How to Write a Complaint of Discrimination

In writing a discrimination complaint, you must identify issues and bases clearly.  Issues are the 'acts of harm' you suffered as result of the decision makers discriminatory or retaliatory intent or animus. Bases are the reasons for which the act of harm occurred.  For example, the claim that "I was terminated based on my sex, Male" states the essence of a discrimination complaint, in which both the issue and basis upon which the issue occurred are identified.  If one or the other component is missing, your claim of discrimination is not valid. For example, "I was discriminated against on March 1, 2024," is not a valid claim because it lacks a basis.  You must allege “I was terminated on March 1, 2024, because of (or based on) my race, Asian.” Similarly, "I was harassed from March 1, 2024 to April 1, 2024" is not a valid discrimination complaint, because it lacks the basis or bases upon which the harassment occurred.  You must add "... based on my sex, Female," to make it a valid claim of discrimination.

Of course, all complaints must be signed and dated.  If a complaint is written with a "declaration" at the end, it will have more legal weight than without declaration.

If a memorandum or letter has the following elements, it constitutes a valid discrimination complaint—regardless of whether it accompanies the agency form for filing a formal discrimination complaint:

To: [Name, title, location, email, phone]

via: [email, Priority Mail, FedEx, UPS, etc.]

Date:

From: [Name, title, work location/home address, email, phone]

Subject: Informal or Formal Complaint of Discrimination [an informal EEO complaint should look the same as the formal EEO complaint, despite the designation “informal.”]

I want to file a complaint of discrimination as follows:

Based on my race (Asian), national origin (Korea or Korean ancestry), age (55, born in October 1970), disability (PTSD, carpal tunnel syndrome, blindness, herniated disc, etc.), religion (Islam), sex (Male), and my prior protected EEO activity (a formal EEO complaint filed on March 1, 2024, case number: ARD-24-3547), I was discriminated and retaliated against when:

1. On June 1, 2024 my supervisor, John Doe, Regional Director, denied my accommodation: telework.

2. On June 2, 2024, John Doe suspended me for 5 days for AWOL.

3. On July 1, 2024 John Doe proposed to remove me.

4. On August 1, 2024 John Doe removed me, effective August 15, 2024.

Declaration:

I declare under the penalty of perjury that the above is true.

[signed]____________. August 30, 2024

[Print Name]

Make sure that you keep a prove of filing/sending your (informal or formal) complaint.

If you are required to use the agency form for filing complaints, attached the above memo to it and submit.

If you are required to file via online, it is good idea to take screenshot of each and every page before moving on to the next page, so that you have a record of filing and what you wrote.

Do not miss the 15-day deadline, starting from the date of your receipt of the Notice of Right to File (issued by your agency’s EEO counselor), within which to file a formal EEO complaint, which must be filed at the agency’s EEO headquarters or sent to EEO director/manager.

Amended complaints must be filed with EEO director/manager, not with EEO investigator. EEO investigator has no authority to accept or reject your amended or new EEO complaint.

EEO director/manager cannot accept your “new” EEO claims. Only the agency’s EEO counselor can accept and process any “new” EEO claims.

If a new EEO incident arises during the time when your prior EEO claims are being investigated by the agency’s EEO investigator, you have a dilemma: whether to file the “new” event as an amended complaint or as a new complaint. However, that choice does not belong to you. It belongs exclusively to the EEO director/manager.

In that case, file with both: with EEO counselor and with EEO director, so that you can avoid the following scenario, which occurs too ofter, unfortunately:

1. You filed a “new” discriminatory event with EEO counselor. The counselor may tell you, in dereliction of duty, to file with EEO director as an “amended” complaint. So, you file it with EEO director, the Director may sit on it, doing nothing and hoping that the 45-day jurisdictional timeline will expire. If you forgot about it and expired the 45-day timeline, you have lost your new claim. If you did not forget and contact the Director regarding the status, he or she may then tell you to file with the Counselor as a “new” claim. Again, only the EEO director/manager has the authority to determine whether it should be a new or amended claim.

2. You filed a “new” discriminatory event with EEO director as amended complaint. The Director may refer the claim to EEO counselor to file as a new claim. Then, you must file with the EEO counselor, because it is determined to be a “new” claim. If the EEO Director agrees with you and determined that the new event was appropriate to be filed as an “amended” complaint, he will issue a letter notifying that it was accepted as amended claim —in addition to the existing claims— to be investigated.

   To avoid these two possible scenarios, it is better to file with both EEO counselor and EEO director your new or amended claim(s) of discrimination. File with both and let the Director decide as to whether it should be processed as a new or amended complaint. If Director decides that it should be a new claim, you have already done that with EEO counselor. If Director decides that it should be an amended complaint, you have already done that also with the EEO Director.