This article discusses what an employee can do to deal with discrimination
of any type (including pregnancy, age, sexual orientation, gender, religion,
national origin, disability, etc.), harassment, or a hostile work environment
in the workplace. If your employer has more than 15 employees (includes all
subsidiaries, branches, etc. of the company), then you are protected under
federal statutes against this type of behavior in the workplace. If there are
less than 15 employees, unfortunately you cannot take advantage of these
Federal protections.
In order to press charges against your employer for any of these issues, you
must first file a "charge" with the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission in your city. There is no fee to do so, and an attorney is not
needed. The EEOC staff will assist you in writing your "charge." Once
the charge is filed, the EEOC will send a copy of it to your employer, who will
be asked to write a position statement. If the employer tries to take further
action against you for writing your complaint, you can add a charge of
retaliation to the original complaint.
The position statement will be sent to the EEOC, which will provide you with
a copy. You will have an opportunity to write a rebuttal, if you so desire.
Again, the EEOC staff will assist you with this. After these papers are
exchanged, the EEOC will investigate the situation. If it finds merit in your
claim, it may pick the matter up for mediation, at which you are entitled to
have an attorney present if you wish to do so. If the mediation is unable to
resolve the situation, or if it is not picked up for mediation, the EEOC will
send you a "right to sue" letter, which is necessary before you can
file a complaint in Federal Court. The EEOC has 180 days within which to
resolve the situation, but often it takes more time. In any case, at the
conclusion of its investigation, the EEOC will send you a "right to
sue" letter. It will state either "probable cause" or "no
probable cause" to believe that the employer broke a federal law. Even if
the letter says "no probable cause," you can still file a Federal
lawsuit.
You only have six (6) months from the date the hostile action took place to
file your charge with the EEOC.
You also do not need an attorney to file a Federal court complaint. Each
Federal District court has a pro se office which assists people
without attorneys. They will help you write and file the complaint. They can
also waive the filing fee (several hundred dollars) if you have limited income.
To do this, you will have to submit a form which the pro se clerk can give
you, and a Judge will have to sign it. The filing fee is then waived.
If the case goes any further, the Court may appoint an attorney from the pro
bono panel for you. This attorney will represent you free of charge. The
"right to sue" letter will explain that you only have 90 days within
which to file a Federal lawsuit after you receive the "right to sue"
letter.
If you plan to file a Federal lawsuit, you should know that you, as the
Plaintiff, have the burden of proof to prove your charges against the employer.
Frequently there will be depositions involving representatives of the employer.
The employer will also depose you as the Plaintiff. Many times at the end of
discovery (exchange of papers and sworn testimony) the employer will move to
dismiss the complaint.
These actions are not easy to win, and if you retain an attorney, you should
encourage the attorney to settle the case.
The statutes provide for "fee
shifting,"so that if the case is settled, or if you win the case, you can
ask the court to have your attorney fees paid by the other side.