ENFORCEMENT (COMPLAINT PROCESSING)

The power and duty "[t]o receive, investigate, and finally determine the merits of complaints alleging unfair or discriminatory practices" is delegated by the Governor and General Assembly to the Iowa Civil Rights Commission by Iowa Code section 601A.5(2).


Complaints are "received, investigated, and finally determined" in steps.

Chart 1. The Complaint Process


step 1 Intake

step 2 Administrative Review

step 3 Mediation

step 4 Investigation

step 5 Conciliation

step 6 Public Hearing/Final Commission Decision

Intake. Complaints are received at the Intake step. At Intake, a person calls or visits the Iowa Civil Rights Commission (ICRC) and asks to speak to someone about a possible civil rights violation. A Commission intake staff person interviews the person - explores the person's situation or problem - and determines whether the person has grounds to file a civil rights complaint. If the person has grounds and wants to file, then the intake staff person drafts the complaint and prepares the necessary forms. A complaint is filed when written, signed, and received by the Commission.

In Fiscal Year 1987, almost 3,600 persons called or visited the Commission. All were interviewed by intake staff. 1,082 or 30% actually filed complaints. Many city and county, local human rights commissions in Iowa process civil rights complaints. Local commissions (identified later in the Report) cross-filed 384 complaints with the Commission. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal anti-discrimination agency charged with enforcing Title VII, cross-filed 46 complaints. Total Number of Complaints Filed in Fiscal Year 1987 is 1,512.


Chart 2. Complaint Filing Comparison

Year Number Filed Percentage Change
1985 1,373
1986 1,672 +18%
1987 1,512 -10%

Less complaints were filed in Fiscal Year 1987 because no plant closing generated a mass-filing of age-based complaints. In FY 1986, there were two such plant closings.

Once filed, the complaint is reviewed by a compliance manager who determines jurisdiction. If the Commission lacks jurisdiction to further process the complaint, the complaint is closed. The closure is simply labeled, "No Jurisdiction." In Fiscal Year 1987, only two complaints were closed because the Commission lacked jurisdiction. There were 21 such closures in Fiscal Year 1986. The numbers decreased because intake staff were instructed not to prepare complaints clearly nonjurisdictional. For those persons who wanted to file nonjurisdictional complaints, our regular intake service was denied; instead, blank complaint forms, with instructions on how to complete, were mailed.

Complaints. 1,312 or 80% of the 1,512 complaints filed in Fiscal Year 1987 alleged discrimination in employment.

Chart 3. Complaints by Area

  # - % 1984 # - % 1985 # - % 1986 # - % 1987
employment 986 - 88 1,263 - 92 1,504 - 90 1,312 - 87
public accommodations 73 - 7 46 - 3 93 - 5 145 - 10
housing 48 - 4 58 - 4 50 - 3 82 - 5
retaliation ? ? ? 77 - 5
credit 8 - < 1 6 - < 1 9 - < 1 19 - 1
education ? ? ? 9 - < 1
aiding & abetting ? ? 16 - 1 4 - < 1


514 or 34% of the 1,512 complaints filed in Fiscal Year 1987 alleged sex-based discrimination. 467 or 31% alleged race-based discrimination.

Chart 4. Complaints by Basis

  # - % 1984 # - % 1985 # - % 1986 # - % 1987
sex 251 - 22 287 - 21 384 - 23 514 - 34
race 225 - 20 258 - 19 351 - 21 467 - 31
disability 159 - 14 210 - 15 317 - 19 415 - 27
age 168 - 15 266 - 19 434 - 26 317 - 21
national origin 36 - 3 31 - 2 50 -3 89 - 6
retaliation ? ? ? 83 - 5
religion ? ? ? 26 - 2
color ? ? ? 19 - 1
marital status ? ? ? 9 - <1
creed ? ? ? 4 - <1



In Fiscal Year 1987, in 622 complaints, "discharge" or employment termination was the alleged discriminatory incident. In 168 complaints, "failure to hire" was the alleged incident. The number of sex or "sexual harassment" incidents alleged in complaints dramatically increased in Fiscal Year 1987, from 63 to 104. Perhaps, the increased number is due to more awareness among Iowa residents that sexual harassment is actionable sex discrimination.

