Equal Opportunity is the Law
It is against the law for this recipient of Federal financial assistance to discriminate on the following bases: Against any individual in the United States, on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions, sex stereotyping, transgender status, and gender identity), national origin (including limited English proficiency), age, disability, political affiliation or belief, or, against any beneficiary of programs financially assisted under Title I of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, on the basis of the individual’s citizenship status, or participation in any WIOA Title I-financially assisted program or activity.
The recipient must not discriminate in any of the following areas:
- Deciding who will be admitted, or have access, to any WIOA-Title I financially assisted program or activity;
- Providing opportunities in, or treating any person with regard to, such a program or activity; or Making employment decisions in the administration of, or in connection with, such a program or activity.
Recipients of federal financial assistance must take reasonable steps to ensure that communications with individuals with disabilities are as effective as communications with others. This means that, upon request and at no cost to the individual, recipients are required to provide appropriate auxiliary aids and services to qualified individuals with disabilities.
What to Do If You Believe You Have Experienced Discrimination
If you think that you have been subjected to discrimination under a WIOA Title I-financially assisted program or activity, you may file a complaint within 180 days from the date of the alleged violation with either: the recipient’s Equal Opportunity Officer (or the person whom the recipient has designated for this purpose);
Equal Opportunity Officer
Erica Thomas
Tri-County Council for Southern Maryland
PO Box 745, Hughesville, MD 20637
(301) 274-1922
Or
The Director
Civil Rights Center (CRC)
U.S. Department of Labor
200 Constitution Avenue NW
Room N-4123
Washington, DC 20210
If you file your complaint with the recipient, you must wait either until the recipient issues a written Notice of Final Action, or until 90 days have passed (whichever is sooner), before filing with the Civil Rights Center (see address above).
If the recipient does not give you a written Notice of Final Action within 90 days of the day on which you filed your complaint, you do not have to wait for the recipient to issue that Notice before filing a complaint with CRC. However, you must file your CRC complaint within 30 days of the 90-day deadline (in other words, within 120 days after the day on which you filed your complaint with the recipient).