Letters Of Acceptance and Dismissal

Writing Letters Of Acceptance/Dismissal

DSZ understands the Letter of Accept/Dismiss (LOA) is the platform on which the entire formal investigation rests.  Based on the counseling report and the complaint, and in compliance with the 1614 regulations addressing accept and dismiss obligations, the LOA will determine the issues addressed in the ultimate investigation.  While bases may be added or changed in the course of the investigation, the claim itself is fixed by the LOA and the investigation must limit itself to the confines of that LOA.DSZ regards the task of writing defensible LOAs as seminal to the EEO process and believes it is the LOA writer’s obligation to use the regulations fully, including the dismissal provisions.  When we make a decision to dismiss all or a portion of a complaint, we are fully prepared to write a defensible and sound legal decision explaining our position.

It is also our belief that careful vetting of complaints to assure accurate LOAs preserves agency resources for investigating timely claims.  The misuse of terms such as “continuing violation” and “hostile environment” in LOAs often leads to wide-ranging investigations of claims that are ultimately legally indefensible.  The LOA writer must have a full understanding of the Supreme Court standards in continuing violations and harassment and hostile environment claims as well as of all the general provisions of the relevant statutes, case law and regulations.
Our LOA textbook is used by all of our writers and is up-dated annually to reflect changes in laws and standards as relevant.  Our LOA unit is under the direction of our Technical Director for FADs as the same rigorous legal vetting needs to be applied to LOAs as to FADs.

As DSZ’s clients will attest, DSZ’s LOA work is timely, reliable, rigorous, and knowledgeable.

If you are interested in more information on LOAs, e-mail Megan Zorn mzorn@dsz.com.