SUMMARY: Pursuant to the requirements of 5 CFR 724.202 ("Notice obligations"), the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) hereby publishes this No FEAR Act Notice. The purpose of this notice is to inform ODNI and Intelligence Community (IC) employees, former employees, and applicants for employment of the rights and protections available under Federal antidiscrimination and whistleblower protection laws. This Notice follows the model language provided by the Office of Personnel Management in the Final Rule, Implementation of Title II of the Notification and Federal Employee Anti-discrimination and Retaliation Act of 2002 - Notification & Training (71 Fed. Reg. 41095). Any questions regarding this notice should be directed to Peguine Taylor, Director, Intelligence Community Equal Employment Opportunity Outreach, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Washington, DC 20511, peguine.m.taylor@ugov.gov.
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On May 15, 2002, Congress enacted the "Notification and Federal Employee Antidiscrimination and Retaliation Act of 2002" which is now known as the No FEAR Act. One purpose of the Act is to "require that Federal agencies be accountable for violations of antidiscrimination and whistleblower protection laws." Public Law 107-174, Summary. In support of this purpose, Congress found that "agencies cannot run effectively if those agencies practice or tolerate discrimination." Public Law 107-174, Title I, General Provisions, section 101(1).
The Act also requires this agency to provide this notice to Federal employees, former Federal employees and applicants for Federal employment to inform you of the rights and protections available to you under Federal antidiscrimination and whistleblower protection laws.
A Federal agency cannot discriminate against an employee or applicant with respect to the terms, conditions or privileges of employment on the basis of race, sex, color, religion, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, parental status, or sexual orientation. Discrimination on these bases is prohibited by various federal statutes or Executive Orders. (5 USC - 2302(b)(1), 29 USC - 206(d), 29 USC - 631, 29 USC - 633a, 29 USC - 791, and 42 USC - 2000e-16.)
If you believe that you have been the victim of unlawful discrimination on the basis of race, sex, color, religion, national origin, disability or genetic information, you must contact an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) counselor within 45 days of the alleged discriminatory action, or, in the case of a personnel action, within 45 calendar days of the effective date of the action, before you can file a formal complaint of discrimination. See, e.g., 29 CFR Part 1614, the ODNI Equal Employment Opportunity and Diversity (EEOD) internal agency website, and the EEOD public website at http://www.odni.gov/eeo/htm.
If you believe that you have been the victim of unlawful discrimination on the basis of age, you must contact an EEO counselor as noted above or give notice of intent to sue to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) within 180 calendar days of the alleged discriminatory action.
A Federal agency cannot retaliate against an employee or applicant because that individual exercises his or her rights under any of the Federal antidiscrimination laws noted above or whistleblower protection laws listed below. If you believe that you are the victim of retaliation for engaging in protected activity, you must follow, as appropriate, the procedures described in the Antidiscrimination Laws or the Whistleblower Protection Laws sections or, if applicable, the administrative or negotiated grievance procedures in order to pursue any legal remedy.
It is the policy of the federal government to enable employees to disclose evidence of fraud, abuse, mismanagement, or illegal activities without fear of reprisal. The Inspector General (IG) Act of 1978, as amended by the Intelligence Community (IC) Whistleblower Protection Act of 1998 (ICWPA) provides employees and contractors of intelligence agencies with a mechanism for reporting alleged wrongdoing in IC agencies and associated programs to Congress. Under the ICWPA, IC employees have the right to engage in whistleblowing activity relating to intelligence matters of "urgent concern" and to be free from retaliatory actions for such reporting. "Urgent concerns," as defined by the ICWPA, include matters an IC employee reasonably believes to evidence violations of law, rule or regulation; gross mismanagement; gross waste of funds; an abuse of authority; or a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety. In some circumstances, ODNI personnel (including employees, assignees, detailees, and contractors) may feel it necessary to report such matters to Congress when, in the view of the ODNI personnel, those matters are not being adequately addressed by the ODNI or another government agency. If ODNI personnel wish to report waste, fraud, abuse, violation of law, or gross mismanagement by IC employees to Congress, the matter should first be raised to the IC Office of Inspector General (IC IG). The IC IG will advise the employee regarding the procedures for making an IC whistleblower complaint. Additionally, ODNI and IC personnel may report misconduct to the IC IG at any time. For additional information on whistleblower obligations, policies and procedures, to make a whistleblower disclosure, and/or if you believe that you have been a victim of whistleblower retaliation, ODNI and IC personnel should contact the Office of the IC Inspector General at (703) 482-4955.
For further information regarding the No Fear Act regulations, refer to 5 USC Part 724. Additional information regarding Federal antidiscrimination and retaliation laws can be found at the EEOC website http://www.eeoc.gov.
Pursuant to section 205 of the No FEAR Act, neither the Act nor this notice creates, expands or reduces any rights otherwise available to any employee, former employee or applicant under the laws of the United States, including the provisions of law specified in 5 2302(d).