EEO implements new process for resolving disputes

  • Published
  • Equal Employment Office
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  Workplace disputes can evolve into destructive forces within the work center, and have the potential to adversely affect the ability to accomplish the mission.  To assist civilian personnel who have filed an EEO complaint, the Air Force has implemented a two-year pilot called Compressed, Orderly, Rapid, and Equitable, of CORE.

When a person files a formal complaint, they can elect into the CORE process instead of the traditional formal process. 

“The CORE process provides personnel a faster way to an equitable decision of their discrimination complaint,” said Staff Sgt. Paul Witt, equal opportunity specialist. “CORE benefits the complainant and their work center by providing much faster resolution than the traditional process and gets everyone back to work and focusing on the mission, while retaining their appeal rights.”

The new process is complainant driven and will effectively compress the traditional process from 400 days or more for a resolution to a guaranteed 127 days. 

The process also provides the complainant with their “day in court” with a CORE fact-finding conference, a hybrid proceeding that combines the investigation and hearing phases into one event. Complainants may call witnesses and present their case to the deciding authority.
 
CORE begins when the pre-complaints process is unsuccessful. If a second attempt at mediation is unsuccessful, or was not elected, the process continues to the fact-finding conference. This process, which normally would take about 360 days, is compressed to 107 days. The Air Force then has 20 days to review the evidence gathered during the investigation and hearing, and issue the Final Agency Decision, ending the CORE process.  

Should the complainant find the decision unsatisfactory they may appeal the decision to the EEOC’s Office of Federal Operations.  The complainant can opt out of CORE any time before the final decision is issued.

For more information, contact the EEO office at 846-5369.