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B-199291 1 (1981-06-19)

handle is hein.gao/gaobadjmk0001 and id is 1 raw text is: DECISION FILE: B-199291 4f MATTER OF:EEO Regulations - Attorney Fees DIGEST: 1. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 grants agencies the authority to enforce the Act through appropriate remedies and, in accordance with the pre- vailing view of courts considering the question, we interpret that authority to include issuing regula- tions governing the award of attorney fees to pre- vailing complainants at the administrative level. 2. Payments of fees awarded by agencies pursuant to the EEOC regulations are to be made from agency operating funds and not the judgment fund of 31 U.S.C. § 724a. The judgment fund is statutorily limited to court judgments and a few other situations not here relevant. This decision is in response to a request from the Assistant Secretary of the Army for our opinion on the legality of Equal Employ- ment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) interim regulations (29 C.F.R. Part 1613, published at 45 Fed. Reg. 24130) allowing Government agen- cies.to award attorney fees and costs to complainants under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-16 (1976). Specifically, a decision is requested regarding the following two questions: (a) Is the EEOC interim regulation valid with respect to an agency's ability in the absence of express statutory authority to award attorney fees as part of the administrative complaint process under title VII? (b) If so, should installation operating funds be used for this purpose? In defense of the regulations, the EEOC has responded to the above questions by letter dated February 13, 1981. Agency Authority to Pay Attorney Fees The first question addresses the authority of a Government agency to award attorney fees as provided in the EEOC regulation. As is correctly observed in the Army's letter, the question whether attorney /JZ;(f ;4 61~v V~ / jr f~C ~ 7, '-7 '1 c5 / 7 3cp-J7 THE COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES WASHINGTON, 0. C. 2054B DATE: June 19, 1981

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