Tina Frank
MGT/343
Sept. 29, 2014
Brian La Hargoue
Legal Process
In this paper, John is an employee and wants to file a complaint against his boss for discrimination. This paper will explain in detail how John will first approach the process of filing his suit. This student will go into detail about where John will start his claim. John’s starting point will be with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Explained will be the next steps from the civil litigation process from the state courts to the Supreme Court. There will also be a discussion on the other aspects there are of addressing employee complaints and disputes in the workplace.
EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION
In this situation, John has to begin the litigation process with the EEOC. According to “U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission”, n.d, the EEOC “is responsible for enforcing federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or an employee because of the person’s race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information.” The EEOC has designed laws that govern the procedures when a complaint is issued. The EEOC has authority to look into any charges that are brought up against an employer. They investigate claims with fairness and accuracy to all the allegations that are brought before them. When John wants to file his complaint, he will have to go through the steps that are set up with the EEOC.
PROCESS
When John files his complaint his, first step with the EEOC is the charge handling process. With this step the EEOC “will give him a copy of his charge with his charge number.” (EEOC, n.d.). According to the EEOC (n.d.), the EEOC “will send a notice of the dispute and also a copy of your discrimination claim that you are having with them”. The next step with the EEOC is that they try to get both John and the employer into mediation. If mediation does not resolve the issues then, the EEOC will either ask John’s employer to give a written response, or the EEOC “will ask the employer to answer questions about the claims. After this step, the EEOC will hand your complaint to an investigator” (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, n.d.). After these steps John might face a possible dismissal through the EEOC. The dismissal will be if the EEOC did not have the authority, or if your claim is not done in a timely manner. If this is the case, John will be notified of the dismissal of his charges.
In some cases of discrimination, the EEOC will investigate the claim. If the claim is seen as valid the EEOC will dig into the facts of the charge and gather information on the case. The “U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission” website states, we visit the employer to hold interviews, gather documents, and interview witnesses over the phone.” If the EEOC starts an investigation, there is no time limit on how long the investigation will go