Informal and Formal EEO Complaint Process for federal employees

Each federal agency has its own Equal Employment Opportunity office, staff by EEO counselors, EEO investigators (usually third-party subcontractors), and EEO manager/director. Each job title has different authority and responsibilities.

EEO Counselor (1) receives your “informal” EEO complaint (avoid phone contacts); (2) seeks resolution at the lowest level possible; (3) and issues the Notice of Right to File (a formal EEO complaint) within 30 days of your “initial EEO contact.”

Title 29, Subtitle B, Chapter XIV, aka 29 Code of Federal Regulations (C. F. R.), § 1614.105(b)-(g) govern EEO counselor’s authority and responsibilities.

Allegations/claims of discrimination in federal employment must be filed with EEO counselor within 45 days of the event alleged to have occurred unlawfully as discriminatory or retaliatory.

The pre-complaint/counseling/informal EEO complaint period is 30 days from the date of your “initial contact” with EEO counselor alleging unlawful discrimination. The 30-day period can be extended upon your permission to do so; or it is automatically extended for additional 60 days, if you request Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), aka mediation or settlement conference.

Do not grant permission to extend the 30-day counseling period, if possible.

Do not agree to participate in ADR or mediation, because usually the agency (if agreed to participate) will not engage you in good faith but instead will abuse it (to humiliate you or to have you withdraw the complaint with handshake, etc.), if not use it to discover your evidence in advance of your filing formal EEO complaint, which activates EEO investigation conducted by the agency hired investigator.

Note: EEO counselors do not have authority to investigate your allegations of discrimination and make determination as to whether or not unlawful discrimination had occurred. Since they do not make determination or decision on the case, evidence need not be submitted to the EEO counselor.

Do not allow the counselor to dictate the articulation of your claims/allegations. It is your complaint. You should articulate. (If the list of your allegations that the counselor provided is inaccurate or is missing other allegations you filed, just ignore the counselor’s list. Counselors have no authority or duty to formulate your allegations.)

Your claims should be clear and separable from one another by paragraph numbers. Your actions cannot not be the allegations/claims. Only the actions of your manager can. See how to write a complaint.

Allegations are not evidence or arguments. Therefore, a complaint should contain a list of allegations/claims, like a grocery shopping list. Just list what your supervisor did or did not do, when, and for what reason (if reason is stated/known).

Each allegation/claim/issue must be “based” on one or more protected classes: race, color, national origin, age, sex, disability, religion. A complaint without a base or bases is not an EEO complaint.

“Discrimination” or “retaliation” or “harassment” is not an allegation. They are the legal conclusions that your allegations, if proven true, would arrive at. Only EEOC administrative judge, federal district court judge, etc. can render such a conclusion.

Your allegations should be factual or fact based with date, name, title, and the “act of harm” that you received from your manager. An allegation without a date is not factual.

Date is important, because an allegation must be filed within the 45-day jurisdictional limit. If it occurred prior to the 45 days (counting backwards from the date of your “initial contact” with EEO counselor), it will be dismissed—unless you have valid reasons for late filing.

If a claim is not filed with EEO counselor in the informal complaint process (i.e., in your “initial contact” with EEO counselor or during the 30-day counseling period, unless extended), it cannot be filed in your formal EEO complaint. That is, the allegations in your informal EEO complaint must be identical to those you want to file in your formal EEO complaint.

For this reason, again, your allegations/claims must be articulated clearly and separable by numbers. If you cannot count the total number of your allegations, you wrote a poor complaint that may cause partial dismissal later on.

Within 15 days of receipt of Notice of Right to File (issued by EEO counselor), a formal EEO complaint must be filed with EEO director—not with EEO counselor. The Notice will have the address, web link, or email to which to submit your formal EEO complaint. The file date is your mailing date. In federal District Court, the file date is the date of the Court’s receipt. See how to file a pro se complaint at federal District Court.

Usually, each agency has its own formal EEO complaint form. You can attach your affidavit to it, articulating and delineating each claim (apart from the others) associated with the protected class or classes you are invoking as the basis/bases of the allegation/claim.

An affidavit is a signed and dated declaration that states: “I declare under penalty of perjury that the above statement is true.”

