Equal Employment Opportunity & Affirmative Action Complaint Procedure

1. An employee or applicant for employment who believes that he/she has been discriminated against in violation of the University’s Policy on Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action (“Policy”) may file a complaint with the Office of Employment Equity (“OEE”). A complaint is filed by promptly submitting a signed, completed Complaint Form to OEE. Complaints may be filed no later than one year after the incident(s) which led the employee or applicant to believe that he or she was discriminated against in violation of the Policy.
   
   
2. Following receipt of a valid complaint, the complaint shall be docketed by OEE, a file shall be opened and the matter will be assigned to a representative of OEE for inquiry, who shall have responsibility for handling the complaint as prescribed herein and who shall have the authority to make reasonable adjustments in the deadlines set forth herein.
   
   
3. Following receipt of an assigned complaint, the OEE representative shall evaluate the complaint to determine whether the allegations contained therein articulate an alleged violation of the Policy. If it appears that the allegation does not concern the Policy, the OEE representative shall confer with the complainant to confirm that such a preliminary finding is correct. Once the preliminary determination of the OEE representative is confirmed, the complaint shall be dismissed and the complainant so notified.
   
   
4. If, after reviewing the complaint, the OEE representative determines that the allegations set forth therein do concern the Policy, the representative will, within fourteen (14) days of the docketing of the written complaint, notify the person(s) whose actions or decisions have been raised in the complaint (respondent(s)) of both the allegations and the complainant’s identity. The respondent(s) will provide to the representative a written response to the allegations within fourteen (14) calendar days of receipt of the notice of the allegations. The OEE representative, at his/her discretion, may meet with the complainant and the respondent(s). The OEE representative may also interview witnesses, supervisors, or other persons who may have information about the alleged incident(s) and may review personnel, human resources or other records relevant to the complaint.
   
   
5. Following completion of any interviews and/or record reviews, the representative will notify both the complainant and the respondent(s) that the record of the complaint will be closed to further inquiry at a date certain, after which additional information will not be considered. The complainant and the respondent(s) will have until that date to submit any additional information which they consider relevant.
   
   
6. Within thirty (30) calendar days of the closure of the record, the representative will notify the complainant and the respondent(s) of the findings, and the Director will submit a report to the dean or vice president of the unit in which the matter arose, who may take appropriate action, as necessary.
   
   
7. Following issuance of a report of findings, the representative shall deem the matter closed and mark the file accordingly.

 

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Last Updated: 03/14/2007