#learningwithmo

The very first thing to know is you can't just up and file a lawsuit against an employer. You aren’t allowed, like you can’t just walk into a court building and file. The government has to first conduct an investigation before you can even do anything on your own. Federal/local government has rules totally different than private employers. I’ve never worked for any government agency on any level.

You first have to file a charge with either the EEOC, your state human rights agency or the NLRB. State laws normally cover more conditions than just federal law such as religion, retaliation, country or origin etc. Different agencies have different rules and statutes of limitations, but for the EEOC, you need to file your claim within 300 days of the discriminatory act. Why you were discriminated against would normally determine where you would need to file (under federal law or state law), but as a black woman you could go through either; it would just depend on your goals for filing suit and which agency is better where you live.

Generally with EEOC you are first offered the option of mediation or to skip straight to an investigation. After the investigation there will be a conference that both parties will attend which will be in the interests of facilitating a settlement. If a settlement is reached, they will basically close the investigation and not do anything further. However if a settlement doesn't happen, the investigation will continue to its conclusion.

With the NLRB you file a charge and or charges, meet with an attorney, they launch an investigation and determine whether they found any wrong doing from the employer which is what they call an unfair labor practice.Here’s where things get a little tricky, the employer has the opportunity to accept the unfair labor practice and the NLRB orders the employer to cease and desist in which they’ll be some type of remedy.

This is called a “remedial order”. At times a preliminary injunction can be issued but that’s typically the case when the unfair labor practice effects a group of people vs. an individual complaint. Or the employer can deny the unfair labor charge *just like my bitch ass employer did* and proceed to a hearing in which the General Council represents you.

Although, a hearing date is set, during the process the NLRB constantly urges both parties to mediate, 95% of their cases end in mediation. Literally right before my hearing the Judge asked if both parties could mediate. I was offered 10k by a multi-billion dollar corporation. I disrespectfully declined.

After the trial the Judge later makes a decision on whether any wrong doing was done. If so the Judge issues an order to cease and desist and offers affirmative relief or the Judge can dismiss the complaint in it’s entirety. Still the employer has the option to comply or appeal. Employers can appeal this before the board. The board consists of 5 judges appointed by the President of the United States. Employers can appeal 2x before the case goes to the US Circuit Court. Most cases don’t make it that far but guess whose case did? *inserts eye roll*

Back to EEOC. The investigation can go two ways - you will either get a determination that basically says "there is enough evidence here to conclude an illegal/discriminatory act has happened" or "we could not determine that discrimination has happened, but you can still sue if you want to." You can choose to close your investigation at any time and request the right to sue letter to move forward on your own. You will get a right to sue letter at the end of your investigation either way it goes. Generally you must take action/file your lawsuit within a certain amount of time after getting this letter either way (something like 90 days but again this varies). With the EEOC, if you do get a substantial determination judgment, the EEOC may take on the case for you or file a suit on your behalf.

The most important thing to know is there are very specific circumstances that need to be present in order to qualify as legal discrimination. You could have been treated unfairly or even wrongfully terminated, but there are only a few specific pathways for which you can claim you have been treated ILLEGALLY and discriminated against within the boundaries of the law.

You will have to establish a prima facie claim and in order to do that you have to establish three things: 1. that you are a member of a protected class 2. you participated in a protected act, and 3. that others comparatively situated to you were treated differently. There are other situations such as being denied a promotion or being demoted, racial harrassment etc etc and the prima facie is a little different for each one, but generally there has to be a specific incident at the heart of your claim that shows you experienced adverse consequences as a result of your race.

A protected act is reporting or complaining about discrimination or something illegal. In order to prove adverse consequences for participating in that protected act, the action you suffered has to have happened within a close enough amount of time to infer causality, generally within 6 months of the incident in question. So say if you complain that someone stole something and then a few months later your job duties are downgraded or you are demoted or receive a poor performance evaluation - there has to be a causal link. A lot of cases will be dismissed because these tricky timeline things will not be met.