Objective: In June 1995 the U,S, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (E
EOC) instituted a new charge priority policy, Under the new policy, charges
are classified as one of three priority levels during or immediately after
intake. Only charges assigned a high priority receive a full investigation
, This paper examines the effect of the charge priority policy on individua
ls with psychiatric disabilities who filed Americans With Disabilities Act
(ADA) charges with the EEOC. Methods: Using data extracted from the EEOC's
charge data system, the authors analyzed all 66,298 ADA claims prioritized
and closed between June 1995 and March 1998, The z test for difference in p
roportions and the generalized estimating equations procedure were used. Th
e primary outcome measure was the priority assignment received by ADA claim
ants. Results: Charges that received a high priority assignment were more l
ikely. to result in benefits for claimants. Charges filed by claimants with
psychiatric disabilities were significantly less likely to be assigned a h
igh priority than charges filed by other claimants, Claimants with psychiat
ric disabilities were also significantly less likely to benefit from their
claims. Conclusions: The strong relationship between being assigned high pr
iority and receiving benefits as a result of filing a charge demonstrates t
he importance of accurate priority categorization, The finding that people
with psychiatric disabilities are less likely than others to benefit from t
heir claims is cause for concern, particularly given the fact that the accu
racy of the charge prioritization system has not been validated.