U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (E.E.O.C.)
Office of Federal Operations
*1 DIANNE E. RANNE, COMPLAINANT,
v.
TIMOTHY F. GEITHNER, SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY, AGENCY.
Appeal No. 0120092842
Agency No. BEP090468F
September 21, 2009
DECISION
Complainant filed a timely appeal with this Commission from the agency’s decision dated May 15, 2009, dismissing her complaint of unlawful employment discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq.
At the time the events at issue arose, complainant was employed at the agency’s Bureau of Printing and Engraving in Fort Worth, Texas, as a Police Officer. In an EEO complaint filed on April 7, 2009, complainant alleged that she was subjected to sexual harassment shortly after she was first hired when she was raped by a male supervisory employee in February 1998. The agency dismissed the complaint pursuant to 29 C.F.R. § 1614. 107( a)( 2), for untimely EEO Counselor contact. The instant appeal followed.
EEOC Regulation 29 C.F.R. § 1614.105(a)(1) requires that complaints of discrimination should be brought to the attention of the Equal Employment Opportunity Counselor within forty-five (45) days of the date of the matter alleged to be discriminatory or, in the case of a personnel action, within forty-five (45) days of the effective date of the action.
The record discloses that the alleged discriminatory event occurred sometime in February 1998, but complainant did not initiate contact with an EEO Counselor until March 24, 2009, which is well beyond the forty-five (45) day limitation period. The agency’s EEO counselor specifically asked complainant why she waited so long to raise her claim, and documented that complainant stated that she was afraid no one would believe her and that she would be terminated. In its dismissal decision, the agency found that complainant was aware of the EEO complaint limitation periods as she had previously filed complaints on other matters in 2001 and 2003. Moreover, the agency noted that complainant reported her rape allegation to the agency’s security office in November 2008, but still did not initiate EEO counseling until four months later in March 2009.
On appeal, complainant has presented no persuasive arguments or evidence warranting an extension or waiver of the time limit for initiating EEO Counselor contact. Although complainant indicates that she feared reprisal if she pursued an EEO complaint, the Commission has repeatedly held that in most cases, the fear of reprisal is an insufficient justification for extending the time limitation for contacting an EEO Counselor. See Duncan v. Department of Veterans Affairs, EEOC Request No. 05970315 (July 10, 1998); Kovarik v. Department of Defense, EEOC Request No. 05930898 (December 9, 1993). We find significant that complainant reported the rape to the agency security office in November 2008, but still did not contact the EEO office until four months later.
*2 In summary, we find that complainant had a reasonable suspicion of a serious incident of sexual harassment in 1998, but did not seek EEO counseling for over ten years despite knowing of the 45-day limitation period. The Commission has consistently held that a complainant must act with due diligence in the pursuit of her claim or the doctrine of laches may apply to bar the claim. See Becker v. United States Postal Serv., EEOC Appeal No. 01A45028 (November 18, 2004) (finding that the doctrine of laches applied when complainant waited over two years from the date of the alleged discriminatory events before contacting an EEO Counselor); O’Dell v. Department of Health and Human Serv., EEOC Request No. 05901130 (December 27, 1990). In the instant case, complainant waited over ten years from the date of the alleged discriminatory events before she contacted an EEO Counselor in 2009. She has failed to provide sufficient justification for extending or tolling the time limit.
Accordingly, the agency’s final decision dismissing complainant’s complaint is affirmed.
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