The Ohio Civil Rights Commission (OCRC) holds public meetings once every three to four weeks. The five appointed Commissioners hear arguments regarding discrimination complaints and vote on cases that have been submitted. To understand the codes and numbers assigned to the agenda items the Commission will be hearing and or deciding, please refer to the following information.
The case file number assigned to the charge is a coded identification built from the following elements:
1. Prefix Code
2. Regional Code
3. Violation Date
4. Charge Number
5. Date Received
A sample number might look like the following: 74120787 (10909) 123087
Here’s how the number would be constructed:
Prefix
A - OCRC has taken the age discrimination charge and will process it under the
Worksharing Agreement for credit.
B - All employment related charges alleging Disability discrimination.
E- All employment charges which are not dual-filed because EEOC would not have
jurisdiction, i.e., less than 15 employees, no Title VII violations.
F- All charges concerning alleged discrimination in Credit.
G- All charges concerning alleged discrimination in Public Accommodation.
H- All charges concerning alleged discrimination in Housing.
K- All charges concerning alleged discrimination in Disability/Higher Education.
R- Age discrimination charges taken by EEOC and deferred to OCRC.
S- Commission self-initiated charges.
Z- Charges taken through the website that have not yet been signed under oath by
the Charging Party.
For charges alleging a Title VII violation only:
2- Indicates EEOC received the charge, but OCRC will process.
7- Indicates OCRC received and OCRC will process.
3- EEOC only.
5- OCRC received and EEOC will process.
The initial letter or numerical prefix is very important. If an employment charge contains even one allegation of disability discrimination, then the case number is assigned the prefix “B”. If an employment charge contains even one allegation of age discrimination, but none alleging disability discrimination, then the case number is assigned the prefix “A”. Only if the employment charge contains no allegations falling under the disability or age discrimination provisions, but only contains Title VII allegations, is it given the appropriate numerical prefix.
Retaliation based employment charges must be carefully scrutinized to insure that it is given the proper prefix. If the alleged retaliation is in response to protected activity regarding the Charging Party’s(CP) alleged disability, then the case is assigned a “B” prefix. If the alleged retaliation is in response to protected activity regarding the Charging Party’s age, then the case is assigned an “A” prefix.
The Regional Office Codes
1 - Columbus
2 - Toledo
3 - Akron
4 - Cleveland
5 - Cincinnati
6 - Dayton
7 - Office of Special Investigations (Self-initiated or systemic charges.)
8 - Alternative Dispute Resolution (Mediators)
Violation Date
This is the date of the alleged violation, expressed in digits (e.g., 120787)
Charge Number
This reflects the number of charges received since the Regional Office opened (e.g. (10909) in sequential order.
Date Received
This is the date on which the charge was received by the Commission (e.g., 123087). The one-year statute of limitations for the processing of a charge is measured from this date.
EEOC/HUD Number
If a charge is also filed under federal jurisdiction, it is also given a charge number by the appropriate United States agency.
Employment charges are given a charge number by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). This number is assigned once the charge and data pack have been received by the Compliance Department of OCRC and entered into the EEOC database.
EEOC numbers assigned to cases investigated by the OCRC should all begin with the “22A” prefix. If the prefix is “220” or “221”, that indicates a charge initially taken by EEOC and deferred to OCRC for investigation. The next two alphanumeric digits indicate the contract year the charge was taken. “A4” would indicate the 2004 federal fiscal year. The last five digits are the sequential number assigned to that individual charge.
Housing charges are given a charge number by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). This number is assigned once the charge has been entered into the Title Eight Automated Paperless Office Tracking System (TEAPOTS). The first two digits (05) indicate that HUD’s Chicago office is the region responsible for the charge. The next two digits indicate the federal contract year the charge was taken. The next four digits are the sequential number assigned to that individual charge. The final digit is either an “X” indicating that the charge has not yet been accepted by HUD for dual filing, or an “8” indicating that it has been accepted as eligible for payment under the contract.
If you have any further questions about the cases the Ohio Civil Rights Commissioners will be hearing at the public forum, please contact the Office of Public Affairs Director, Christia Alou White at (614) 466-2785.
