The CFPB has issued its No FEAR Act Annual Report for FY 2014. The “No FEAR Act” is the Notification and Federal Employee Antidiscrimination and Retaliation Act of 2002. It requires federal agencies to submit an annual report to the Director of the Office of Personnel Management that includes data about federal cases filed against the agency arising under No FEAR Act laws and disciplinary actions related to discrimination, retaliation or harassment. The laws covered by the No FEAR Act include Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, and the Equal Pay Act of 1963.

Last year, in reaction to the release of a CFPB internal report that showed a pattern of racial disparities in CFPB staff evaluations, the CFPB gave bonuses to employees who received lower ratings and revamped its evaluation system. The new report indicates that during FY 2014, the CFPB experienced an increase in the number of formal complaints filed compared to FY 2013 (from nine to 35), with race and reprisal the most frequently cited bases of discrimination. In light of these circumstances, it is somewhat surprising that the report indicates that in FY 2014, the CFPB “did not discipline any employees for discrimination, retaliation, harassment or any infraction of any provision of law covered by the No FEAR Act.”

Other information in the report includes the CFPB’s goals in FYs 2015 and 2016 for its Equal Employment Opportunity program and a description of the CFPB’s No FEAR Act training for employees.