Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

American Samoans told to deal promptly with harassment and discrimination complaints

Posted at 07:13 on 30 July, 2010 UTC

Sexual harassment, race, age and gender discrimination are among the issues being covered in training in American Samoa provided by the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The director of the Commission’s Honolulu office, Timothy Riera, is conducting seminars for senior Government staffers and the private sector - the first time such training has been offered in American Samoa.

Mr Riera says the Commission receives the occasional complaint from the territory.

He stresses that employees with grievances want to be heard and employers cannot ignore them.

“Most people just want their problems to be dealt with and actually they don’t want to get the Federal Government involved. And if they feel that they have been heard and that action was taken, then a lot of times they won’t feel the need to file a charge with the Federal Government. But if they decide to do so that’s their right.”