Legal Process Paper

There are many laws the federal government has adopted to ensure that employees are protected against discrimination in the workplace. This paper will discuss some of those laws, as well as explain the civil litigation process.

One of the most well-known is Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) which prohibits discrimination against an individual in any aspect of employment due to their race, religion, sex, color, age or national origin. This includes hiring and firing practices, promotions, compensation, training and benefits. This law also covers retaliation against an employee for filing a lawsuit against the employer for violation of any of the above.

Another well-known law would be the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) which prohibits employers from discriminating against a perspective employee due to disabilities. In other words, if the perspective employee is the best qualified for the job but is not hired because of a disability, the perspective employee has the right to sue the employer for discrimination if they feel they were not selected for the job because of their disability.

The first step in the civil litigation process is to contact the local Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) office if you feel that you have been discriminated against by your employer. You must provide certain information to the EEOC office in order to proceed with your claim. Some of the information they will need is your name, address, phone number and a brief description of the allegation. They are also going to need the name, address and phone number of your employer in order to contact them to gather information relevant to your charge of discrimination. You must file the charge within 180 days of the presumed violation. If the charge is also covered by a state or local anti-discrimination law, the time is extended to 300 days from the date of the presumed violation.

Once the charge is filed with the EEOC office, the employer is then notified of the charge. The EEOC office then reviews the charge to see if further investigation is required. If they feel that the charge is relevant, they will request further documentation from the employer in regards to the presumed violation. The EEOC representative will discuss the results of the investigation with either the charging party or the employer depending on the results of the investigation or if further information is required by either party.

The EEOC representative will then make the decision if this matter could be resolved through mediation