§ 306.8 Pre-complaint procedure.

(a) Any applicant, trainee or volunteer who believes that he or she has been subject to prohibited discrimination must bring such allegations to the attention of OCRD within 60 days of the alleged discrimination, at which point a Counselor will be assigned to attempt to resolve them. (b) The pre-complaint procedure is intended to determine whether the concerns of the aggrieved party can be resolved to the mutual satisfaction of the aggrieved party and the agency without the filing of a formal complaint. (c) The counselor serves as a neutral party, to gather a limited amount of information from the aggrieved party about his or her allegations, explain to the aggrieved party his or her rights, obtain information to determine the applicability of this regulation, and where appropriate, attempt an informal resolution among relevant parties. (d) The amount of information that the counselor gathers from the agency is limited to information needed to reach an informal resolution to the mutual satisfaction of the aggrieved party and the agency. (e) The counselor will keep a written record of his or her activities, which will be submitted to the OCRD Director as a counselor's report. (f) To the extent necessary to reach an informal resolution, the counselor may reveal to relevant agency officials the identity of the aggrieved party. In the event that the aggrieved party requests that the Counselor not share his or her identity with agency officials, the Counselor will not reveal the identity of the aggrieved party (or information that could be used to easily identify the aggrieved party) outside of OCRD. If appropriate, the Counselor should explain to the aggrieved party that an informal resolution and/or the scope of relief available may be limited as a result of the request for anonymity. (g) The pre-complaint process should be completed within 30 days, but the OCRD Director may extend the period upon request of the aggrieved party or the agency for good cause shown. (h) If, after inquiry and counseling, an informal resolution to the allegation is not reached, the Counselor will notify the aggrieved party in writing of the right to file a formal complaint of discrimination with the OCRD Director within 30 calendar days of the aggrieved party's receipt of the notice. (i) As an alternative to assignment of a Counselor as described above, the aggrieved party may ask for Alternative Dispute Resolution as set out in the Peace Corps' policy. In such a case, the parties have 90 days to attempt in good faith to reach an informal resolution of the allegation. At any time during the course of Alternative Dispute Resolution, the aggrieved party or the Responsible Management Official (or their Supervisor), in consultation with the Office of the General Counsel, may terminate those proceedings.