European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 27, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday september 27, 1991 the stars and stripes a Page 3eeoc to streamline complaint to regulation would enforce 6-month limit by Rosemary Sawyer Staft writer Ramstein a Germany a the equal employment Opportunity commission is expected to Issue a regulation soon that will Speed the handling of discrimination and harassment complaints from civilians an air Force personnel official said. The Federal regulation will a hopefully streamline the process and give Shorter time periods to process complaints a said James Carlock jr., employee relations specialist for the Safe civilian personnel directorate. The new regulation would require complaints to travel through informal and formal inquiry stages in no More than six months Carlock said. During fiscal 1990, air Force equal employment Opportunity offices in Europe received 105 complaints from civilians Carlock 11 of which went on to be come formal complaints reviewed by appellate investigators. None of the 11 has yet been found to involve discrimination Carlock said. This ratio was in line with the air Force goal that 90 percent of the cases be resolved before the formal stage. The most common complaints received by a Safe a equal employment Opportunity offices Are race discrimination followed by discrimination based on sex and nationality. A we get our greatest successes in resolving complaints at the local level a Carlock said. Many of those resolutions Are As substantial As they would be if completed at the formal stage. A if the commander with the guidance from the Counselor and the Legal advisers civilian personnel advisers and so Forth sees that there is a problem they go ahead and take care of the problem a Carlock said. Currently civilian employees Job applicants and former employees who feel they have suffered discrimination based on age race sex or nationality have 30 Days after the incident or personnel action in which to Contact an Leo Counselor Carlock said. The Counselor then has at least 21 Days to informally investigate the complaint. After completion of the inquiry the Counselor explains the findings to the complainant and gives him or her a Chance to file a formal we want to encourage people to talk to Leo Counselor on the civilian Side if they feel like they have a concern about discrimination in the workplace a James Carlock or. Complaint if the matter has not been resolved. Formal complaints Are investigated by members of the . Air Force civilian appellate review Agency at Wright Patterson fab Ohio. These investigators visit overseas bases about twice a year Carlock said. A at this stage they can make a finding whether or not there a been discrimination. An Leo Counselor cannot a Carlock said. The finding is passed on to the appropriate authority usually the commander of the Wing or base who decides on what action if any will be taken. The goal of the new Leoc regulation is to reach this finding stage within six months of the complainant s first Contact with an Leo Counselor. Anticipating the regulations new requirement the air Force now asks its base Leo offices to file formal complaints with the review Agency within 60 Days of initial Contact with the complainant. However local efforts to resolve the complaint can continue after it is sent on Carlock said. The air Force has one step More than any other Agency after the review Agency makes its finding. In what is called the adjustment stage the commander is encouraged a to get together with the complainant to go Over the report of investigation and try to resolve the complaint a Carlock said. The extra step slows the processing of complaints slightly but a we figure its Worth it a Carlock said. Quot once you resolve a complaint its a win win  the stage also offers management and complainants a Chance to Iron out problems that May exist even if the review Agency a investigation did not yield a discrimination finding. If the complainant is still not satisfied he or she next can raise the complaint to the equal employment Opportunity commission for a hearing. Leoc administrative judges also visit overseas bases about every six months. If discrimination has occurred the commanders obligation is to a make the complainant whole a Carlock said. For example in the Case of a disciplinary action in which an employee was wrongly suspended for five Days without pay the commander would eliminate the suspension from the personnel records and give the person the pay they lost. If someone were not selected for a promotion because of discrimination the commander would have to promote the complainant into the lost position or a comparable spot. A we want to encourage people to talk to Leo Counselor on the civilian Side if they feel like they have a concern about discrimination in the workplace a Carlock said. At the informal stage complainants can remain Anonymous Carlock said. But he said some cases Are difficult to investigate without indirectly disclosing the complainants identity. Suit charges baking soda caused explosion in Tummy new Brunswick . A after a bowl of homemade Chili two martinis and a Glass of wine William Graves woke up with indigestion. Remembering a remedy his grandmother told him about he put a spoonful of baking soda in a Glass of water and drank it. In a lawsuit being argued wednesday in Superior court Graves editor of National geographic Magazine says the baking soda caused an explosion in his stomach that nearly killed him. The maker of Arm amp Hammer baking soda Church and Dwight inc. Of Princeton denies the product was responsible. A hundreds of millions of people have taken billions of doses under All kinds of circumstances and it has proved very satisfactory Over the years a said Dwight Minton company chairman. Graves 64, wants to Force Church and Dwight to take baking soda off the Market As an antacid saying he needed six operations to recover from the 1979 incident. He said doctors told him the tear in his stomach was caused by a perforated ulcer but years later he came to believe baking soda was the culprit and filed the lawsuit. The trial before Superior court judge c. Judson Hamlin is in its fourth week and is not expected to end until next month. Graves account of what happened was described wednesday in the Star Ledger of Newark. That article was cited by Church and Dwight attorneys As grounds for a mistrial wednesday and Hamlin told Graves not to make any further Public statements a National geographic spokesman said. Minton also refused to discuss the Case specifically except to say he believed Arm amp Hammer would be exonerated. A i done to think we had anything to do with or. Graves problem a he said. On wednesday a gastrointestinal specialist said its not unheard of that baking soda could cause a tear in the stomach. A it has happened in the past but Only under unusual circumstances a said or. James l. Achord chief of gastroenterology at the University of Mississippi medical Center and a past president of the american College of gastroenterology. Former Montana congressman Dies Conrad Mont. Apr former congressman Leroy Anderson died wednesday. He was 85. Anderson a Democrat narrowly Defeated Republican rep. Orville Fjare in 1956 for one of Montana a two House seats. Anderson was re elected in 1958 but lost a . Senate bid in 1960. A Farmer rancher and businessman Anderson served in the state House and Senate for 10 years before going to Washington. In 1966, he was elected to another four year term in the state Senate. In 1968, he finished third in the democratic gubernatorial primary. Anderson had been an army lieutenant colonel and remained Active in the army reserves after world War ii retiring As a major  of Battle a Federal Soldier kicks a Blanket in bras Din Yugoslavia while searching through debris wednesday after a fierce fight in the Battle serbian fighters and army troops captured a strategic Grain silo that croatians were using to Call in artillery strikes. Meanwhile at the United nations the Security Council broadened a european arms embargo on Yugoslavia to a worldwide action and the United states blamed Serbia and the often Allied yugoslav military for much of the bloodshed