With issuance of the Notice of Right to File, the counselor’s authority and duties end on the case at hand. Of course, a new case/claim can be filed with the counselor again, which triggers a new “informal” EEO complaint/pre-complaint process, as outlined above.

EEO Director/Manager (1) acknowledges receipt of your formal EEO complaint and assigns a docket number (aka agency case number); (2) issues a notice of partial or full acceptance or partial or full dismissal of your claims (with a brief opportunity for you to rebut the EEO director’s dismissal or incorrect formulation of your claims); (3) assigns your case to an EEO investigator; and, when the investigation is completed, (4) compiles and issues the Report of Investigation (ROI) with a notice of your rights to pursue the matter further.

Note: Only EEO director has the authority to determine whether or not a new claim/allegation should be added to your already existing formal EEO complaint as amendment, or it should be processed as a new complaint with a new docket number—in which case it should be referred to EEO counselor for processing as a new “informal” complaint. You cannot determine whether or not a new event/claim should be processed as amendment or as a new case. EEO counselor cannot make that decision either; only EEO director/manager can.

EEO Investigator (1) investigates each and every “accepted” claim raised in your formal EEO complaint; (2) obtains responses to the investigative/affidavit questionnaire; (3) gathers supporting documents (from complainant, from the agency management officials, and from any individual identified as relevant and material witness(es); and (4) summarizes the content of the Report of Investigation (ROI summary).

EEO investigator should provide you with an opportunity to rebut the affidavit(s) obtained from the responsible management officials (RMOs) and from witnesses.

Within 180 days of your filing a formal EEO complaint, the agency must complete the investigation and must issue the ROI—unless you grant the permission to extend the 180-day investigation period or unless you filed an amended complaint, in which case the investigation period extends automatically for additional 180 days. But the investigation period cannot be extend beyond 360 days from the date of your filing the initial formal EEO complaint that you amended subsequently.

The investigator’s summary of the ROI (found usually in the first 100 pages of the ROI, out of 500 or 1,000 or more pages) is not a determination or a decision on your claim of discrimination. It is not evidence either. If it is, it is a hearsay evidence at best, as it is a third party witness statement. The investigator’s summary is a paraphrase of your affidavit and the managerial staff’s affidavits. EEOC administrative judges (AJ)—if you requested EEOC hearing—will not cite the EEO investigator’s summary statements as evidence but will likely use the summary to quickly learn the case and to be guided by it on the case. Some AJs may even incorporate the investigator’s summary—either wholly or partially—in their decisions.

Do not be surprised, if EEOC AJ’s decision looks similar to the EEO investigator’s summary of the ROI; or if the agency attorney’s motion for summary judgment looks similar to it.

In short, even though the EEO investigator’s summary of the ROI is not evidence, it may (pre)determine the outcome of the case. If the summary is well written, it is a great tool to analyze the entire ROI, which is often more than 500 pages and sometimes over 2,000 pages. The Table of Contents is very useful, although sometimes—intentional or not—the complainant’s documentary evidence is buried without proper “bookmark,” so that the reader may not be able to find it easily.

Check the ROI when you receive it to ensure that the evidence you submitted to the EEO investigator are found there. Sometimes the most crucial evidence may be missing from the ROI—again, intentionally or not.

Note: EEO investigator has no authority to determine (during or at the end of the investigation) whether or not unlawful discrimination had occurred. Only the EEO director/manager has that authority. EEO director’s decision on your complaint of discrimination is called Final Agency Decision (FAD) or Agency’s Final Order (this is a misnomer).

Note: Submit your evidence to EEO investigator, whether or not you are asked to do so.

Note: EEO investigator has no authority to accept a new claim of discrimination arising from a new event. Only EEO counselor can accept a new claim of discrimination. However, EEO counselor cannot accept an amended complaint (whereby a new claim is added). Only EEO director/manager can accept and process an amended complaint/claim. EEO investigator cannot.

Likewise, EEO counselor has no authority to accept an amended complaint/claim. As already stated, only EEO director can.

Only EEO director has the authority to determine whether or not a new claim should be processed as amendment or as a new case (with a new docket number). You cannot demand that it should be accepted as a new case or as an amendment to already existing complaint. If it is determined that it be a new case, EEO director should refer the new claim to the EEO counselor for processing through the “informal” EEO complaint. You should be directed to contact the EEO counselor.

