42 USC 2000e-5(b): Information pertaining to unlawful employment practices

          
Sec. 2000e-5. Enforcement provisions
(a) Power of Commission to prevent unlawful employment practices

    The Commission is empowered, as hereinafter provided, to prevent any 
person from engaging in any unlawful employment practice as set forth in 
section 2000e-2 or 2000e-3 of this title.

        

            
 
          

(b) Charges by persons aggrieved or member of Commission of unlawful 
        employment practices by employers, etc.; filing; allegations; 
        notice to respondent; contents of notice; investigation by 
        Commission; contents of charges; prohibition on disclosure of 
        charges; determination of reasonable cause; conference, 
        conciliation, and persuasion for elimination of unlawful 
        practices; prohibition on disclosure of informal endeavors to 
        end unlawful practices; use of evidence in subsequent 
        proceedings; penalties for disclosure of information; time for 
        determination of reasonable cause

    Whenever a charge is filed by or on behalf of a person claiming to 
be aggrieved, or by a member of the Commission, alleging that an 
employer, employment agency, labor organization, or joint labor-
management committee controlling apprenticeship or other training or 
retraining, including on-the-job training programs, has engaged in an 
unlawful employment practice, the Commission shall serve a notice of the 
charge (including the date, place and circumstances of the alleged 
unlawful employment practice) on such employer, employment agency, labor 
organization, or joint labor-management committee (hereinafter referred 
to as the ``respondent'') within ten days, and shall make an 
investigation thereof. Charges shall be in writing under oath or 
affirmation and shall contain such information and be in such form as 
the Commission requires. Charges shall not be made public by the 
Commission. If the Commission determines after such investigation that 
there is not reasonable cause to believe that the charge is true, it 
shall dismiss the charge and promptly
notify the person claiming to be aggrieved and the respondent of its 
action. In determining whether reasonable cause exists, the Commission 
shall accord substantial weight to final findings and orders made by 
State or local authorities in proceedings commenced under State or local 
law pursuant to the requirements of subsections (c) and (d) of this 
section. If the Commission determines after such investigation that 
there is reasonable cause to believe that the charge is true, the 
Commission shall endeavor to eliminate any such alleged unlawful 
employment practice by informal methods of conference, conciliation, and 
persuasion. Nothing said or done during and as a part of such informal 
endeavors may be made public by the Commission, its officers or 
employees, or used as evidence in a subsequent proceeding without the 
written consent of the persons concerned. Any person who makes public 
information in violation of this subsection shall be fined not more than 
$1,000 or imprisoned for not more than one year, or both. The Commission 
shall make its determination on reasonable cause as promptly as possible 
and, so far as practicable, not later than one hundred and twenty days 
from the filing of the charge or, where applicable under subsection (c) 
or (d) of this section, from the date upon which the Commission is 
authorized to take action with respect to the charge.

(c) State or local enforcement proceedings; notification of State or 
        local authority; time for filing charges with Commission; 
        commencement of proceedings

    In the case of an alleged unlawful employment practice occurring in 
a State, or political subdivision of a State, which has a State or local 
law prohibiting the unlawful employment practice alleged and 
establishing or authorizing a State or local authority to grant or seek 
relief from such practice or to institute criminal proceedings with 
respect thereto upon receiving notice thereof, no charge may be filed 
under subsection (a) \1\ of this section by the person aggrieved before 
the expiration of sixty days after proceedings have been commenced under 
the State or local law, unless such proceedings have been earlier 
terminated, provided that such sixty-day period shall be extended to one 
hundred and twenty days during the first year after the effective date 
of such State or local law. If any requirement for the commencement of 
such proceedings is imposed by a State or local authority other than a 
requirement of the filing of a written and signed statement of the facts 
upon which the proceeding is based, the proceeding shall be deemed to 
have been commenced for the purposes of this subsection at the time such 
statement is sent by registered mail to the appropriate State or local 
authority.
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    \1\ So in original. Probably should be subsection ``(b)''.
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(d) State or local enforcement proceedings; notification of State or 
        local authority; time for action on charges by Commission

    In the case of any charge filed by a member of the Commission 
alleging an unlawful employment practice occurring in a State or 
political subdivision of a State which has a State or local law 
prohibiting the practice alleged and establishing or authorizing a State 
or local authority to grant or seek relief from such practice or to 
institute criminal proceedings with respect thereto upon receiving 
notice thereof, the Commission shall, before taking any action with 
respect to such charge, notify the appropriate State or local officials 
and, upon request, afford them a reasonable time, but not less than 
sixty days (provided that such sixty-day period shall be extended to one 
hundred and twenty days during the first year after the effective day of 
such State or local law), unless a shorter period is requested, to act 
under such State or local law to remedy the practice alleged.

