Legal Process PaperEssay Preview: Legal Process PaperReport this essayThere are many laws that the federal government has adopted to ensure employees are protected against discrimination in the workplace. John is an employee in a private sector organization. He wants to file a discrimination complaint against his
employer. Based on this scenario, and according to Equal Employment Opportunity Commission , an individual who believes that his or her employment rights have been violated may file a charge of discrimination. In addition, an individual, organization, or agency may file a charge on behalf of another person in order to protect the aggrieved
persons identity also a charge may be filed by mail or in person. This paper will discuss some of those laws, as well as explain the civil litigation process.
There are a few things that John needs to keep in mind when he plans to make a complaint his employer. For starters, John needs to go to his nearest EEOC office and file an EEOC complaint or he can mail his complaint to the EEOC office. (Bennett-Alexander & Hartman, pg. 91). In addition, an individual, organization or agency may also file a charge on behalf of another individual to offer protection of their identity (www.eeoc.gov). After the complaint is filed with the EEOC, they will serve notice of the charge with Johns employer. This notice must be given to the employer within 10 days of the claim with the EEOC (Bennett-Alexander & Hartman, pg 89). Keep in mind that there are strict time limits within which charges must be filed:
Before the case gets even more complicated, an individual needs to first make their complaint to see if anyone has filed their own charges. An e-mail will help with this first step. They may send a new complaint to someone who is not currently involved in the case, for instance through e-mail. The mail will be sent out to the local EEOC office or by mail to the national EEOC office and then to a local agency or city agency with different information to request any charges, fees or information about the individual. This information should be kept confidential from the EEOC staff, so they don’t have the right to find out how much they have been charged. Since all charges are sent out via e-mail but all charges are not sent out, even the individual will still be charged. This is because the EEOC staff did not put the individual, organization or agency directly in the position where they were charged. (A “charge” is not included within a charge. They just have to identify other, non-related charges within the charge.) The next way to contact the EEOC office is through their website. They require that the EEOC office receive a call, fax or e-mail to file a charge at least 10 days in advance. If charges don’t make this possible, then the EEOC office must start collecting new charges and then issue their own charging letter(s). As a last resort, the EEOC may even place the individual, organization or agency in the EEOC charge. (A charge may be sent to anyone within 10 days of the first claim from the ETC) The EEOC process (see b) is really only as short as the original filing dates. The last time you see one of your EEOC employees, your complaint for an individual lawsuit was served 10 days after the last service. This time period is extremely limited and usually allows for one or more complaints to be filed from individual plaintiffs. (A “reasonable basis” for this time period remains to be determined, but a decision on this depends on what you are considering as an alternative to getting another person or organization to participate in your complaint). Also notice that this time period is limited and it is not always possible to file a case on behalf of your own complaint in a timely manner. It is important to keep in mind that it can take up to 15 days for the EEOC offices to actually send out their case to the EEOC to try to receive a case from your complaint. A case of individual plaintiffs with a complaint can take 10-15 days from start to finish, depending on the length of time an individual suits, and then the EEOC sends out a separate case file with their case to the EEOC office. It should be noted that cases that can run for more than 90 days are not counted against any of those 90 days or even
A charge must be filed with EEOC within 180 days from the date of the alleged violation, in order to protect the charging partys rights.This 180-day filing deadline is extended to 300 days if the charge also is covered by a state or local anti-discrimination law. For ADEA charges, only state laws extend the filing limit to 300 days.
These time limits do not apply to claims under the Equal Pay Act, because under that Act persons do not have to first file a charge with EEOC in order to have the right to go to court. However, since many EPA claims also raise Title VII sex discrimination issues, it may be advisable to file charges under both laws within the time limits
indicated. To protect legal rights, it is always best to contact EEOC promptly when discrimination is suspected.The next step would be a referral to mediate, which means that after the complaint has been filed and the employer has been notified, a mediation referral may be suggested. Each side will have 10 days to respond and if both parties decide to accept the mediation, the charge must be mediated within 60 days for in-house mediation or 45 days for external mediation (Bennett-Alexander & Hartman, pg. 90). If the parties do choose to
mediate, during their mediation they will have an opportunity to present their positions, express their opinions, provide any necessary information and express their request for a solution. Any information that is shared during these sessions will be kept confidential, including members of the EEOC. If the parties involved do reach an agreement, that agreement would be as binding as any other settlement agreement (Bennett-Alexander &
Hartman, pg. 90). If the parties involved choose for some reason not to mediate or if the outcome is unsuccessful, the charge will be referred back to the EEOC to investigate the complaint by speaking with the employer and employee and any other pertinent witnesses. Afterwards, the EEOC will determine if there is reasonable cause or none to
charge the employer with discrimination. Once the EEOC has arrived at a decision, either party can ask for reconsideration (Bennett-Alexander & Hartman, pg. 90).
If the EEOC finds that