How many members must a local have to be a "covered entity" in the eyes of the EEOC?

[ecchy]

What is the name of your state? OHIO

If an employee believes that they were treated disparately by his/her union local and would like to file a charge with the EEOC, how many active bargaining members must the union local have in order to be a covered entity?

When considering the number of "members," does the EEOC consider only the number of members within a given local, or do they consider the number of active members within the union's district, state, the entire union, etc.?

If by chance the local is too small to be a covered entity, is there any other recourse?

My goal isn’t to “pay the local back,” it’s to teach them that they have no more right to engage in unlawful EEO discrimination/retaliation than the employer (or anyone else) does. Then again, if they’re too small to be a “covered entity,” maybe they can get away with it, inadvertently exempting them. I sure hope that’s not the case. It would be tragic for small entities to be free to discriminate at will by sliding under the radar.

Ohio has a State Employment Relations Board (SERB). When I contacted SERB regarding this issue, they explained that they take charges of Unfair Labor Practice, but not those issues that are are within the auspices of other state and/or federal agencies (e.g. EEOC, OCRC, US DOL, etc.).

Thank you.

[mlane58]

Originally Posted by ecchy

What is the name of your state? OHIO

If an employee believes that they were treated disparately by his/her union local and would like to file a charge with the EEOC, how many active bargaining members must the union local have in order to be a covered entity?

When considering the number of "members," does the EEOC consider only the number of members within a given local, or do they consider the number of active members within the union's district, state, the entire union, etc.?

If by chance the local is too small to be a covered entity, is there any other recourse?

My goal isn’t to “pay the local back,” it’s to teach them that they have no more right to engage in unlawful EEO discrimination/retaliation than the employer (or anyone else) does. Then again, if they’re too small to be a “covered entity,” maybe they can get away with it, inadvertently exempting them. I sure hope that’s not the case. It would be tragic for small entities to be free to discriminate at will by sliding under the radar.

Ohio has a State Employment Relations Board (SERB). When I contacted SERB regarding this issue, they explained that they take charges of Unfair Labor Practice, but not those issues that are are within the auspices of other state and/or federal agencies (e.g. EEOC, OCRC, US DOL, etc.).

Thank you.

You have to give us alot more detail than what you have provided to formulate a proper answer.

[ecchy]

Thanks for the reply.

All I really need to know is if a local would be considered a "covered entity" having only six bargaining members.

Verbatim from the EEOC's website:

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) cover all private employers, state and local governments, and education institutions that employ 15 or more individuals. These laws also cover private and public employment agencies, labor organizations, and joint labor management committees controlling apprenticeship and training.

This statement identifies the number of employee's the employer must have (15) in order to be a covered entity. However, the next sentence states that "these laws also cover" labor organizations. Should it be inferred that a labor union must also have at least 15 members?

I work in public safety for an employer that has approx. 75 employees. I already have a charge of Title I ADA Discrimination and Title VII Retaliation against the employer.

I believe my union has also treated me disparately and engaged in retaliation. I'm not asking of I have a case; I realize far more information would have to be provided. I'm just trying to find out if the local I belong to is a covered entity with only six members.

I've tried to call the EEOC several times, but I've yet to speak to a real person and cannot find the answer to my question. I do not want to bother filing a Charge (for which I've downloaded the forms off the EEOC's website) if they're exempted by the size.

I belong to the International Association of Firefighters. I'm not sure if the local itself is considered the "labor organization," or if it is the I.A.F.F. in general.

When the EEOC considers whether or not a "labor organization" has enough members to be a covered entity, are they going to count only the number of members within our local (in this case, 6), or is the local automatically covered regardless of the size, by virtue of the fact that the "labor organization," the I.A.F.F., has thousands, upon thousands of members.

e.g. (I know that local govt. is covered regardless of the number of employees, this is just an example): I work for a township govt. The township is my true employer. However, I work at (or in) the Division of Fire. The F.D. may have 10 employees, while the rest of the township has 40. If I understand things correctly, my "employer" would then have 50 employees which makes them covered.

Using the same analogy, the I.A.F.F. has thousands of members. That's my "labor organization." The local itself only has six. Which number does the EEOC use, the I.A.F.F. or the local?

I hope that made more sense. I realize now that for the answers previously being sought, my question was to vague.

Thank you.