Equal Employment Opportunity Office created in DHHS

The N.C. Office of State Personnel has approved the DHHS 2005 Equal Employment Opportunity Office plan for 2005. The office consists of a director and three full-time EEO consultants, one for each of the three geographic regions of the state: west, central and east.

As a result, leadership of each division and institution is required to appoint an EEO designee. The chief objective of the office is to assure that all employment practices of the agency are administered without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, creed, age, sex, disability or political affiliation. An additional objective is to promote within the department a greater understanding and value of diversity in all aspects of employment.

In December of 2004, Secretary Carmen Hooker Odom ordered the creation of an Office of Equal Employment Opportunity within the department’s Office of General Counsel. This came as a result of OSP rejecting the department’s 2004 EEO Plan.

This presented the secretary with an opportunity to tailor an office to meet the needs of such a large and diverse agency, as well as to correct the mistakes made in the past regarding equal employment opportunity services.

For further information on the EEO office and/or the name of your agency designee, you may contact your division director’s office or call M. Terry Hodges, acting EEO director at (919) 733-4534.

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Last Modified: May 31, 2005