EEOC EXPANDS NEW YORK OPERATIONS AT TEMPORARY MANHATTAN LOCATION

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today re-opened for business at a temporary Manhattan location, restoring essential agency services to residents of the New York area. New contact information is available to the public.

The EEOC's New York District Office had been located on the 18th floor of Building 7 of the World Trade Center and was destroyed, along with case files and other materials stored there, during the terrorist attacks that took place on September 11. All agency personnel, along with other residents of the building, were safely evacuated before the structure collapsed.

Chair Cari M. Dominguez and Commissioner Paul Steven Miller traveled to New York on Monday to visit with the New York District Office staff. "They are excited and raring to go!" said Chair Dominguez. "We are very proud of our New York staff. They've worked hard - and fast - to restore our agency's services to the New York area. Their efforts and enthusiasm further demonstrate their unwavering commitment to the mission of this agency."

Space at the temporary location, 201 Varick Street, is limited. While the New York District Office will not be fully operational for some time, staff will resume a variety of basic services, including the handling of general telephone inquiries and receipt and processing of new discrimination charges by phone and mail. Staff also will begin reconstructing lost case files.

Telephone lines will be answered Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.:

• General Inquiries and New Charges (212) 741-8815 or (212) 741-2783
• Pending Lawsuits (212) 741-3181 (after October 22)
• Federal Employment Complaints (212) 620-0476
• Cases in Mediation (212) 620-0443
• Charges Filed with State/Local Agencies (212) 620-0086
  (i.e., fair employment practices agencies such as the New York State Division of Human Rights and the New York City Commission on Human Rights)
• Inquiries from Callers with Hearing and Speech Impairments (973) 645-3004 TTY

Mailing Address:

The Legal Unit expects that most lawsuits filed prior to September 11 will proceed

with only minimal delays. Some lawsuits will not be affected at all. Current claimants and defendants in EEOC lawsuits who have not been contacted by an EEOC lawyer should contact the Legal Unit by mail or, after October 22, by phone. Additional information for claimants involved in several large class action lawsuits will be available on the EEOC's Web site, http://www.eeoc.gov/, during the week of October 22.

The public may access answers to frequently asked questions about the status of the EEOC's New York District Office on the home page of the agency's Web site.

Another temporary New York District Office work site that had been established at the EEOC's offices in Newark, and from which a small group of New York District Office personnel has been working on urgent matters since October 3, also will remain operational.

The EEOC enforces Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin; the Age Discrimination in Employment Act; the Equal Pay Act; Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits employment discrimination against individuals with disabilities in the private sector and state and local governments; prohibitions against discrimination affecting individuals with disabilities in the federal government; and sections of the Civil Rights Act of 1991.