Guess what? EEOC doesn't always need individual charge to probe workplace bias

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently published a new webpage reminding us of its authority under certain circumstances to launch a discrimination investigation even without receiving a charge from an employee or other private party. Indeed, Congress expressly authorizes the commission (meaning its five-member governing authority) to issue a "commissioner charge" when it believes an employer is engaging in discriminatory employment practices in violation of three of the laws it enforces: Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and the employment provisions of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA).

How commission charges work

Under Title VII, the ADA, and GINA, individuals generally must exhaust all administrative remedies by filing a discrimination charge with the EEOC before they will be allowed to file suit in federal court. Just as an individual (or an agency or organization acting on an aggrieved person's behalf) may file a charge accusing an employer of discriminating based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or genetic information, so too may the EEOC approve and file a Title VII, disability, or genetic discrimination charge in its own name.