48-1118. Unlawful practice; charge; time for filing; prescreening procedure and determination; investigation; confidential informal actions; procedure; violation; penalty; interrogatories.

(1) Whenever it is charged in writing under oath or affirmation by or on behalf of a person or persons claiming to be aggrieved and such charge sets forth the facts upon which it is based that an employer, employment agency, or labor organization has engaged in an unlawful employment practice, the commission staff shall furnish such employer, employment agency, or labor organization with a copy of such charge within ten days, including a statement of the date, place, and circumstances of the alleged unlawful employment practice. Prior to initiating any investigation, the commission staff shall screen a charge pursuant to an established, clearly defined prescreening procedure to determine subject matter jurisdiction to handle such charge. Any charge without sufficient subject matter jurisdiction shall not be investigated and notice of such prescreening determination shall be promptly conveyed by the executive director to the person claiming to be aggrieved. When a charge is determined to be within the subject matter jurisdiction of the commission, the commission staff shall make an investigation of such charge, but such charge shall not be made public by the commission. If the executive director determines after such investigation that there is not reasonable cause to believe that the charge is true, the executive director shall dismiss the charge and promptly notify the person claiming to be aggrieved and the respondent of his or her action. If the executive director determines after such investigation that there is reasonable cause to believe that the charge is true, the commission shall endeavor to eliminate any such alleged unlawful employment practice and settle any claim by informal methods of conference, conciliation, persuasion, mediation, or arbitration. The settlement efforts shall be scheduled and completed within thirty days of the probable cause finding. Nothing said or done during and as a part of such endeavors may be made public by the commission without the written consent of the parties or used as evidence in a subsequent proceeding. Any officer or employee of the commission who makes public in any manner whatever any information in violation of this subsection shall be guilty of a Class III misdemeanor except as provided in subdivision (3) of section 48-1117.

(2) A written charge of violation of the Nebraska Fair Employment Practice Act shall be filed within three hundred days after the occurrence of the alleged unlawful employment practice and notice of the charge, including a statement of the date, place, and circumstances of the alleged unlawful employment practice, shall be served upon the person against whom such charge is made within ten days thereafter.

(3) A respondent shall be required to file with the commission a written response to the written charge of violation within thirty days after service upon the respondent. Failure to file a written response within thirty days, except for good cause shown, shall result in a mandatory reasonable cause finding against the respondent by the executive director. Failure by any complainant to cooperate with the commission, its investigators, or staff, except for good cause shown, shall result in dismissal of the complaint by the executive director.

(4) In connection with any investigation of a charge filed under this section, the commission or its authorized agents may, at any time after a charge is filed, issue or cause to be served interrogatories and shall have at all reasonable times access to, for the purposes of examination, and the right to copy any evidence or records of any person being investigated or proceeded against that relate to unlawful employment practices covered by the act and are relevant to the charge under investigation. The commission may seek preparation of and judicial enforcement of any legal process or interrogatories through the office of the Attorney General.

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Annotations

The 300-day statute of limitations began to run on the date that the employer notified the employee that she had been placed on furlough and that her employment would terminate months later if she did not obtain another position with the employer before that later date. Brown v. Regional West Med. Ctr., 300 Neb. 937, 916 N.W.2d 590 (2018).

Generally, when a private individual brings a discrimination action against an employer covered by the Nebraska Fair Employment Practice Act, the Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission is not a proper party to any subsequent appeal. Zalkins Peerless Co. v. Nebraska Equal Opp. Comm., 217 Neb. 289, 348 N.W.2d 846 (1984).

One hundred eighty day statute of limitations under Fair Employment Practices Act may not be applied in federal civil rights action. Chambers v. Omaha Public School Dist., 536 F.2d 222 (8th Cir. 1976).