If the new claim is determined to be an amendment to the existing case, EEO director should issue a notice adding the new claim to the existing claims. And the investigator will be directed to investigate the new claim/allegation.

Amending the existing claims automatically extends the 180-day investigation period for additional 180 days—but not to exceed a total of 360 days from the date the initial formal complaint is filed.

Report of Investigation (ROI) must be issued within 180 days from the date of your filing a formal EEO complaint or from the date of your filing an amended complaint. ROI should be issued to you with a notice of your rights to exercise further prosecution. The notice should inform you of your right (1) to request EEOC hearing; (2) to seek Final Agency Decision (FAD)—in lieu of EEOC hearing—in order to request appeal (of the FAD) with Office of Federal Operations (OFO—the last step in the federal EEO process administered by EEOC); or to skip (1) and (2) and (3) file a civil action complaint at the federal District Court of relevant jurisdiction (which is determined by the work location of the federal agency against which you are filing a discrimination complaint).

If you opt to file an appeal with OFO, the OFO decision can be further appealed to the federal District Court as well.

However, OFO may take a year or two before issuing its decision, which can be further reconsidered upon your request. The decision to accept or deny your request for reconsideration will take another year or two.

It is better to file a civil action complaint as pro se Plaintiff at a federal District Court of relevant jurisdiction 180 days after your filing your formal EEO complaint (with or without ROI or FAD). See filing a pro se civil action complaint at federal District Court. Mr. Lee at EEO 21 LLC can help you to navigate the federal District Court proceedings as your technical assistant, as you litigate pro se (representing yourself) against the agency.

Federal District Court requires that you exhaust the administrative remedy: the 180-day formal EEO complaint and investigation process.

If the ROI is not issued within the 180-days of investigation (unless the investigation period is extended), you should request EEOC hearing. (EEOC hearing is a privilege granted only to federal employees.) Upon filing a hearing request, EEOC will order the agency to produce ROI within 15 days—to be uploaded on to EEOC public portal/federal sector portal (FEDSEP). This is the best way to obtain the ROI, if the agency fails to issue one, as required, and as often it does.

You can request EEOC hearing at any time after 180 days from the date of your filing a formal EEO complaint (unless you granted an extension or filed an amendment), if the ROI was not issued or the investigation was not completed by that time.

More Details on Federal EEO Process

Every claim of discrimination in the federal government must be filed with EEO counselor within 45 days of (the knowledge of) the occurrence of the event (“act of harm”) alleged to be discriminatory.

Every claim of unlawful discrimination must contain the “issue” and the “basis” or “bases” of discrimination. Issues or allegations are the “act(s) of harm” you suffered by your manager’s (omission of) action. Bases are the protected classes you invoke in raising a claim of discrimination, such as race, color, national origin/ancestry/ethnicity, sex, age, religion, disability, and/or your prior engagement in EEO activity.

Examples of “issues” are: termination/removal, suspension, warning/counseling, poor performance rating, denied accommodation, denied bonus, denied leave request, denied selection or denied referral to the selecting official, denied transfer, denied appointment, involuntary reassignment, involuntary resignation or retirement, etc.

Examples of “bases” are: race, color, national origin (including ethnicity or ancestry), sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and transgender status), religion, age (40 or older), disability, and gender information.

The following are examples of claims/allegations of discrimination:

Based on my race (Asian), I was suspended for 5 days starting on November 12, 2025.

Based on my race (Asian) and sex (Male), on or about November 12, 2025, I (learned that I) was not selected for the position of Assistant Manager, Office of Resolution Management, U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Based on my prior EEO filing (on November 1, 2024, with EEO case number: 243-444467), my request for transfer was denied on November 12, 2025 by my first-level supervisor John Dow, Director, Midwest Region. (This is a retaliation claim.)

Each claim/allegation (as seen above) must be numbered. If you don’t know how many claims you have in your complaint, you have written a poor complaint.

Submit your written complaint to your EEO counselor, even though the counselor will tell you that the process is “informal.”

You must be able to prove the date of your “initial contact” with your EEO counselor, if the 45-day jurisdictional time limit is in question in your case. If you did not identify “issues” and “bases” of your complaint when you initiated contact with EEO counselor, your contact may not be deemed a proper “initial contact” for the purpose of tolling the 45-day time limit. This is all the more reason to “initiate contact” with your counselor with email and submit a written complaint to EEO counselor with numbered claims/allegations, as sampled above.

