38 U.S.C. § 319 — Office of Employment Discrimination Complaint Adjudication

This section creates an office that adjudicates the Department's own employment discrimination complaints. (a) The Office. (1) The Department has an Office of Employment Discrimination Complaint Adjudication, led by a Director. (2) The Director is a career appointee in the Senior Executive Service. (3) The Director reports directly to the Secretary or the Deputy Secretary on matters within the Office's responsibility. (b) Deciding complaints. (1) The Director makes the Department's final decision on the merits of any employment discrimination complaint filed by a Department employee or job applicant, and must decide impartially and objectively. (2) No one may make an ex parte communication — a one-sided, private contact — to the Director or any Office employee about a matter the Director is responsible for deciding. (c) Reporting retaliation. If the Director has reason to believe an employee has faced retaliation for asserting rights under an equal employment opportunity law, the Director must report it directly to the Secretary or Deputy Secretary, who must then take appropriate action. (d) Staffing and independence. (1) The Office must employ enough attorneys and other staff to do its job; its attorneys must be paid at a level comparable to attorneys in the Office of the General Counsel. (2) The Secretary must give the Director enough additional resources, beyond that staff, to carry out the Office's functions on time. (3) The Secretary must make sure that when the Director or any Office employee is evaluated for job performance, their case record — whether they ruled for or against the Department — is not held against them.