Mission MCLB: Equal Opportunity Advisor
In this week's Mission MCLB we’ll introduce you to the Equal Opportunity Advisor for the Marine Corps Logistics Command.
Staff Sergeant Juana DeLosSantos is one of thirty-seven Equal Opportunity Advisors in the Marine Corps and she’s stationed at the MCLB Albany. Her position is similar to the EEO, however that’s in the civilian sector and not regulated by the military.
Within her job she provides guidance on a number of issues. “For example, discrimination issues, sexual harassment, anything that involves creating a hostile work environment that pertains to our protected categories which are age, race, religion, national origin, color and gender” says DeLosSantos.
She assesses the situation as a neutral party and is able to offer various kinds of help including training, guidance, third party solutions, and more. “If there is any training that needs to be provided I would absolutely give that training and then I would also let the complainant know what avenues they have. I never decide for them , they decide. It’s their decision” says DeLosSantos.
Whether the issue is small or large, DeLosSantos says any person whose issue affects how they perform their job is of great concern. Any issue concerning waste, fraud, or abuse is reported to higher level s immediately. In most situations there are both informal resolutions as well as formal avenues such as filing a complaint or a lawsuit. The equal opportunity office tracks all situations from the beginning to the resolution.
To the surprise of many, the office handles more than women and minorities. “Do you have a race? Do you have an age? Do you have a gender? Then you fall under equal opportunity because everybody falls under that.” says DeLosSantos.
The main goal of the office is to help foster an environment where everyone can work together to accomplish the mission. Being proactive is important because they don’t want any situation to blow up after festering for a while.
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