As the federal government shutdown completes its fourth week, the lack of funding is increasingly impacting a range of government services and regulatory activities. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has suspended most activities, including charge investigations, outreach, and assistance to employers and potential charging parties. Lawyers representing the agency filed motions to stay pending litigation until the resolution of the shutdown.

The EEOC is offering limited services during the shutdown. These include the ability to file charges of discrimination through the public portal, and litigation in the event the court fails to grant the agency’s motion to stay. The shutdown does not toll the limitations period for filing charges or lawsuits, or for responding to litigation deadlines absent court action. However, in past shutdowns, federal courts have been unwilling to punish charging parties due to problems encountered when they tried to comply with these filing deadlines.

State and local EEO deferral agencies are unaffected by the federal shutdown and continue to accept and investigate charges. In the event of a protracted shutdown, the long-term effects of the EEOC’s loss of funding are unclear. It may be difficult for the agency to quickly resume investigations in progress, or to make decisions on litigating matters if there is a considerable backlog of pending discrimination charges.

For more information, please contact me or your regular Parker Poe contact. Click here to subscribe to our latest alerts and insights.