Questions and Answers with EEOC
District Director Joan Ehrlich

Joan Ehrlich is Director of the San Francisco District Office for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the federal agency charged with enforcing anti-discrimination legislation. Recently Ms. Ehrlich sat down with Upwardly Global to discuss issues of interest to the Employer community.

UPWARDLY GLOBAL: After a long career with the EEOC, what are the biggest challenges and opportunities you see in your district?

JOAN EHRLICH: Reaching out to underserved populations remains the biggest challenge .
Our district stretches from Alaska in the north, south to Central California, East to Idaho, Montana and Nevada.

The three metro areas of San Francisco, Seattle and San Jose are in the top ten list of cities with the largest Asian populations. There are also hundreds of thousands of Hispanics who have protection under the laws but don't necessaarily know their rights. And if they do are afraid to come forward.

Our challenge too is to assist and train employers to stay out of trouble and comply with the laws. And all of this with diminishing resources and smaller budgets at the EEOC.

UPGLO: The EEOC has programs to partner with business to insure good practices, what are some of the programs the business community should know about?

JE: The Freedom to Compete Award. EEOC recognizes employers who innovate and implement effective ways to promote equal employment opportunity in the workplace. Nominate yourself or a collegue and please visit our website for more information and how to qualify:
htp://www.eeoc.gov/initiatives/compete/award/2006/quanda.html

Technical Assistancre and training. We offer expert training through our Annual Seminars as well as on site training for specific employers.

Call our Program Analyst for more information. Linda Li at 415 625 5618

Small Business Resources. Our Small Business Liaison is Mike Baldonado, Deputy Director at 415 625 5613. We'll answer any questions employers may have about the laws we enforce. Our website features a special section for small business:
http://www.eeoc.gov/employeers/smallbusiness.html

The site answers some of the most common questions.

UPGLO: What are some of the more egregious violations of EEOC rules and what have been the results?

JE: Sex harassment continues to be a serious, and widespread problem throughout the workplace. Among the many victims are immigrant agricultural workers; teenagers who work after school at retail shops and fast food places; Even males who are sexually harassed on the job by other males.

It took Olivia Tamayo six years to accuse her supervisor of rape and six weeks to tell her story in court. But when she was finished it took the jury less than six hours to award the farm worker $l million in damages.

Hostile work environment and retaliation. Practitioners of Islam and Middle Easterners subjected to a daily barrage of slurs, physical mishaps, firing workers or supervisors in retaliation for complaints. A Subaru dealer in Oregon agreed to pay two former car salesmen $360,000 and make policy changes to end the discrimination.

Equal pay violations. A Vietnamese female Director of a software company paid substantially less than her male comparators received $80,000 in back pay and agreed to train supervisors and managers on compliance with the law.

Race Discrimination. An African American Line Service Technician whose job was to move private planes around at an airport was promoted but then denied the means to succeed, with barriers raised throughout his term. He was finally demoted based on his race and he received well over $275,000 for the discriminatory treatment. He also was able to settle state claims for a substantial amount.

National Origin Discrimination. A manager of a luggage store in a shopping mall in Honolulu was harassed daily by being called vicious names about her Chinese ethnicity, and fired because of her national origin. She received $200.000 for the abusive treatment and the store promised to train its managers.

UPGLO: What advice would you have for a Diversity, Compliance Officer or HR Executive new to his or her position?

JE: Make certain that you have effective policies in place against discrimination and let everyone know what they are. Show the staff you are serious about their rights. Establish an internal complaints procedure. Ensure confidentiality during investigations for these complaints and take prompt and corrective action. Make sure the complainer is not retaliated against. Build credibility within your office so that people will trust you and come to you rather than to us.

Remedy the situation so that it ends the discrimination and take steps to assure it does not recur. Call us for advice. 415 625 5611

Ms. Ehrlich has devoted her professional life to ending employment discrimination and has been recognized nationally for her innovative approach to management and civil rights law enforcement. She has been the recipient of numerous awards for her civic engagement and is the current Chair of the Northern California Combined Federal Campaign. Ms. Ehrlich received a B.S. cum laude from Syracuse University and is a graduate of Harvard University’s Senior Managers in Government at the John F. Kennedy School.