No person in the United States shall on the ground of sex, age, race, color, religion, national origin or handicap be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity funded pursuant to the implementation of this chapter, including membership in any structure created by this chapter.

Whenever the Secretary of Labor determines that a recipient of funds made available pursuant to this chapter has failed to comply with subsection (a), or an applicable regulation, the Secretary shall notify the recipient of the noncompliance and shall request such recipient to secure compliance. If within a reasonable period of time, not to exceed sixty days, the recipient fails or refuses to secure compliance, the Secretary of Labor may—

(1) refer the matter to the Attorney General with a recommendation that an appropriate civil action be instituted;

(2) exercise the powers and functions provided by title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.) [1] or

(3) take such other action as may be provided by law.

When a matter is referred to the Attorney General pursuant to subsection (b), or whenever the Attorney General has reason to believe that a recipient is engaged in a pattern or practice in violation of the provisions of this section, the Attorney General may bring a civil action in the appropriate United States district court for any and all appropriate relief.

To assist and evaluate the enforcement of this section, and the broader equal employment opportunity policies of this chapter the Secretary of Labor shall include, in the annual report referred to in section 1022a(f)(2)(B) of this title, a detailed analysis of the extent to which the enforcement of this section achieves positive results in both the quantity and quality of jobs, and for employment opportunities generally.

(Pub. L. 95–523, title IV, § 401, Oct. 27, 1978, 92 Stat. 1907; Pub. L. 105–277, div. A, § 101(f) [title VIII, § 405(d)(12)(B)], Oct. 21, 1998, 112 Stat. 2681–337, 2681–421.)