Filing a Discrimination Lawsuit John,

Filing a Discrimination Lawsuit

John, an employee in a private sector organization, wishes to file a discrimination complaint against his employer. Although there are numerous laws aimed at protecting employees from discrimination, John needs to be aware that federal discrimination laws require that John submit his complaint to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) prior to filing a lawsuit. John must file this complaint within the statutory time limits established by the applicable laws (EEOC, Filing a charge, 2010). Of course, prior to filing his complaint, John needs to evaluate whether he has been a victim of workplace discrimination. This is a complex issue, because almost every state in the U.S. has at-will employment, which gives employers the right to fire employees for any reason except for explicitly prohibited reasons. It is illegal for employers to discriminate on the basis of age, disability, genetic information, national origin, sex, pregnancy, race, or religion. It is also illegal for employers to engage in certain prohibited practices, such as pay discrimination, retaliation, and sexual harassment. Before filing a complaint with the EEOC, John needs to determine what type of discrimination he experienced, which laws govern the applicable discrimination, and how the employer violated those laws. All of that information will help him in filing his charge with the EEOC. Furthermore, though most federal anti-discrimination statutes require a complainant to file a charge with the EEOC before filing a lawsuit, not all of them do. For example, if John is alleging age discrimination, he can file a lawsuit without filing a charge with the EEOC. Therefore, it is important for John to determine which laws may be relevant to his situation.

John begins by filing a charge with anyone of the 53 EEOC field offices, (EEOC, How to file a charge, 2010). Depending on his location, John may have the option of filing his complaint with a local agency developed to prohibit employment discrimination. These local agencies are referred to as Fair Employment Practices Agencies (FEPAs) and many of them have cooperative agreements, so that John may be able to file his complaint at a FEPA and trigger an automatic filing with the EEOC, thus preserving his right to sue (EEOC, How to file a charge, 2010). John can file his charge in person or via letter, but the EEOC does not accept charges by telephone or internet.

Once John files his charge, the EEOC will review the complaint. It might find that the complaint does not allege a violation of the applicable statutes and, therefore, not conduct an investigation. However, if the complaint alleges a viable charge, the EEOC may contact John and his employer and see if the parties are interested in mediating the dispute. This is done before the EEOC investigates the complaint. John and his employer cannot be compelled to mediate; the mediation process is completely voluntary. However, if they choose to mediate, the parties are not charged for the mediation process, and any resulting mediation agreement is enforceable in court (See generally, EEOC, Mediation, 2010).

If the parties do not agree to mediation, the EEOC then investigates the complaint. The EEOC can bring a lawsuit on John's behalf, if it finds that his complaint is substantiated by the evidence. Due to the EEOC's limited resources, it is not able to bring a lawsuit in every case where it finds discrimination. However, even if the EEOC declines to bring a lawsuit, John can still file suit against his employer. To do so, John needs to seek a Notice of Right-to-Sue from the EEOC. This document serves as proof that John filed a complaint with the EEOC, as required by the underlying statutes, and serves as his means of entry into the court system (See generally, EEOC, Filing a lawsuit, 2010).

Even though the laws governing employment discrimination are federal laws, John can file his lawsuit in state court or federal court, assuming that state or local laws also prohibit such discrimination. Frequently, at that stage, John's employer is going to seek removal of the case to the federal system, because federal judges are considered more likely to grant summary judgment in favor of employer-defendants than state-court judges are. Employers are able to receive removal because federal courts have jurisdiction over questions of federal law. Therefore, John's lawsuit might proceed in the federal or state court system.