The Civil Litigation Process
The Civil Litigation Process
The focus of this paper will be to show how an employee would take a discrimination complaint against his or her employer. The process will be explored from where one would begin with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and proceeds through the civil litigation process from the state level up to the United States Supreme Court. In the examination of this scenario, it becomes necessary to define two key terms: discrimination and civil litigation.
Discrimination may be 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 May 12, 2006). The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was specifically written to provide relief from discrimination in a number of areas, but specific to this paper is the area of employment law, which is detailed in Title VII of the Act. The Act created the "legal basis for non-discrimination" in employment, "housing, education, public accommodations and federally assisted programs" (Bennett-Alexander, D.D. & Hartman, L. P., Employment Law for Business, 4 ed., pp 3-4). Chris Honeyman states that "civil litigation is the process that will be used if no other arrangement is agreed upon, for all sorts of asserted wrongs" (http://www.crinfo.org/CK_Essays/ck_civil_litigation.jsp, Copyright © 1999-2004, The Conflict Resolution Information Source, retrieved May 12, 2006). He further states that when one thinks of the term "lawsuit", this is the process that is being referred.
The Process According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, one must ask oneself a series of questions prior to filing a charge of employment discrimination. As a general rule for employees in the private sector, the answer to whom can file a charge of discrimination would be "any individual who believes that his or her employment rights have been violated"
The focus of this paper will be to show how an employee would take a discrimination complaint against his or her employer. The process will be explored from where one would begin with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and proceeds through the civil litigation process from the state level up to the United States Supreme Court. In the examination of this scenario, it becomes necessary to define two key terms: discrimination and civil litigation.
Discrimination may be 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 May 12, 2006). The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was specifically written to provide relief from discrimination in a number of areas, but specific to this paper is the area of employment law, which is detailed in Title VII of the Act. The Act created the "legal basis for non-discrimination" in employment, "housing, education, public accommodations and federally assisted programs" (Bennett-Alexander, D.D. & Hartman, L. P., Employment Law for Business, 4 ed., pp 3-4). Chris Honeyman states that "civil litigation is the process that will be used if no other arrangement is agreed upon, for all sorts of asserted wrongs" (http://www.crinfo.org/CK_Essays/ck_civil_litigation.jsp, Copyright © 1999-2004, The Conflict Resolution Information Source, retrieved May 12, 2006). He further states that when one thinks of the term "lawsuit", this is the process that is being referred.
The Process According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, one must ask oneself a series of questions prior to filing a charge of employment discrimination. As a general rule for employees in the private sector, the answer to whom can file a charge of discrimination would be "any individual who believes that his or her employment rights have been violated"
References: A Brief Overview of the Supreme Court, http://www.supremecourtus.gov, retrieved May 12, 2006. Bennett-Alexander, D. D. & Hartman, L. P. (2004). Employment Law for Business, Fourth Edition [University of Phoenix Custom Edition e-text] Retrieved May 12, 2006, from University of Phoenix, Resource, MGT/434 - Employment Law Web site: https://ecampus.phoenix.edu/secure/resource/resource.asp University of Phoenix. (2006). MGT 434 Employment Law Syllabus. University of Phoenix. Retrieved March 18, 2006 from University of Phoenix, Resource, MGT 434— Employment Law Web site: https://mycampus.phoenix.edu/secure/facWeb/CourseFiles.asp. www.crinfo.org/CK_Essays/ck_civil_litigation.jsp, Copyright © 1999-2004, The Conflict Resolution Information Source, retrieved May 12, 2006. www.flsenate.gov/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=Ch0 760/Sec11.HTM, retrieved May 12, 2006. www.m-w.com/dictionary/discrimination, retrieved May 12, 2006. www.uscourts.gov/understand02/content_6_1.html, retrieved May 12, 2006