State to study efficiency of equal rights agency

By Timothy Pratt (contact)

Monday, Nov. 12, 2001 | 9:27 a.m.

State officials this month will begin examining whether the agency that handles employee discrimination is doing its job.

The Nevada Equal Rights Commission, the agency that enforces the state's equal rights laws, has been reforming its operation since a March 30 legislative audit showed that workers filing a claim waited about a year to get results. That is more than three months longer than required by the commission's own strategic plan.

The audit also found that investigators waited an average of four months between actions such as making a phone call or seeking evidence, and took more than twice as long on cases with more than one investigator.

In addition, the Commission on Civil Rights, a federal agency that looks at violations of federal civil rights laws, has charged its Nevada advisory committee with looking into issues at the equal rights commission, including case backlogs and training of investigators.

"We have observed that the agency is not as effective as it should be and is overloaded and understaffed," said David Sanchez, chairman of the committee.

The state Equal Rights Commission has brought the average turnover period for cases down to 315 days in the past seven months, Lynda Parven, administrator since April 30, said.

It also has implemented changes that include establishing timelines to deal with complaints and doing monthly reviews of investigators. A new manual has also been written -- the first one since 1995, Parven said.

The criticisms in the state audit were warranted, Parven said.

"Before I came on board, we had an outdated, vague manual, no standardized review procedure and inconsistent training," she said.

Statewide, the agency has nine investigators with a total of 1,347 cases. The Las Vegas office hopes to hire three investigators in the coming weeks to help bring down the turnover period further, she said.

The state Department of Administration will start collecting evidence of the changes on Nov. 26, and investigators will report on the commission's progress to an interim legislative subcommittee before its January meeting.

Meanwhile, the federal commission's Nevada committee will speak to workers who have filed discrimination complaints with the Equal Rights Commission and hold public hearings on the agency during the next six months.

Neither the Legislature nor the federal agency can take any punitive action against the Equal Rights Commission if its performance does not improve.

"Still, the visibility of the Legislature and the questions it asks are usually enough to make an agency comply with its recommendations," said Paul Townsend, acting auditor for the Legislature. "If time goes on and the agency doesn't respond to our recommendations, this could be a serious consideration in the next budget cycle."

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights will prepare a report on its findings sometime next year.

"Our purpose is to bring issues out into the light, and we hope this brings about change," Sanchez said.