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1 (2007)

handle is hein.cbhear/fdsysafsc0001 and id is 1 raw text is: AUT-ENTICATED US. GOVERNMENT INFORMATION GP COMMERCE, JUSTICE, SCIENCE, AND RE- LATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2008 U.S. SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS, Washington, DC. NONDEPARTMENTAL WITNESSES [The following testimonies were received by the Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies for inclusion in the record. The submitted materials relate to the fiscal year 2008 budget request for programs within the subcommittee's jurisdic- tion.] PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE NATIONAL EMPLOYMENT LAWYERS ASSOCIATION EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In March of this year, the National Employment Lawyers Association1 (NELA) prepared and distributed to its membership a brief on-line survey to gain a better and more current understanding of (1) the frequency with which charging parties and/or their attorneys encounter refusals by the U.S. Equal Employment Oppor- tunity Commission (EEOC) to accept charges; and (2) the extent to which charging parties and/or their attorneys experience other problems with charge filing at the EEOC (see Appendix A attached to the full report). NELA spearheaded the survey in response to comments it regularly receives from NELA members and local NELA affiliate members about the EEOC's charge filing process as well as by our discus- sions with the leadership of the EEOC. Both the EEOC and the Congress also have recently expressed concerns about the need for charging parties to have effective ac- cess to the Commission's compliance procedures. The survey sought to elicit information about what happens when a charge is pre- sented to the Commission-whether charging parties encounter problems, the types of problems they experience, and the frequency and timing of such problems. The survey covers the period from January 1, 2005 to April 2, 2007; questions were cat- 'The National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA) advocates for employee rights and workplace fairness while promoting the highest standards of professionalism, ethics and judicial integrity. NELA was founded in 1985 to provide assistance and support to lawyers in protecting the rights of employees against the greater resources of their employers and the defense bar. NELA is the country's largest professional organization that is comprised exclusively of lawyers who represent individual employees in cases involving employment discrimination, wrongful ter- mination, employee benefits, and other employment-related matters. NELA and its 67 state and local affiliates have more than 3,000 members nationwide. As a group, NELA members have represented thousands of individuals seeking equal employ- ment opportunities. NELA is one of a limited number of organizations dedicated to protecting the rights of all employees who rely on the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the courts for protection against illegal workplace discrimination. NELA's members serve the same constituency as the Commission, namely, employees who have been and are being subjected to invidious race, color, national origin, gender, religious, age, and disability dis- crimination prohibited by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. NELA's members interface with the EEOC on a daily basis. They are involved with the Commission's compliance procedures, its in- vestigation practices, and its disposition of cases. That involvement is nationwide and reaches to all of EEOC's regional and district offices. (1)