(e) Time for filing charges; time for service of notice of charge on 
        respondent; filing of charge by Commission with State or local 
        agency; seniority system

    (1) A charge under this section shall be filed within one hundred 
and eighty days after the alleged unlawful employment practice occurred 
and notice of the charge (including the date, place and circumstances of 
the alleged unlawful employment practice) shall be served upon the 
person against whom such charge is made within ten days thereafter, 
except that in a case of an unlawful employment practice with respect to 
which the person aggrieved has initially instituted proceedings with a 
State or local agency with authority to grant or seek relief from such 
practice or to institute criminal proceedings with respect thereto upon 
receiving notice thereof, such charge shall be filed by or on behalf of 
the person aggrieved within three hundred days after the alleged 
unlawful employment practice occurred, or within thirty days after 
receiving notice that the State or local agency has terminated the 
proceedings under the State or local law, whichever is earlier, and a 
copy of such charge shall be filed by the Commission with the State or 
local agency.
    (2) For purposes of this section, an unlawful employment practice 
occurs, with respect to a seniority system that has been adopted for an 
intentionally discriminatory purpose in violation of this subchapter 
(whether or not that discriminatory purpose is apparent on the face of 
the seniority provision), when the seniority system is adopted, when an 
individual becomes subject to the seniority system, or when a person 
aggrieved is injured by the application of the seniority system or 
provision of the system.

(f) Civil action by Commission, Attorney General, or person aggrieved; 
        preconditions; procedure; appointment of attorney; payment of 
        fees, costs, or security; intervention; stay of Federal 
        proceedings; action for appropriate temporary or preliminary 
        relief pending final disposition of charge; jurisdiction and 
        venue of United States courts; designation of judge to hear and 
        determine case; assignment of case for hearing; expedition of 
        case; appointment of master

    (1) If within thirty days after a charge is filed with the 
Commission or within thirty days after expiration of any period of 
reference under subsection (c) or (d) of this section, the Commission 
has been unable to secure from the respondent a conciliation agreement 
acceptable to the Commission, the Commission may bring a civil ac
tion against any respondent not a government, governmental agency, or 
political subdivision named in the charge. In the case of a respondent 
which is a government, governmental agency, or political subdivision, if 
the Commission has been unable to secure from the respondent a 
conciliation agreement acceptable to the Commission, the Commission 
shall take no further action and shall refer the case to the Attorney 
General who may bring a civil action against such respondent in the 
appropriate United States district court. The person or persons 
aggrieved shall have the right to intervene in a civil action brought by 
the Commission or the Attorney General in a case involving a government, 
governmental agency, or political subdivision. If a charge filed with 
the Commission pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, is dismissed 
by the Commission, or if within one hundred and eighty days from the 
filing of such charge or the expiration of any period of reference under 
subsection (c) or (d) of this section, whichever is later, the 
Commission has not filed a civil action under this section or the 
Attorney General has not filed a civil action in a case involving a 
government, governmental agency, or political subdivision, or the 
Commission has not entered into a conciliation agreement to which the 
person aggrieved is a party, the Commission, or the Attorney General in 
a case involving a government, governmental agency, or political 
subdivision, shall so notify the person aggrieved and within ninety days 
after the giving of such notice a civil action may be brought against 
the respondent named in the charge (A) by the person claiming to be 
aggrieved or (B) if such charge was filed by a member of the Commission, 
by any person whom the charge alleges was aggrieved by the alleged 
unlawful employment practice. Upon application by the complainant and in 
such circumstances as the court may deem just, the court may appoint an 
attorney for such complainant and may authorize the commencement of the 
action without the payment of fees, costs, or security. Upon timely 
application, the court may, in its discretion, permit the Commission, or 
the Attorney General in a case involving a government, governmental 
agency, or political subdivision, to intervene in such civil action upon 
certification that the case is of general public importance. Upon 
request, the court may, in its discretion, stay further proceedings for 
not more than sixty days pending the termination of State or local 
proceedings described in subsection (c) or (d) of this section or 
further efforts of the Commission to obtain voluntary compliance.
    (2) Whenever a charge is filed with the Commission and the 
Commission concludes on the basis of a preliminary investigation that 
prompt judicial action is necessary to carry out the purposes of this 
Act, the Commission, or the Attorney General in a case involving a 
government, governmental agency, or political subdivision, may bring an 
action for appropriate temporary or preliminary relief pending final 
disposition of such charge. Any temporary restraining order or other 
order granting preliminary or temporary relief shall be issued in 
accordance with rule 65 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. It 
shall be the duty of a court having jurisdiction over proceedings under 
this section to assign cases for hearing at the earliest practicable 
date and to cause such cases to be in every way expedited.
    (3) Each United States district court and each United States court 
of a place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States shall have 
jurisdiction of actions brought under this subchapter. Such an action 
may be brought in any judicial district in the State in which the 
unlawful employment practice is alleged to have been committed, in the 
judicial district in which the employment records relevant to such 
practice are maintained and administered, or in the judicial district in 
which the aggrieved person would have worked but for the alleged 
unlawful employment practice, but if the respondent is not found within 
any such district, such an action may be brought within the judicial 
district in which the respondent has his principal office. For purposes 
of sections 1404 and 1406 of title 28, the judicial district in which 
the respondent has his principal office shall in all cases be considered 
a district in which the action might have been brought.
    (4) It shall be the duty of the chief judge of the district (or in 
his absence, the acting chief judge) in which the case is pending 
immediately to designate a judge in such district to hear and determine 
the case. In the event that no judge in the district is available to 
hear and determine the case, the chief judge of the district, or the 
acting chief judge, as the case may be, shall certify this fact to the 
chief judge of the circuit (or in his absence, the acting chief judge) 
who shall then designate a district or circuit judge of the circuit to 
hear and determine the case.
    (5) It shall be the duty of the judge designated pursuant to this 
subsection to assign the case for hearing at the earliest practicable 
date and to cause the case to be in every way expedited. If such judge 
has not scheduled the case for trial within one hundred and twenty days 
after issue has been joined, that judge may appoint a master pursuant to 
rule 53 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