See “Acts of Harm” below for more. Also see How to Write a Complaint for more detailed suggestions.

EEO counselor must accept federal employee’s complaint of discrimination, including retaliation claims. He or she has no authority to determine if you “have a case” or not. His or her job is to accept your complaint and try to resolve it by mediation at the lowest level or in soonest time as possible.

If the matter is not resolved, the counselor must issue you a Notice of Right to File (a formal EEO complaint) within 30 days of your “initial contact”—unless you have granted an extension.

I advise you not to grant any extension, unless good cause shown. If you want to grant an extension, you determine how many days to grant. The counselors routinely ask for the maxim 60 additional days—usually for no reason at all.

29 C.F.R. § 1614.105(g) requires that “[t]he Counselor shall not attempt in any way to restrain the aggrieved person from filing a complaint.” Do not be surprise, however, if the counselor dissuades you from filing an EEO complaint. That is a violation of the regulation just cited.

ADR, Settlement, Mediation

EEO counselor must provide you with the option to mediate and settle the matter at the lowest level. “Mediation,” “Alternative Disputer Resolution (ADR),” or “settlement” is optional. You can decline mediation.

In fact, you should decline mediation when a counselor offers it, because counselors are usually not neutral (despite the claim to be so), and because the in-house attorney (on behalf of the agency) and the managers may use the mediation as a “discovery” tool. They may try to discover what evidence you have without any intention to settle or mediate in good faith.

If you find yourself discussing the merits of your case (i.e., evidence, what happened, etc.) at the mediation, you are wasting your time. Instead, you should be mostly talking about specific terms of settlement: what you want the management to do for you to resolve the matter and to recover the damages you sustained.

Settlement terms must be specific and verifiable, so that you can enforce them should the agency breach the settlement terms.

If you have lost wages, for example, ask for the lost wages in specific dollar amount at the mediation or, better, prior to mediation. If you are not selected for a job, ask for placement in the position you sought with lost wages (in salary differential, if applicable) and lost benefits in specific terms (i.e., location, dollar amount in lost wages or salary differential, service credit, etc.).

A settlement demand without specific, enforceable terms is useless. Each settlement term must be itemized with specific justification, such as the calculation you used to arrive at the certain dollar amount of loss.

EEO counselor must issue you a Notice of Right to File at the end of the 30-day counseling period (unless extended for ADR), per 29 C.F.R. § 1614.105(d).

If EEO counselor failed to issue you a Notice of Right to File within 30 days of your “initial contact” with him or her (unless you granted an extension of the 30-day counseling period) in violation of 29 C.F.R. § 1614.105(d), you can proceed to file a formal EEO complaint even without the Notice of Right to File. Each agency has its own formal EEO complaint form that the counselor should provide you with when issuing the notice of right to file.

➤ Acts of Harm

Writing a clear and effective complaint is half of the battle. You must know the Issues and Bases of your complaint. You must be able to count the number of allegations in your complaint. Each allegation should contain no more than one “act of harm.”

An “act of harm” is what your supervisor did to you or failed to do to you. Removal, suspension, warning, low rating, negative employment reference, etc. are what your supervisor or the management official did to you in adverse employment action. There are called positive “acts of harm.” Denied accommodation, denied leave, denied bonus, denied transfer, denied telework, non-selection, non-referral for job interview, etc. are what your supervisor or selecting official fail to provide. These are called the negative “acts of harm.”

Allegations of discriminatory acts of harm must be factual. If any claimed events have no dates of occurrence, they are not factual. If any have no full names and job titles, they are unclear and incomplete. Always provide a full name and job title of the managers (unless repeated subsequently). Always provide the year (unless repeated subsequently).

When you contact EEO counselor, you must submit in writing a complete, full EEO complaint. If a complaint has the following elements, it is complete (whether they are written in the Agency’s EEO intake form or not): You name, your contact information, issues and bases (preceded by: “I want to file a complaint of discrimination as follows:”), a list of claims, your signature and date following a declaration. A sample of declaration is: “I, the undersigned, hereby declare under the penalty of perjury that the above is true.”