Civil Litigation Process
Civil Litigation Process
The focus of this paper will be to show how an employee would make a discrimination complaint against his employer. The process begins with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and can proceed through the civil litigation process from the state level up to the United States Supreme Court.
Discrimination is defined as the "prejudiced or prejudicial outlook, action, or treatment of an individual or group towards another person or group. (http://m-w.com/dictionary/discrimination, retrieved March 30, 2007). The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was written to provide relief from discrimination in a great deal of areas, but in this paper the focus will be on the area of employment law.
Throughout this paper the reference will be on a hypothetical senario John is an employee in a private sector organization. He decided to file an age discrimination complaint against his employer after being forced into retirement due to his age. The following will give an insight into the processing of an EEOC claim and how that claim can find its way all the way up to the United States Supreme Court if a resolution can not be reached.
The first step in the process for John to file his complaint would be to go to the nearest EEOC office and file a claim, and by law the EEOC must in some way handle every claim it receives. Filing a complaint with the EEOC will not cost John anything more than time and energy. Since John is a nonfederal government employee he will need to make sure that he files his claim within 180 days of when the discrimination took place. Within 10 days of John filing his claim, the EEOC gives notice of the claim to his previous employer. From this point, the EEOC will review the charge to see if the claim is a case that is appropriate for mediation.
Mediation is a process where both parties can present their positions, provide information, and express their request for relief. If the parties reach an agreement then it is binding.
The focus of this paper will be to show how an employee would make a discrimination complaint against his employer. The process begins with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and can proceed through the civil litigation process from the state level up to the United States Supreme Court.
Discrimination is defined as the "prejudiced or prejudicial outlook, action, or treatment of an individual or group towards another person or group. (http://m-w.com/dictionary/discrimination, retrieved March 30, 2007). The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was written to provide relief from discrimination in a great deal of areas, but in this paper the focus will be on the area of employment law.
Throughout this paper the reference will be on a hypothetical senario John is an employee in a private sector organization. He decided to file an age discrimination complaint against his employer after being forced into retirement due to his age. The following will give an insight into the processing of an EEOC claim and how that claim can find its way all the way up to the United States Supreme Court if a resolution can not be reached.
The first step in the process for John to file his complaint would be to go to the nearest EEOC office and file a claim, and by law the EEOC must in some way handle every claim it receives. Filing a complaint with the EEOC will not cost John anything more than time and energy. Since John is a nonfederal government employee he will need to make sure that he files his claim within 180 days of when the discrimination took place. Within 10 days of John filing his claim, the EEOC gives notice of the claim to his previous employer. From this point, the EEOC will review the charge to see if the claim is a case that is appropriate for mediation.
Mediation is a process where both parties can present their positions, provide information, and express their request for relief. If the parties reach an agreement then it is binding.
References: Bennett-Alexander, D. D., & Hartman, L. P. (2007). Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In (Ed.), Employment Law for Business (5 ed., pp. 1-44). : The McGraw-Hill Companies. EEOC (1997). January 15, 1997. Retrieved March 30, 2007, from http://www.eeoc.gov Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (, 2006). Questions and Answers about Mediation. Retrieved March 30, 2007, from http://www.eeoc.gov The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (, August 13, 2003). EEOC 's Charge Processing Procedures. Retrieved March 30, 2007, from http://www.eeoc.gov Webster, M. (). Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Retrieved March 30, 2007, from http://m-w.com/dictionary/discrimination