EEOC seeks to revise conciliation process in hopes of finally settling some cases

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently unveiled regulations to modify the presuit conciliation process in hopes of finally settling some employment disputes.

What hasn’t been working well

Imagine the EEOC ruling against you in a discrimination charge and inviting you to a settlement conference without explaining either why you lost the case or how agency officials arrived at the settlement demand. Then, envision a settlement meeting during which the agency announces it’s also negotiating for five other employees who allegedly suffered the same type of discrimination, yet it refuses to divulge the names or the details of the claims.

That’s how the EEOC has done things for years. Not surprisingly, the process has resulted in what even the agency acknowledges to be a disappointingly low percentage of settled cases.

In fact, fully one-third of all employers that receive adverse rulings refuse even to participate in EEOC settlement discussions, and the agency’s overall success rate in settling cases after issuing findings against an employer is just a shade over 25 percent.

New proposal