[Response to Request for Opinion on Agency Compliance With EEOC Directives]

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO addressed issues pertaining to whether the National Endowment for the Humanities was legally bound to comply with an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) requirement to submit information concerning its affirmative action plan. EEOC promulgated that requirement in response to statutory direction. In fiscal years 1983 and 1984, the Endowment refused to submit a plan to EEOC, based on its interpretation of a Department of Justice legal opinion. GAO determined that the Endowment should have complied with the EEOC requirement because an applicable statute required it to do so.