(g) Injunctions; appropriate affirmative action; equitable relief; 
        accrual of back pay; reduction of back pay; limitations on 
        judicial orders

    (1) If the court finds that the respondent has intentionally engaged 
in or is intentionally engaging in an unlawful employment practice 
charged in the complaint, the court may enjoin the respondent from 
engaging in such unlawful employment practice, and order such 
affirmative action as may be appropriate, which may include, but is not 
limited to, reinstatement or hiring of employees, with or without back 
pay (payable by the employer, employment agency, or labor organization, 
as the case may be, responsible for the unlawful employment practice), 
or any other equitable relief as the court deems appropriate. Back pay 
liability shall not accrue from a date more than two years prior to the 
filing of a charge with the Commission. Interim earnings or amounts 
earnable with reasonable diligence by the person or persons 
discriminated against shall operate to reduce the back pay otherwise 
allowable.
    (2)(A) No order of the court shall require the admission or 
reinstatement of an individual as a member of a union, or the hiring, 
reinstatement, or promotion of an individual as an employee, or the 
payment to him of any back pay, if such individual was refused 
admission, suspended, or expelled, or was refused employment or 
advancement or was suspended or discharged for any reason other than 
discrimination on account of race, color, religion, sex, or national 
origin or in violation of section 2000e-3(a) of this title.
    (B) On a claim in which an individual proves a violation under 
section 2000e-2(m) of this title and a respondent demonstrates that the 
respondent would have taken the same action in the absence of the 
impermissible motivating factor, the court--
        (i) may grant declaratory relief, injunctive relief (except as 
    provided in clause (ii)), and attorney's fees and costs demonstrated 
    to be directly attributable only to the pursuit of a claim under 
    section 2000e-2(m) of this title; and
        (ii) shall not award damages or issue an order requiring any 
    admission, reinstatement, hiring, promotion, or payment, described 
    in subparagraph (A).

(h) Provisions of chapter 6 of title 29 not applicable to civil actions 
        for prevention of unlawful practices

    The provisions of chapter 6 of title 29 shall not apply with respect 
to civil actions brought under this section.

(i) Proceedings by Commission to compel compliance with judicial orders

    In any case in which an employer, employment agency, or labor 
organization fails to comply with an order of a court issued in a civil 
action brought under this section, the Commission may commence 
proceedings to compel compliance with such order.

(j) Appeals

    Any civil action brought under this section and any proceedings 
brought under subsection (i) of this section shall be subject to appeal 
as provided in sections 1291 and 1292, title 28.

(k) Attorney's fee; liability of Commission and United States for costs

    In any action or proceeding under this subchapter the court, in its 
discretion, may allow the prevailing party, other than the Commission or 
the United States, a reasonable attorney's fee (including expert fees) 
as part of the costs, and the Commission and the United States shall be 
liable for costs the same as a private person.

