Has Your Employer Discriminated Against You?

Many employees feel that their employer has discriminated against them as a result of their age, sex, disability, race, national origin or other protected classes and they know that the employer cannot do that. However, when this has occurred most people do not know what action they should take in order to protect themselves and preserve their right to file a lawsuit in federal court. In order to sue in federal court, employees have to file what is known as a charge of discrimination with the EEOC. The EEOC, which is the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, handles the investigation of claims of employment discrimination in violation of federal law. There are a number of procedural requirements which an employee must follow in order to preserve their rights.

1. The first is that charge of discrimination must be filed within one hundred eighty (180) days of the alleged act of discrimination. Currently, the EEOC does not accept on-line complaints and it must be filed with a field office. Here is a link to the EEOC field offices and each office covers a designated area: http://www.eeoc.gov/field/index.cfm . In order to find the field office which the complaint needs to be filed with, all you need to do is enter the zip code of where you live or work and the office contact information will come up. Most people in Central or Eastern North Carolina will file their charge with the Raleigh EEOC field office. Here is the link to the Raleigh Office: http://www.eeoc.gov/field/raleigh/ . Filing the charge within 180 days is very important because if you do not file the charge on time, in most instances you lose your right to pursue your employer.  Make sure to file the charge within 180 days of when you are terminated, demoted, denied a promotion, given a negative review, fellow employee says something inappropriate to you, etc. A Raleigh employment or labor lawyer should be contacted prior to the filing of an EEOC charge in order to help you draft it to maximize your chances of success.
2. Following the filing of the charge, the EEOC will open an investigation and provide you with a file number and the contact information of the investigator. The investigator will contact your employer and also you for additional information. The EEOC like, most federal government agencies, is generally understaffed and has a huge number of complaints filed, so be prepared for your complaint to take several month or longer for any action to be taken. During the course of the investigation, the matter may be referred to mediation where you and your employer will meet with a mediator employed by the EEOC. This is where an attempt will be made to resolve your complaint. There are a number of possible outcomes of your complaint of discrimination but the most likely outcome is that the EEOC will find that you have not been discriminated against and will issue a right to sue letter.
3. Following the issue of a right to sue letter, you have ninety (90) days to file your lawsuit in either state or federal court. Remember, that time is not on your side. Again, just like filing your charge of discrimination within the 180 day time period, if you do not file your lawsuit within 90 days, you waive your right to pursue the lawsuit under federal law. People call me, who think that because they have been issued a right to sue letter, the EEOC found that there has been discrimination and they have a good case; however, this is not true. The EEOC has found no evidence of discrimination and issues a right to sue letter in almost all cases. This should not prevent you from filing a lawsuit.  If you have not retained an attorney prior to the right to sue letter being issued, then this is the time to do so. Pursuing a federal employment discrimination case in either state or federal court is complicated and your employer is guaranteed to have an attorney representing them so you should contact a Raleigh employment law firm immediately.  Also, if the case is in the Eastern District of North Carolina, it is likely to be dismissed when the defendant files a motion for summary judgment.

This is just a short explanation of the EEOC complaint process and as you can see, it is not straightforward or easy. The best time to hire an attorney is at the outset of the process before you have filed the charge of discrimination in order to help guide you through the process and maximize your chances of success. I have been hired before when the lawsuit was already pending in federal court and this makes it more difficult to have a successful resolution to the case. Employment discrimination cases can difficult ones to win and in North Carolina, the law is generally favorable to the employers. In addition to filing under federal law, employment discrimination cases can also be brought under North Carolina state law which is a decision a Raleigh employment attorney can help you make. Should you have any questions please contact me  at 919-803-1516 or by leaving a comment below.