Issues
Issues or claims are the “acts of harm” you suffered at the hands of your management official(s): termination, suspension, warning, denied accommodation, denied sick leave, denied annual leave, denied promotion, denied bonus, denied hire, harassment, and denied terms and conditions of employment (such as FMLA, OWCP benefits, health insurance, lunch break, etc.). "Discrimination" or "retaliation" can never be an "issue," “claim,” or an “act of harm,” despite the meaning in normal English. You cannot be discriminated or retaliated against without the act of harm you suffered.
Identifying the issues is very important, because remedies are usually derived from the “acts of harm.” EEO investigator and EEOC administrative judge will only investigate or adjudicate the accepted issues or claims, nothing else.
If you cannot count as to how many issues/claims are pending, you cannot succeed. You must be able to identify and articulate each and every claim you raise as discriminatory or retaliatory - in a sentence. Otherwise, you will be lost in the proceedings.
Each act of harm must have a verb. For example, “On May 19, 2022 my supervisor rejected my request for sick leave for the period between May 20, 2022 and May 29, 2022.” Here the claim is: denied sick leave. The following is not a good written complaint: “On May 19, 2022 I went to my supervisor’s office and presented my leave form. He rejected it without providing a reason.” Here, my action (I went, I presented) cannot be an act of harm. Only the denial of the request is. In short, do not write a novelette when you write an EEO complaint.
A claim without identifying an issue is not a claim. A claim without identifying a base is not an EEO claim.
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Bases
Bases are the protected classes identified in the law, such as African-American,
Caucasian, Black, White, Color (dark brown, light brown, etc.), Age 40 or older (identify month and year of birth), Sex (male or female), National Origin (Hispanic, Hispanic ancestry, Mexico, Mexican ancestry, Russia, Russian ancestry, Kenya, Kenyan ancestry, China, Chinese ancestry, India, Indian ancestry, Native American, Native American ancestry, etc.), Disability (back
injury, asthma, PTSD, depression, familial association with someone with disability, etc.), Religion (Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, etc.), sexual orientation, and Retaliation (prior EEO activities including reasonable accommodation requests, any protest or complaint against discrimination toward others, or providing a statement or testifying on someone else’s EEO case, etc.).
A claim without identifying an issue is not a claim. A claim without identifying a base is not an EEO claim.
See samples of EEO Complaints for purchase in Store.