DHEWD State Office of Equal Opportunity (DHEWD SOEO)

Equal Opportunity is the Law

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It is against the law for a recipient of Federal financial assistance to discriminate on the following bases:

• Against any individual in the United States, on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions, sex stereotyping, transgender status, and gender identity), national origin (including limited English proficiency), age, disability, or political affiliation or belief; or
• Against any beneficiary of, applicant to, or participant in programs financially assisted under Title I of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, on the basis of the individual's citizenship status or participation in any WIOA Title I - financially assisted program or activity.

The recipient providing services must not discriminate against customers in any of the following areas:

• Deciding who will be admitted, or have access, to any WIOA Title I - financially assisted program or activity;
• Providing opportunities in, or treating any person with regard to, such a program or activity; or
• Making employment decisions in the administration of, or in connection with, such a program or activity.

Recipients of federal financial assistance must take reasonable steps to ensure that communications with individuals with disabilities are as effective as communications with others. This means that, upon request and at no cost to the individual, recipients are required to provide appropriate auxiliary aids and services to qualified individuals with disabilities.

What To Do If You Believe You Have Experienced Discrimination

If you think that you have been subjected to discrimination under a WIOA Title I - financially assisted program or activity, you may file a complaint within 180 days from the date of the alleged violation with either:

Danielle Smith
State Equal Opportunity Officer
Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development
State Office of Equal Opportunity
301 W. High Street, Suite 870
Jefferson City, MO 65102
Phone: (573) 751-2428
Fax: (573) 751-4088
Missouri Relay Services at 711

The Director, Civil Rights Center (CRC) U.S. Department of Labor 200 Constitution Ave., NW Room N-4123 Washington, DC 20210 or electronically as directed on the CRC Web site at www.dol.gov/crc.

If you file your complaint with the recipient, you must wait either until the recipient issues a written Notice of Final Action or until 90 days have passed (whichever is sooner), before filing with the Civil Rights Center (see address above).

If the recipient does not give you a written Notice of Final Action within 90 days of the day on which you filed your complaint, you may file a complaint with CRC before receiving that Notice. However, you must file your CRC complaint within 30 days of the 90-day deadline (in other words, within 120 days after the day on which you filed your complaint with the recipient).

If the recipient does give you a written Notice of Final Action on your complaint, but you are dissatisfied with the decision or resolution, you may file a complaint with CRC. You must file your CRC complaint within 30 days of the date on which you received the Notice of Final Action.

Disability Services and Assistive Technology

Reasonable accommodations and modifications, including assistive technology, are made available upon request in Missouri Job Centers.

• Local-Level Equal Opportunity Officers