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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 107 / Monday, June 7, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
necessary for a determination of the individuals eligibility for Volunteer service.
Complainant means an aggrieved applicant, trainee, or volunteer who believes they have been subject to prohibited discrimination and files a formal complaint.
Complaint means a written statement signed by a Complainant alleging prohibited discrimination and submitted to the OCRD Director, as described in 306.9a.
Counselor means an official designated by the OCRD Director to perform an informal inquiry focused on possible resolution as detailed in this Part.
Director means the Director of the Peace Corps.
Filed Date means the date a Complaint is received by the appropriate agency official.
Final Agency Decision FAD means the Peace Corps final written determination on a complaint.
OCRD Director means the Director of the Peace Corps Office of Civil Rights and Diversity.
Prohibited discrimination means discrimination including harassment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age 40 or over, disability, or other bases provided for in applicable statutes, regulations or the Peace Corps Manual, or history of participation in the Peace Corps discrimination complaint process.
Trainee means a person who has accepted an invitation issued by the Peace Corps and has registered for Peace Corps staging.
Volunteer means a person who has taken the oath of service and been sworn in for Peace Corps service, whether or not this person is still in Peace Corps service.

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306.4

Coverage.

a Except as set out below, these procedures apply to all Peace Corps applicants, trainees, and volunteers.
1 To the extent that a trainee or volunteer makes a complaint containing an allegation of prohibited discrimination in connection with conduct that constitutes sexual misconduct as defined in the Peace Corps policy on volunteer sexual misconduct.
2 When an applicant, trainee, or volunteer makes a complaint which contains an allegation of prohibited discrimination in connection with an early termination or other administrative procedure of the agency, only the allegation of prohibited discrimination will be processed under this part. At the discretion of the OCRD

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Director, additional allegations or claims material to the complaint may be consolidated with the discrimination complaint for processing under these regulations. Any issues which are not so consolidated will continue to be processed under those procedures pursuant to which they were originally raised.
3 Complaints of retaliation in connection with allegations made under the Peace Corps Volunteer Confidentiality Protection policy shall be handled in accordance with that policy.
b The OCRD Director has the discretion to consolidate complaints from different applicants, Trainees, or Volunteers that allege common underlying facts and similar claims.
c These regulations do not create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person. Coverage under these rules does not constitute acceptance by the agency or the United States Government of jurisdiction for judicial review.
306.5

Representation.

Any aggrieved party may be assisted in all stages of these procedures under this Part by an attorney or non-staff representative of his or her own choosing at his or her own expense. An aggrieved party must immediately inform the agency if representation is retained.
306.6

Freedom from retaliation.

Aggrieved parties, their representatives, and witnesses will be free from retaliation at any stage in the presentation and processing of a complaint under this section, including the counseling stage described in 306.8
of this Part, or any time thereafter.
306.7

Review of allegations of retaliation.

a An aggrieved party, his or her representative, or a witness who alleges retaliation in connection with the presentation of a complaint under this part, may, if covered by this Part, request in writing that the allegation be reviewed as an act of discrimination subject to the procedures described in subpart B or that the allegation be considered as an issue in the complaint at hand. The determination whether to consider the complaint in the same or a separate proceeding is within the discretion of the OCRD Director.

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Subpart BProcessing Individual Complaints of Discrimination 306.8

Pre-complaint procedure.

a Any applicant, trainee or volunteer who believes that he or she has been subject to prohibited discrimination must bring such allegations to the attention of OCRD within 60 days of the alleged discrimination, at which point a Counselor will be assigned to attempt to resolve them.
b The pre-complaint procedure is intended to determine whether the concerns of the aggrieved party can be resolved to the mutual satisfaction of the aggrieved party and the agency without the filing of a formal complaint.
c The counselor serves as a neutral party, to gather a limited amount of information from the aggrieved party about his or her allegations, explain to the aggrieved party his or her rights, obtain information to determine the applicability of this regulation, and where appropriate, attempt an informal resolution among relevant parties.
d The amount of information that the counselor gathers from the agency is limited to information needed to reach an informal resolution to the mutual satisfaction of the aggrieved party and the agency.
e The counselor will keep a written record of his or her activities, which will be submitted to the OCRD Director as a counselors report.
f To the extent necessary to reach an informal resolution, the counselor may reveal to relevant agency officials the identity of the aggrieved party. In the event that the aggrieved party requests that the Counselor not share his or her identity with agency officials, the Counselor will not reveal the identity of the aggrieved party or information that could be used to easily identify the aggrieved party outside of OCRD. If appropriate, the Counselor should explain to the aggrieved party that an informal resolution and/or the scope of relief available may be limited as a result of the request for anonymity.
g The pre-complaint process should be completed within 30 days, but the OCRD Director may extend the period upon request of the aggrieved party or the agency for good cause shown.
h If, after inquiry and counseling, an informal resolution to the allegation is not reached, the Counselor will notify the aggrieved party in writing of the right to file a formal complaint of discrimination with the OCRD Director within 30 calendar days of the aggrieved partys receipt of the notice.
i As an alternative to assignment of a Counselor as described above, the aggrieved party may ask for Alternative
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