As I had mentioned earlier in the blog, the statute of limitations is a very big deal for both the EEOC and, most importantly, the PCPs. For most cases of discrimination, the statute of limitations on going to the EEOC and filing a charge is 300 days from the last incident of discrimination. However, in many states it is only 180 days from the last incident of discrimination. The reason this count is important is because there are many people who cannot schedule intake interviews when at the time of portal which means they are at risk of not being able to speak with an investigator and ‘lock in’ their statute of limitations. However, when the PCP fills out their initial information in the online portal they provide the last date of discrimination which allows the EEOC to see when their last day to file a charge would be. With this information, the EEOC has created a form called a form 5A which allows an investigator to create an “unperfected charge.” This form can be sent to individuals who are nearing their last day to file a charge but are unable to schedule an intake interview because of a lack of availability. This form allows them to write out their story and send it to an investigator. The purpose of this form is that by filing the unperfected charge, the PCP has “locked in” their statute of limitations because they have begun the charging process. With that, the PCP can then schedule an intake interview with an EEOC investigator at the next available time so that way the investigator can “perfect” the charge by using the PCHP. Part of my work was learning how to process and read these forms so in the future investigators can use them before their interviews. In some cases, we would have to redirect the form to a different office because it had been filled out in Spanish. This didn’t mean that the form was disregarded, rather that an office with Spanish speakers would go on to handle the case and the form 5A. There are times when the process of identifying the individuals who are closest to losing their right to file a charge must be done manually by going through the portal and looking at each individual. This work was part of my internship and while tedious, was very important because it ensured that we made every possible effort to allow an individual to exercise their right of filing a charge of discrimination against their employer.  Additionally, I knew that I was taking some work off of the plates of an extremely busy workforce of civil servants who had their budgets cut and integrity questioned by the very office that commissioned them.