Appendix L EEO-MD-110 COMPLAINT FILE FORMAT

Management Directive 110

                           Title Page
                      (Agency Letterhead)
                                   )
(COMPLAINANT):
(Complainant's Address):
(Complainant's City, State, ZIP):  
                                   )
                     Complainant:
                                   )
                                   )
and
                                   )
                                   )  AGENCY CASE NO.___:
(AGENCY HEAD):
(Title):
(Agency Name):
                                      OTHER NUMBERS_____:
(Agency Address)
(P.O. Box)
(City, State, ZIP)
                          Agency:
                                   )
                                   )

General Requirements

Adobe image over text (searchable portable document format (PDF) - To preserve document integrity while simultaneously providing additional functionality, the Commission requires that all agency submissions - whether for a hearing as directed from an EEOC Administrative Judge, or on appeal pursuant to 29 C.F.R. § 1614.403(g) - be in searchable PDF format. Searchable PDF documents still look like a copy of the scanned/converted document, but behind the image Adobe performs optical character recognition (OCR) to identify the letters, words, and numbers that are present in the image. This functionality allows someone to search for particular words or terms in the PDF document, and to copy and paste verbatim language from the PDF document into a word processing document.

Saving or converting word processing documents to PDF automatically results in a searchable PDF document. For those documents that are scanned, typically there is a setting on the scanner that changes the output to searchable PDF. An image-only PDF document can also be converted to searchable PDF. See https://acrobat.adobe.com/us/en/acrobat/how-to/ocr-software-convert-pdf-to-text.html.

Digital bookmarks - Digital submissions comprised of multiple documents (for example, Reports of Investigation, Administrative Complaint Files, briefs/motions containing exhibits, etc.) must contain hyperlinked bookmarks for relevant/important documents therein. The bookmarks must be named in a manner that describes what the document is (for example, "EEO Counselor's Report," "Formal Complaint," "Exhibit A - 2014 Performance Evaluation," etc.), rather than a generic tab or table of contents designation. While more detailed bookmarking is always appreciated, the following documents (if applicable) must be bookmarked:

• Formal Complaint
• EEO Counselor's Report
• Notice of Right to File a Complaint
• Notice of Claims to be Investigated
• Agency's Partial Dismissal of Claims
• Settlement Agreements
• Prior Appellate Activity
• Report of Investigation Summary
• Exhibits/Evidence in the Report of Investigation
• Notice of Incomplete Investigation
• Pre-Hearing Submissions (including motions, orders, exhibits, and transcripts)
• Hearing Submissions (including motions, orders, exhibits, and transcripts)
• Administrative Judge's Decision
• Final Agency Decision or Final Order

For instructions on how to add bookmarks to a PDF document, see

https://acrobatusers.com/tutorials/how-do-i-add-bookmarks-to-a-pdf-document.

Consolidated Submissions on Appeal - Submissions on appeal to the Office of Federal Operations should be consolidated into as few PDF files as possible, mindful of the size restrictions imposed by the Commission's document submission portal. If a file exceeds the size limitation, it may be divided into multiple files, but there should be as few as possible.

For instructions on how to consolidate multiple PDF files, see

https://acrobat.adobe.com/us/en/acrobat/how-to/merge-combine-pdf-files-online.html

Sample Digital Complaint File

A sample digital complaint file will be posted on the FedSEP portal and the Commission's external web-site at a later date.