The No Fear Act, Public Law 107-174, requires that federal agencies be publicly accountable for violations of anti-discrimination and whistleblower protection laws. Federal agencies must post both quarterly and annual statistical data relating to federal sector Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) complaints on its public website, reimburse the Judgment Fund for any payments made, notify employees and applicants for employment about their rights under the federal antidiscrimination and whistleblower laws. The No Fear Act and its implementing regulations also require federal agencies to report annually on:
- The number of cases pending or resolved in Federal District Court in each fiscal year arising under federal anti-discrimination and whistleblower protection laws;
- The total number of employees disciplined and the specific nature of the disciplinary action taken for violation of antidiscrimination and whistleblower protection laws;
- Final year-end statistical data of federal sector EEO activity;
- A detailed description of the agency’s policy for taking disciplinary action for conduct that is found to violate federal antidiscrimination and whistleblower protection laws;
- An analysis of the trends and causes of complaints of discrimination, as well as practical knowledge, gained through experience and actions planned or taken to improve complaint or civil rights programs with the goal of eliminating discrimination.
- Amounts reimbursed for any payments made from the Judgment Fund and any budgetary adjustments required to comply with the reimbursement obligation; and
- A written plan to train employees about their rights.
Each year, the FCC must submit to Congress, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the Department of Justice, and Office of Personnel Management, an annual report setting forth information about the FCC's efforts to improve compliance with the employment discrimination and whistleblower protection laws and detailing the status of complaints brought against the FCC under these laws. The FCC submitted the following report for FY 2022:
In addition to posting the annual report, Section 1614.703(a) of the EEOC’s Rules requires agencies to post their statistical data pertaining to EEO complaints each quarter (quarterly report), The quarterly report contains the number of complaints filed; the number of persons filing those complaints; the number of persons filing multiple complaints; the bases and issues alleged in the complaints; the average length of time in takes an agency to complete certain stages of the complaint process; the number of final agency actions in which discrimination is found, broken down by issue, basis, and whether a hearing was held; the number of pending complaints that were filed in previous fiscal years, including the number of persons who filed those complaints; and, the number of complaints in which an investigation was not completed in a timely manner. Agencies must post current fiscal year data, updated quarterly, as well as data for the past five fiscal years.