Employers in the Carolinas are by now familiar with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s digital charge processing system. The EEOC chose its Charlotte district office as one of the pilot locations for the new program. Under the system, employers receive electronic notice of the filing of the charge. They are directed to the EEOC’s web portal, which contains documents relevant to the charge, as well as the opportunity to provide information on legal representation. The charge response, mediation election and other employer responses are electronically filed through the portal. All parties receive email notices of new filings or other significant developments with the charge.

For employers, one of the new system’s benefits is up front identification of the investigator assigned to the charge. Under the old system, employers had to contact the agency to attempt to find out who had been assigned the matter. The new system appears to be more efficient and less paper intensive, with quicker notifications and less chance of misdirected mail. The EEOC recently announced its intent to roll out the new electronic charge program to other offices. Employment defense counsel can be accused from time-to-time of never having anything good to say about the EEOC. In this case, however, the agency appears to have found a workable way to better serve all interested parties.