(Pub. L. 88-352, title VII, Sec. 706, July 2, 1964, 78 Stat. 259; Pub. 
L. 92-261, Sec. 4, Mar. 24, 1972, 86 Stat. 104; Pub. L. 102-166, title 
I, Secs. 107(b), 112, 113(b), Nov. 21, 1991, 105 Stat. 1075, 1078, 
1079.)

                       References in Text

    This Act, referred to in subsec. (f)(2), means Pub. L. 88-352, July 
2, 1964, 78 Stat. 241, as amended, known as the Civil Rights Act of 
1964, which is classified principally to subchapters II to IX of this 
chapter (Sec. 2000a et seq.). For complete classification of this Act to 
the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 2000a of this title 
and Tables.
    Rules 65 and 53 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, referred to 
in subsec. (f)(2), (5), are set out in the Appendix to Title 28, 
Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.
    Chapter 6 (Sec. 101 et seq.) of title 29, referred to in subsec. 
(h), is a reference to act Mar. 23, 1932, ch. 90, 47 Stat. 70, as 
amended, popularly known as the Norris-LaGuardia Act. For complete 
classification of this Act to the Code, see Tables.
                               Amendments

    1991--Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 102-166, Sec. 112, designated existing 
provisions as par. (1) and added par. (2).
    Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 102-166, Sec. 107(b), designated existing 
provisions as pars. (1) and (2)(A) and added par. (2)(B).
    Subsec. (k). Pub. L. 102-166, Sec. 113(b), inserted ``(including 
expert fees)'' after ``attorney's fee''.
    1972--Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 92-261, Sec. 4(a), added subsec. (a). 
Former subsec. (a) redesignated (b) and amended generally.
    Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 92-261, Sec. 4(a), redesignated former subsec. 
(a) as (b), modified the procedure for the filing and consideration of 
charges by the Commission, subjected to coverage unlawful employment 
practices of joint labor-management committees controlling 
apprenticeship or other training or retraining, including on-the-job 
training programs, required the Commission to accord substantial weight 
to final findings and orders made by State or local authorities in 
proceedings commenced under State or local law in its determination of 
reasonable cause, and inserted provision setting forth the time period, 
after charges have been filed, allowed to the Commission to determine 
reasonable cause. Former subsec. (b) redesignated (c).
    Subsecs. (c), (d). Pub. L. 92-261, Sec. 4(a), redesignated former 
subsecs. (b) and (c) as (c) and (d), respectively. Former subsec. (d) 
redesignated (e).
    Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 92-261, Sec. 4(a), redesignated former subsec. 
(d) as (e), extended from ninety to one hundred and eighty days after 
the occurrence of the alleged unlawful employment practice the time for 
filing charges under this section and from two hundred and ten to three 
hundred days the time for filing such charges where the person aggrieved 
initially instituted proceedings with a State or local agency, and 
inserted requirement that notice of the charge be served on the 
respondent within ten days after filing. Former subsec. (e) redesignated 
(f)(1).
    Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 92-261, Sec. 4(a), redesignated former subsec. 
(e) as par. (1), substituted provisions setting forth the procedure for 
civil actions where the Commission was unable to secure from the 
respondents a conciliation agreement to prevent further unlawful 
employment practices for provisions setting forth the procedure for 
civil actions where the Commission was unable to obtain voluntary 
compliance with this subchapter and inserted provisions setting forth 
the procedure for civil action where the respondent is a government, 
governmental agency, or political subdivision and the Commission could 
not secure a conciliation agreement, added par. (2), redesignated former 
subsec. (f) as par. (3), substituted ``aggrieved person'' for 
``plaintiff'', and added pars. (4) and (5).
    Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 92-261, Sec. 4(a), inserted provisions which 
authorized the court to order affirmative action not limited solely to 
the enumerated affirmative acts and such other equitable relief as 
deemed appropriate, and provisions which set forth the accrual date for 
back pay.
    Subsecs. (i), (j). Pub. L. 92-261, Sec. 4(b)(1), (2), substituted 
``this section'' for ``subsection (e) of this section''.
                    Effective Date of 1991 Amendment

    Amendment by Pub. L. 102-166 effective Nov. 21, 1991, except as 
otherwise provided, see section 402 of Pub. L. 102-166, set out as a 
note under section 1981 of this title.
                    Effective Date of 1972 Amendment

    Section 14 of Pub. L. 92-261 provided that: ``The amendments made by 
this Act to section 706 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 [this section] 
shall be applica
ble with respect to charges pending with the Commission on the date of 
enactment of this Act [Mar. 24, 1972] and all charges filed 
thereafter.''