Discrimination Complaint Procedure

FILING A DISCRIMINATION COMPLAINT

All members of the public, employees or applicants for employment who believe they have been discriminated against while conducting business with the City, applying for a job, on the job, or in the terms and conditions of their employment because of race, religion, color, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation or any other non-job related protected characteristic, may file a complaint with the Employee and Labor Relations Division of the Human Resources Department. Any employee who is told about illegal discriminatory behavior has an affirmative responsibility to report it to Employee and Labor Relations at 305.673.7524.
Human Resources shall investigate and review complaints, determine whether an act of illegal discrimination has occurred, and recommend an appropriate action to the City Manager or designee. When an employee complains of illegal discriminatory behavior and requests that nothing be said or done; the manager or supervisor shall tell the employee that he/she has a responsibility to report the complaint either up the chain of command or Human Resources. Complaints shall be confidential to the extent possible but cannot be kept from the people who are in a position to investigate and take corrective action, if appropriate.
Managers and supervisors shall be held accountable for their prompt attention to and execution of necessary preventative, corrective, and positive actions. Staff in position of authority shall make every effort not to take any adverse personnel action against the complainant or take any other action that may be perceived as retaliatory by any party.
PROCEDURE:

• A complainant (member of the public, employee or applicant) should contact Employee and Labor Relations, his/her manager or supervisor, and state the nature his/her claim.
• If the complaint is filed directly with the department director, the manager or supervisor has 10 working days to resolve the complaint within the department and report the nature of the complaint and subsequent action to Employee and Labor Relations.
• Completion of fact finding inquiries by the Employee and Labor Relations Division shall be completed expeditiously. The Department Director, or designee, will be officially advised as to the nature of the complaint and the fact finding process. The Department Director, Assistant or Division Director, shall participate in the investigative process, unless he/she is the subject of the complaint.
• The investigative process shall result in a determination of “reasonable cause” or “no cause” to believe illegal discrimination has occurred. Opportunity for an informal conciliation shall be extended to all parties involved.
• The Human Resources Department Director shall transmit the conclusions and recommendations to the appropriate Department Director or Assistant City Manager if the Department Director is the subject of the complaint.
• If the matter cannot be resolved to the satisfaction of all parties, the Human Resources Director and/or Assistant Director shall seek guidance from the appropriate Assistant City Managers and City Manager.
• The complainant will be notified, in writing, of the outcome of the investigation and be invited to meet with the Employee and Labor Relations Team to review and discuss the contents of the file.
• Although the City of Miami Beach is committed to resolving complaints of illegal discrimination in-house, it is unrealistic to expect that every complainant will be satisfied with the investigation and resolution of the matter. Therefore, all complainants in such cases shall be informed of their right to file a complaint with an outside agency.
• Under no circumstances shall the complaint and investigative file become a part of an employee’s personnel folder; the official personnel file or any file maintained by the department, division or supervisor.
• Comments regarding the complaint shall not be included in any complainant’s performance evaluation.

The complainant shall be given the following information in writing and a copy of such notification shall be included in the investigative file.

Miami-Dade County Office of Human Rights and Fair Employment Practices
111 NW 1 Street, 22nd Floor
Miami, FL 33128
Phone: 305.375.2784
Fax: 305.375.2114

Email: OFEP@miamidade.gov
www.miamidade.gov/humanrights

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
2 Biscayne Boulevard, Suite 2700
Miami, FL 33131
Phone: 786.648.5790
Florida Commission on Human Relations
2009 Apalachee Parkway, Suite 100
Tallahassee, FL 32301
Phone: 850.488.7082