From: "Gordon, Claudia - OFCCP" <Gordon.Claudia@dol.gov>
Date: February 10, 2010 3:30:44 PM EST
To: "S.B. Woo" <sbw@UDel.Edu>, "Shiu, Patricia A - OFCCP" <Shiu.Patricia@dol.gov>
Cc: "Chen, Cindy - OSEC" <Chen.Cindy@dol.gov>, "Kim, Elizabeth - OSEC" <Kim.Elizabeth@dol.gov>, "Chenming Hu" <hu@eecs.berkeley.edu>
Subject: RE: Thank you and looking for feedback
              
[This email is being sent on behalf of Director Shiu.]

Dear Mr. Woo:

It was a pleasure meeting with you and Professor Hu on January 11, 2010.  I appreciated the issues and concerns you raised.  I believe that stakeholder input is crucial to OFCCP’s efforts to effectively carry out its mission of enforcing equal employment opportunity and affirmative action in the workplace.

As you requested, I am offering the clarification below to portions of your meeting summary.  The information below may be shared with others.

OFCCP intends to enforce Executive Order 11246 on behalf of all protected persons, including, but not limited to, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI).  OFCCP will broaden its enforcement efforts and focus on identifying and resolving both systemic and individual discrimination cases. (emphasis added by 80-20)  The review of individual cases of discrimination will include harassment, retaliation, termination, and failure to promote.  Individuals who are protected by OFCCP, including AAPI, are encouraged to file a complaint if they believe they have been discriminated against by federal contractors or subcontractors.  OFCCP takes very seriously its responsibility to eliminate any vestiges of discrimination in the federal contractor workplace; therefore, members of the AAPI community, including members of your organization, are encouraged to contact an OFCCP office in their area to file or report potential discriminatory employment practices by federal contractors or subcontractors.

While I applaud your work in championing for the rights of AAPI, I respectfully decline your offer to request additional authority from the President.  As stated above and reiterated during our meeting, OFCCP intends to enforce Executive Order 11246 on behalf of all covered persons, and no additional Executive Order is necessary. 

In closing, I wish to highlight two items that may be of interest to members of your organization that I mentioned during our meeting.  First, OFCCP is committed to increasing its workforce representation of AAPI within its ranks.  In addition, OFCCP is recruiting bilingual Equal Opportunity Specialists to conduct compliance evaluations.  Second, OFCCP has initiated the process to revise 41 CFR Part 60-4 regulations by evaluating all of its provisions and exploring the affirmative action goals (16 specific steps) to ensure equal employment opportunity for women and minorities in the construction trades.  This process also involves ensuring that the regulations reflect the legal parameters for federal affirmative action programs.  As part of the process, OFCCP is conducting three Town Hall Meetings [Chicago on February 2nd – 5th, San Francisco on February 16th – 17th, and New Orleans on March 17th – 18th] to 1) highlight OFCCP’s anticipated regulatory activities; 2) offer a critical opportunity for stakeholders to provide suggestions and recommendations to OFCCP; and 3) provide information on how stakeholders can participate in the official rulemaking process.  

Very truly yours,

Patricia A. Shiu