for determining this direc-
torate's position with respect to charges of discrimination
brought against its managers, I shall continue to insist that my
staff provide me with the information I need to make a fair and
equitable decision in each case -- no matter how long it takes.
4. If your memorandum is meant to imply that you can now
act on your own to resolve EEO complaints without considering
the legitimate and relevant views of the deputy directors, the
General Counsel, and. the Director of Personnel, relying solely
on the findings and conclusions of your staff investigators and
th-acceptability of your proposed resolutions to the individual
complainants, I believe that we are headed for major problems in
the future. indeed, if you are tell ing me that you have blanket
authoxi.ty to overrule unilaterally this directorate's positions
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on EEO matters, then I can see little except perhaps cosmetic
reasons for the continued commitment of directorate resources
to investigating, negotiating and attempting to reach informal
adjustments with complainants on terms acceptable both to them
and to the directorate. I can see no reason, under. the system
outlined ;.n your memorandum, for a complainant to be willing to
compromise on his or her demands or accept anything less from
directorate management than he or :,hc has asked for in the orig-
inal complaint, since the final authority to grant complainat:ts'
requests would now be yours.
S. One of the major problems inherent in the revised
system you propose is apparent in nq-rgcT-rqnb e of your memo
rand.um which referes to "...the case now in your 25X1
directorate... ," as one in which you will, !'j necessary,?'
issue th Agency disposition. The implication of this misleading
statement is that the DO should ti be involved in seeking an
informal adjustment of E O complaint. In fact, this 25X1
directorn has not yet been informed of the substance of 25x1
EFO complaint, although we have been involved for
some time in investigating a grievance matter which he has brought
to our attention. The only information this directorate's EEO
officer has received from your staff was contained in a memorandum
from your office dated 28 September 1981, in which the following
sta.temer p r'of EFO cases concerning th5x1
DO: - OEEO reviewing investi-
gati'vo . ry 1-98" a ter receiving a copy of your
memorandum, the DO EEO officer discussed this situation with the
chief of vnur romplaints Staff. The latter informed the former 25x1
that thel case files are still in your office and are still
being re 1ewe there by a member of your staff. Your complaints
chief further informed the DO EEO officer that, according to her
own interpretation of her authority, OEEO had fulfilled its
obligation to notify this directorate of the0 complaint by 25x1
listing it in the September memorandum and that OLEO will forward
the investigative file for DO action at some future time.
6. We are prepared to continue our efforts to resolve
discrimination complaints made by our employees, whom we regard
as our most important resource. We will not, however, be bound
by arbitrary deadlines and procedures established for the con-
venience of your office and without regard for the legitimate
needs of the personnel management system in this directorate. I
hope that you will cooperate with us in solving these problems
in the future.
25X1
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SUBJECT: Authority to'Issue Agency Dispositions of EEO
Complaints
ORIG: DO/CMS/EEO)
(2 Feb 82)
Distribution:
Original - Addressee
1 - DDO
1 - DDO Registry
1 - Executive Director (w/ref. attached)
1 - Executive Registry (w/ref. attached)
1 - DO/EEO Chrono