States News Service, April 3, 2008, Thursday

Copyright 2008 States News Service

States News Service

April 3, 2008 Thursday

HEADLINE: FROM CHAIR OF BOARD OF DIRECTORS

BYLINE: States News Service

BODY:

The following information was released by the Office of Compliance:

Since my appointment to the Board of Directors in 1999, the Office of Compliance has made extraordinary strides both in accomplishing its statutory mission under the Congressional Accountability Act and in evolving from a nascent independent entity to an integral legislative branch contributor, poised for mature future accomplishment.

During these years, significant progress has been made by our Office to improve the safety of the legislative branch; recognize and implement the rights of employees; respond to the rights and needs of persons with disabilities; and educate our constituency on the mandates of civil rights and fair labor standards law.

Ensuring the safety of the Capitol complex for both employees and visitors is a paramount concern of the Board of Directors. As this Report will detail, significant progress has been made this Fiscal Year. We count as accomplishments not only the resolution of long-standing citations but also the increasing effectiveness of a comprehensive inspection system. As the Fiscal Year ended, the Board was poised to appoint a new executive team, fulfilling one of our statutory mandates and energizing the Office with new possibility. We continued to perform our appellate function in the statutorily-created employee dispute resolution process by issuing more final decisions than in the prior two years, hopefully laying solid foundation for enforcement of legal rights on the Hill. We moved closer to adopting and submitting for Congressional promulgation regulations with enormous benefit to veterans and legislative branch employees who serve in the military, yet another component of our statutory duties. These are important and meaningful roles, and we approach them with care and commitment.

The Board of Directors takes enormous pride in the work of the professional staff and the many accomplishments of the Office. We echo the words of our Executive Director: this is a collective undertaking, with and for the 30,500 employees of the legislative branch; its 1200 offices nationwide; the 1.3 million annual visitors to the Capitol; and the infrastructure of the Capitol itself. We are confident that our significant contributions and our successful performance of mission will only continue to grow in the years ahead.

Peter Ames Eveleth, Esq.

General Counsel

Peter Ames Eveleth was appointed by the Board of Directors of the Office of Compliance to the position of General Counsel in June, 2003. Prior to his appointment, Mr. Eveleth served as Senior Special Counsel to the General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). During his career with the NLRB, Mr. Eveleth also served as Assistant General Counsel of the Contempt Litigation Branch, the office responsible for assuring nationwide compliance with court-enforced NLRB orders. Prior to 1994, Mr. Eveleth was Of Counsel to the Washington office of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer and Feld where he represented management clients in a broad range of labor and employment matters. He has also served as Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University Law Center where he taught courses in equal employment opportunity law. Mr. Eveleth is a graduate of Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations and earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

Staff of the Office of Compliance as of September 30, 2007

Luis Guzman a" Health and Safety Specialist

Kisha Harley a" Administrative Assistant

Beth Hughes-Brown a" Administrative and Budget Officer

Barbara L. Jaffe a" Staff Attorney

Teresa James a" Director, Dispute Resolution

Marie Joseph, Assistant Systems Administrator

Annie Leftwood a" Executive Assistant

Stephen Mallinger a" Special Assistant to the General Counsel/Lead Safety and Health Inspector

Kathy Schluter a" Executive Assistant to the General Counsel

Kate Tapley a" Senior Attorney

Charles Tetreault a" Staff Attorney

David Young a" Management/Program Analyst

Contact Information

Office of Compliance

Room LA 200, John Adams Building

110 Second Street, SE

Washington, DC 20540-1999

Recorded Information Line: 202-724-9260

Telephone: 202-724-9250

FAX: 202-426-1913

TDD: 202-426-1912

LOAD-DATE: April 4, 2008