§ 708.17 - Notification of complaints and opportunities to respond.

§ 708.17 When may DOE dismiss a complaint for lack of jurisdiction or other good cause?

(a) The

Notification of complaints and opportunities to respond.

(a) By the 15th day after receiving a complaint, the Head of Field Element or EC Director (as applicable) may dismiss your complaint for lack of jurisdiction or for other good cause after receiving your complaint, either on his or her own initiative or at the request of a party named in your complaint. Such decisions are generally issued by the 15th day after the receipt of your employer's comments.

(b)

will provide the employer a copy of the complaint. The employer has 15 days from receipt of the complaint to submit any response it wishes to make regarding the allegations in the complaint. The Head of Field Element or EC Director (as applicable) will provide the complainant with a copy of the employer's response. The complainant has 10 days from receipt of the response to submit any additional comments regarding the complaint or the response. The Head of Field Element or EC Director (as applicable) will

notify you by certified mail, return receipt requested, if your complaint is dismissed for lack of jurisdiction or other good cause, and give you specific reasons for the dismissal, and will notify other parties of the dismissal.

(c) Dismissal for lack of jurisdiction or other good cause is appropriate if:

(1) Your complaint is untimely; or

(2) The facts, as alleged in your complaint, do not present issues for which relief can be granted under this part; or

(3) You filed a complaint under State or other applicable law with respect to the same facts as alleged in a complaint under this part; or

(4) Your complaint is frivolous or without merit on its face; or

(5) The issues presented in your complaint have been rendered moot by subsequent events or substantially resolved; or

(6) Your employer has made a formal offer to provide the remedy that you request in your complaint or a remedy that DOE considers to be equivalent to what could be provided as a remedy under this part

provide the employer with a copy of those additional comments.

(b) If the complainant is part of a bargaining unit represented for purposes of collective bargaining by a labor organization, the Head of Field Element or EC Director (as applicable) will provide the representative a copy of the complaint by the 15th day after receiving it. The labor organization will be advised that it has 10 days from the receipt of the complaint to submit any comments it wishes to make regarding the allegations in the complaint.