Chart 5. Complaints by Incident
  # - % 1986 # - % 1987
discharge 550 - 33 622 - 41
failure to hire 178 - 11 168 - 11
harassing conduct 171 - 10 156 - 10
harassing conduct (sex) 63 - 4 104 - 7
terms & conditions 389 - 23 182 - 12
constructive discharge 86 - 5 99 - 7
layoff 52 - 3 93 - 6
pay difference 51 - 3 66 - 4
failure to promote 57 - 3 77 - 6
reprimand 74 - 4 62 - 4
denied equal service 89 - 5 118 - 8
failure to reasonably accommodate 89 - 5 76 - 5
eviction 19 - 1 27 - 2
failure to rent/lease 21 - 1 22 - 1



In Fiscal Year 1987, 478 or 32% of the 1,512 complaints filed named (as respondents) persons or organizations or companies located in Polk County.
Albeit more complaints were filed in Fiscal Year 1986, less complaints were filed against Polk County persons/organizations.

Chart 6. Complaints by County (Top Ten)


  # - % 1986 # - % 1987
Polk 438 - 26 478 - 32
Scott 138 - 8 158 - 10
Black Hawk 109 - 7 113 - 7
Linn 99 - 6 91 - 6
Woodbury 113 - 7 75 - 5
Johnson 36 - 2 66 - 4
Pottawattamie 47 - 3 43 - 3
Hamilton 7 - 1 40 - 3
Des Moines 26 - 2 38 - 3
Dubuque 36 - 2 38 - 3


Administrative Review. If the complaint is jurisdictional, then respondent and complainant are notified, by mail, that the complaint is on file and will be processed. In those same mailings, questionnaires are sent. The parties are given thirty days to answer and return the questionnaires. A team of investigators reviews the complaint as well as the answers to the questionnaires and determines whether further processing is warranted. This review is called "administrative review" or complaint screening. Complaints determined not to warrant further processing are screened-out or "administratively closed." Complaints determined to warrant further processing are assigned to investigators. Those complaints which are screened-in are fully investigated. In Fiscal Year 1987, 276 complaints were screened-out. In Fiscal Year 1986, 400 complaints were screened-out. The number is higher for 1986 because there were many more complaints screened. A backlog of complaints pending administrative review had developed by 1986 which no longer existed in 1987. In both years, about 50% of the complaints screened were screened-out.

Mediation. ICRC staff mediators act as neutral "go-betweens", trying to bring the parties together on settlement terms. All settlement agreements obtained through mediation contain "no-fault" clauses. Once the settlement agreement is executed, the complaint is closed as "satisfactorily adjusted."

Not all complaints are assigned for mediation. Only those complaints with respondents that have suggested or initiated settlement talks are assigned. Mailed with the questionnaires, which trigger Screening, is a one page statement describing the complaint process. In that statement, the parties are informed about the possibility of no-fault settlement. In the questionnaire to the respondent, the ICRC also asks whether the respondent is interested in mediation. If the respondent is interested and willing to offer settlement terms, then the complaint is assigned and mediation is attempted. Generally, the mediation process happens via the telephone. Offers and counteroffers are relayed to the parties by the mediator. If settlement is reached, then the mediator drafts the predetermination settlement agreement and collects signatures.

In Fiscal Year 1987, 102 complaints were mediated or "satisfactorily adjusted." The 102 settlements represent 8% of all 1987 ICRC resolutions. In Fiscal Year 1986, 91 complaints were settled.

Chart 7. Analysis of Determinations

determination # - % 1985 # - % 1986 # - % 1987
administrative closure      

 failure to locate

112 - 8 104 - 8 131 - 11

right-to-sue

102 - 7 172 - 13 150 - 12

complaint screening

107 - 7 400 - 29 276 - 23
no jurisdiction 33 - 2 21 - 2 2 - < 1
no probable cause 175 - 12 233 - 17 314 - 26
probable cause 29 - 2 229 - 17 85 - 7
satisfactorily adjusted 173 - 12 91 - 7 102 - 8
successfully conciliated 32 - 2 29 - 2 34 - 3
withdrawn 89 - 7 75 - 6 87 - 7
withdrawn/satis. adjusted 11 - < 1 1 - < 1 5 - < 1
approved for public hearing ? 139 - 11 16 - 1
closure after hearing 7 - < 1 1 - < 1 1 - < 1


Investigation. If the complaint is screened-in and if mediation produces no settlement agreement, then the complaint is assigned to an ICRC investigator. The investigation is conducted in various steps. Parties and witnesses are interviewed; records and charts/lists are gathered. Most complaints are investigated using the different treatment theory of discrimination. That theory calls for the resolution of one main issue: whether the incident doer's (decision-maker's) reasons for the incident (e.g. complainant's termination) are pretextual for basis (e.g. race) discrimination? To resolve that issue, the investigator collects four kinds of information or evidence: (1) comparative, (2) direct or "smoking guns," (3) pattern, and (4) statistical. The investigator analyzes the information collected - applies civil rights law to the facts - and then recommends Probable Cause (PC) or No Probable Cause (NPQ) that discrimination occurred in violation of the "Iowa Civil Rights Act," Iowa Code Chapter 601A. The internal hearing officer reviews the entire complaint file and then makes an independent determination of PC or NPC.

