The commission members and its staff said they were "taken aback" by a recommendation in the audit that the agency be stripped of its authority to enforce the state Human Rights Law. The commission said the audit recommendations would mean that Alaskans would have to take discrimination complaints to federal and local agencies. There were 350 complaints in 2010.
"The proposed realignment would create a system of unequal rights that would almost certainly violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Alaska Constitution," the commission said in a November letter. The commission said it has significantly improved its response time over the years.
It also raised the matter of staffing levels and challenged the auditors to say why they did not propose an increase. The commission has nine investigators who have an average of 44 cases each.
The commission also said that it has "started the process" of updating computers to allow Internet access, but added that there were two areas in the office with Internet access.
The commission also asserted that "no Internet research is required or appropriate during an investigation."
The audit said that "realignment" could mean that Alaskans would be required to submit complaints to other agencies, which would limit the number of complaints the commission has handle.
Among other things, the audit, released in December, proposed putting time limits on responses to complaints:
The audit says that the commission management does not allow investigators to have email for communication outside the office because of confidentiality concerns.
"Also, investigators do not have access to the Internet on their individual work computers. Instead investigators typically schedule meetings and request documents by phone or mail. Furthermore, receipt of documents must be in person or by mail. Access to email and the internet should be considered for the investigators while performing their responsibilities to ensure investigations are effective and prompt."
"Other human rights organizations, including the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), allow their investigators to collaborate as well as use email and the Internet to perform their investigation responsibilities. ASCHR should review its current investigative techniques and technological tools to improve its timelines. If confidentiality is still a concern, ASCHR should include a section in its policies and procedures regarding the use of email and internet that goes beyond those already included in state guidelines."
The commission said that the lack of email has not been shown to slow down its work, but it said this point is moot as computers are being upgraded.
the only human rights . They worry about is those of some minority. White forks don't have any human rights.
It's a worthless racist bias agency and needs to be defunded.
One need's not to wonder about this executive Commission, with Palin and Parnell in charge.
"A baker's man, while driving his master's cart to deliver hot rolls of a morning, runs another man down. The master has to pay for it. And when he has asked why he should have to pay for the wrongful act of an independent and responsible being, he has been answered from the time of Ulpian to that of Austin, that it is because he was to blame for employing an improper person. If he answers, that he used the greatest possible care in choosing his driver, he is told that that is no excuse; and then perhaps the reason is shifted, and it is said that there ought to be a remedy against some one who can pay the damages, or that such wrongful acts as by ordinary human laws are likely to happen in the course of the service are imputable to the service..."
Oliver Wendel Holmes
No need for snail mail. Faxed documents are real too unless challenged for evidentiary reason like any document. Of course some old fashioned methodology in regs may need to be altered to modern times.
One might consider privatizing HR investigation too if re-writing regs as it probably is the Commission only who needs to make the Big decisions.
Any investigator needs the Internet. That's where the information is, and limiting it means what the Supervisor wants is to limit the investigation.
Just plain old DUH!
Trains, Planes, Perps, and Facebook. It's all out there.
And it is a suspicion there is an old guard person who refuses to get with the times who designed the standards 20 years ago. "This is the way the manual says in 1989 and this is what we'll do"
These guys are all over the State Federal and Military and corporate systems too.
When ever you get caught up in these kafka type bizarros challenge them. Dollars to dunkin donuts there is something weird going on that was readily available to prove your case if you are innocent. If not such up and deal with your problem.