Congresswoman Simon Leads Effort to Protect Disabled Federal Contractors

Washington, D.C. -- Following Labor Day, Congresswoman Lateefah Simon (D-CA-12) led her colleagues in a letter to the Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer expressing alarm at the Department’s failure to protect federal contractors with disabilities and demanding transparency from the Department of Labor. 

Under federal civil rights law, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, federal contractors are prohibited from discriminating against individuals with disabilities in recruitment, hiring, compensation, job assignments, benefits, or promotions. The law also further requires employers to take proactive steps to recruit, hire, retain and advance qualified people with disabilities. The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) is charged with enforcing these requirements. 

However, in January 2025, then-Acting Secretary of Labor Chavez-DeRemer directed OFCCP to notify all regulated parties under review and investigations related to Section 503 [of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973] to be held in abeyance or temporary suspension pending further guidance. In July 2025, Secretary Chavez-DeRemer lifted that abeyance. 

In the letter to Secretary Chavez-DeRemer, Congresswoman Simon and members write:

“Undue delays in investigating complaints of discrimination, abandonment of compliance reviews, and stalled affirmative action plan monitoring call into question the agency’s commitment to enforcing protections for federal contract workers with disabilities...

“Taken together, these actions point to workers with disabilities waiting for the justice they deserve. And, even though the OFCCP has resumed processing claims under Section 503, we remain concerned that staff cuts and field office closures have completely undermined its ability to enforce the rights of individuals with disabilities.”

Congresswoman Simon and members requested answers to the following questions by October 1, 2025: 

1. How many complaints has OFCCP received since January 24, 2025?
2. How many of the complaints received since January 24, 2025 involved complaints of discrimination due to a disability?
3. How was OFCCP responding to workers who had filed complaints of discrimination due to a disability since January 24, 2025? Please provide the template response the agency was using.
4. During the abeyance, were workers notified that their previously filed complaints of discrimination due to a disability would not be investigated? If so, please provide the standard language used to provide workers with such notice.
5. What is your specific timeline for notifying workers that investigation of their complaints of discrimination due to a disability will be resumed?
6. How do you anticipate the nearly 6-month delay impacting workers’ ability to get a timely resolution from their complaints of discrimination due to a disability?

Congresswoman Simon was joined by Representatives LaMonica McIver (NJ-10), Shri Thanedar (MI-13), Debbie Dingell (MI-06), Gwen Moore (WI-04), and Rashida Tlaib (MI-12). 

A copy of the letter can be found HERE.

Congresswoman Simon is the first congenitally blind member to serve in Congress, and she is a leader in the disability policy space. Last month, during Disability Pride Month, Congresswoman Simon and Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) introduced the Disability and Age in Jury Service Nondiscrimination Act, legislation to prohibit the exclusion or disqualification of disabled or elderly jurors in federal jury service. In June 2025, Congresswoman Simon’s bipartisan bill to expand employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities and help small businesses become more accessible unanimously passed the House of Representatives. In May 2025, Congresswomen Simon and Jahana Hayes (D-CT-05) introduced the See the Board Act, legislation directing the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to make grants available to nonprofits that provide free, mobile vision services for K-12 students in public schools.

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