In Fiscal Year 1987, 85 complaints received a Probable Cause finding; 314 received a No Probable Cause finding. More individual complaints were fully investigated in Fiscal Year 1987 than in any other year. The greater PC/NPC determination total for Fiscal Year 1986 is attributable to two mass-filings of complaints, all receiving PC findings. Fiscal Year 1987 is best compared to Fiscal Year 1986 - 399 full investigations compared to 204. Changes in technique, analysis, and focus account for the greater number of determinations.

Conciliation. If the internal hearing officer determines Probable Cause, then an ICRC conciliator is assigned the complaint to attempt conciliation. "[T]he staff of the commission shall promptly endeavor to eliminate the discriminatory or unfair practice by conference, conciliation, or persuasion." Iowa Code section 601A.15(3)(d). From intake to PC/NPC determination, the ICRC is impartial, an objective and neutral fact-finder; however, after a PC finding, the ICRC becomes an advocate. The ICRC's finding of probable cause requires that the conciliator negotiate the best possible settlement for the agency, the complainant, and the public. Frequently, meetings or conferences with the parties are held. If the parties reach a settlement agreement, then the complaint is closed as "successfully conciliated."

If, after thirty (30) days, the respondent is not interested in conciliation or if the parties cannot agree on settlement terms, then the conciliator recommends whether the complaint should proceed to public hearing. The executive director and one commissioner make the decision. "When the director is satisfied that further endeavor to settle a complaint by conference, conciliation, and persuasion is unworkable and should be bypassed, and the thirty-day period ... has expired without agreement, the director with the approval of a commissioner, shall issue and cause to be served a written notice specifying the charges in the complaint ... and requiring the respondent to answer the charges ... at a hearing before ... [the external] hearing officer ... at a time and place to be specified in the notice." Iowa Code section 601A. 15(5).

34 complaints were "successfully conciliated" in Fiscal Year 1987; 16 PC-found complaints were "approved" for public hearing.

Public Hearing/Commission Decision. The ICRC is represented by an Assistant Attorney General. "The case in support of such complaint shall be presented at the hearing by one of the commission's attorneys or agents." Iowa Code section 601A.15(6). "The hearing shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 17A for contested cases." Section 601A.15(7). The external hearing officer presides at the hearing and issues a proposed decision. Section 17A.15(12). The commission, comprised of seven (7) commissioners appointed by the governor and confirmed by the senate, reviews the record - including the "proposed" decision - and then makes the final ICRC decision. "if upon taking - into consideration all of the evidence at a hearing, the commission determines that the respondent has engaged in a discriminatory or unfair practice, the commission shall state its findings of fact and conclusions of law and shall issue an order requiring the respondent to cease and desist from the discriminatory or unfair practice and to take the necessary remedial action as in the judgment of the commission will carry out the purposes of this chapter." Section 601A. 15(8).

In Fiscal Year 1987, 16 public hearings were held. In Fiscal Year 1986, 17 hearings were held. And in Fiscal Year 1985, 9 were held.

Judicial Review. "Judicial review of the actions of the commission may be sought in accordance with the Iowa administrative procedure Act." Iowa Code section 601A.17(l). The time limit for filing a petition for judicial review is thirty (30) days from the certified mailing date of the final agency action, be it NPC, administrative closure following screening, or a final commission decision in a contested case following public hearing. The scope of judicial review varies. See Sections 17A.19(7) and (8).

ANNUALIZED BENEFITS. Monies collected from respondents by the ICRC either via settlement or final commission decision, and paid to complainants are called "annualized benefits." In Fiscal Year 1987, annualized benefits totaled $589,602.22.


Chart 8. Annualized Benefits Comparison

1985 $909,607.48

1986 $574,485.10

1987 $589,602.22

CASE INVENTORY On July 1, 1986, the beginning case inventory - the total number of open cases - was 1,955. The ending inventory on June 30, 1987 was 2,288 open cases.


Chart 9. Case Inventory Comparison

  beginning ending + or -
1985 1,70 31,413 -290
1986 1,413 1,955 +542
1987 1,955 2,288 +333


PROCESSING TIME

In Fiscal Year 1987, the average case processing time - the average number of months necessary to process a complaint to determination - was 13.5 months, a four-month increase over Fiscal Year 1986.

Chart 10. Processing Time Comparison

  months + or -
1983 12 ?
1984 8.5 -3.5
1985 12.5 +4
1986 9.5 -3
1987 13.5 +4

 

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