On November 1st, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") launched an online system that allows employees nationwide to inquire about potential discrimination and electronically sign and file discrimination charges against their employers.  Following initial filing, the online system will permit complainants to update information relating to their charge of discrimination, including uploading documents in support of the charge. 

 

The EEOC's launching of this system follows testing of the public portal in five cities over the past six months.  The EEOC hopes the new online system will allow for more efficient handling of charges. 

 

This latest tool, coupled with the prevalence of news stories related to the Hollywood sexual harassment and sexual assault scandals, will undoubtedly result in an uptick in the filing of discrimination charges.  As a result, employers are well advised to conduct refresher sexual harassment and discrimination prevention training, particularly for supervisors and managers.  Such training has proven useful in uncovering and effectively remediating concerns well prior to an employee filing a charge of discrimination or harassment, thereby enabling the company to avoid extensive legal defense fees.

 

If you would like to schedule a training session, please contact any one of the attorneys or paralegals within Mirick O'Connell's Labor, Employment & Employee Benefits Group.