The Administrative Process for Florida Employment Discrimination Claims

October 21, 2011

Prior to filing any discrimination claim in civil court, whether it’s based on a violation of Florida’s Civil Rights Act of 1992, or the Federal Title VII, an employee must first file a complaint with either the Florida Commission on Human Relations, or the EEOC.  With regard to the EEOC, a Charge of Discrimination must be filed within 180 days of the occurrence of the discriminatory act.  However, the time limit can be extended to 300 days if a State or local agency enforces a law that prohibits employment discrimination on the same basis.  To start your claim with the EEOC, you can call 1-800-669-4000, and submit some basic information to the EEOC.  If you don’t want to call, you could complete an online assessment, print the Intake Questionnaire, and bring it or mail it to your local EEOC field office.   (The information for the Miami District office can be viewed here.)  Finally, you can send a letter to the EEOC containing the information listed here.   After receiving your letter, the EEOC may respond by sending you an official EEOC charge form.

After you file a claim with the EEOC, your claim may go into a mediation process, pursuant to which the EEOC tries to reach a settlement.  If no settlement is reached, the EEOC will likely attempt to quickly dispose of your claim based on untimeliness or lack of jurisdiction, or an inability to determine whether discrimination occurred.  If your claim is dismissed, you will be notified by the EEOC, and you’ll be free to commence a lawsuit in court.  If the EEOC decides to investigate your charge rather than dismissing it, witnesses will likely be contacted, and documents may be reviewed.  As with all government processes, EEOC investigations can take time.  Be prepared to wait up to 6 months for the investigation to be complete.  An EEOC mediation generally moves a little quicker, and may be concluded within 3 months.

If the EEOC finds that no discrimination occurred, you should receive a Notice-of-Right-to-Sue, which allows you to then file a claim in court, if you so choose.  If the EEOC finds that discrimination occurred, the EEOC may try to reach a settlement.  If a settlement can’t be reached, the EEOC may refer the case to its attorneys at the Department of Justice, who will then decide whether the EEOC will file a lawsuit.  If the attorneys decide not to file suit, the EEOC should send you a Notice-of-Right-to-Sue indicating that you have the right to file your own suit, so long as you do so within 90 days.

Florida’s administrative process is similar to that of the EEOC.  If you choose to file your claim with the Florida Commission on Human Relations, you’ll need to complete a TAQ (Technical Assistance Questionnaire), available here.  Be sure to file your claim within 365 days of the alleged violation.  Generally,  you can call, write, or visit the Commission on Human Relations to discuss the discriminatory acts with an Intake Counselor.  The Commission on Human Relations will then share the information with the EEOC pursuant to a worksharing agreement.  Most complaints lodged with Florida’s Commission on Human Relations are dual-filed with the EEOC.

Pursuant to Florida section 760.11(3), the Commission on Human Relations has 180 days (6 months) to determine whether there is reasonable cause to find discrimination.  If the Commission fails to act within the 180 day limit, the Commission is deemed to have found no reasonable cause.  If the Commission finds no reasonable cause, you can contest that finding by requesting a hearing within 35 days.  However, if the Commission determines that there is reasonable cause to believe that discrimination occurred, you can either file a civil action in court, or request an administrative hearing.  But be warned: according to Florida section 760.11(4), your selection of either the civil action or administrative hearing is your final remedy.  Be sure to consult Florida section 760.11(6) through (13) for more details on the administrative hearing.  A flowchart of Florida’s administrative process can also be found here.

Filed under Age Discrimination, Disability Discrimination, Harassment, Pregnancy Discrimination, Religious Discrimination, Sex Discrimination Tagged with , , ,

The EEOC Takes Aggressive Stance by Filing Four Discrimination Suits in Two Days

August 30, 2011

Attorneys who practice in the area of employment discrimination may be interested to know that the EEOC homepage shows that the Commission has filed four discrimination suits in the last two days.  In the cases, the EEOC asserts claims of religious discrimination, disability discrimination, and employer retaliation against various companies, including our country’s second largest automaker, Ford Motor Company.

In the case against SITA Information Networking Computing USA, Inc., an Atlanta air transport communications company allegedly discriminated against an employee by rescinding an offer of employment after learning that the newly hired employee would need accommodations because of cancer surgery.  As noted by the EEOC, shortly after accepting the offer of employment, the employee learned of her cancer diagnosis, and requested to have her start date moved.  The employee also requested permission to work part-time for the first two weeks.  In response, the employer rescinded the employment  offer.  According to Robert Dawkins, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Atlanta District Office, the “suit is being filed to ensure that employers understand that they have an obligation, short of incurring undue hardship, to provide a reasonable accommodation to employees.”

In the case against The Patty Tipton Company, a Lexington, Kentucky, Staffing Agency, the EEOC asserts that the agency refused to hire a job applicant because she insisted on wearing a long skirt, and refused to wear pants, for religious reasons.  The woman applied for a temporary position at the World Equestrian Games, and was denied the position after requesting her religious accommodation.  She was subsequently hired by another company that had no problem with her request for the religious accommodation at the World Equestrian Games.

In its case against Ford Motor Company, the EEOC alleges that instead of allowing an employee to participate in its telecommuting program as a reasonable accommodation for her medical condition, Ford began to criticize the employee’s performance, placed her on a “performance enhancement plan,” and then discharged her only months after she complained about being denied an accommodation.  According to the EEOC, “[f]ailing  to offer a reasonable accommodation to an employee and then discharging her under these circumstances is a clear violation of the ADA.”

Finally, the EEOC sued Pine View Living, Inc., an assisted living facility in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for retaliation.  According to the EEOC, a resident assistant filed a complaint with the facility, stating that she had been discriminated against on the basis of race.  She was thereafter fired.  At the time it filed the case, the EEOC stated that “Federal law protects the right of employees to complain when they believe they have been the victims of employment discrimination . . . Here, the EEOC contends that Ms. Anderson was doing what she had a right to do, but Pine View chose to punish her rather than to fix the underlying problem.”

Filed under Disability Discrimination, Employment Rights, Religious Discrimination, Retaliation and Whistleblower Laws, Unlawful or Wrongful Termination Tagged with , , ,

The Disabled Have a Right to Get Drunk Too!

August 19, 2011

An ADA “tester” has filed an ADA suit against the Elbo Room in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, claiming that the bar fails to provide things such as level flooring and adequate seating for disabled customers.  For a short link to the article in the Sun Sentinel, click here.

Not to take away from the serious nature of any violations of the ADA, but I just couldn’t resist passing this along on a Friday afternoon.  In my time as an Assistant State Attorney in Broward County, the Elbo Room was responsible for a ton of DUI cases!

Filed under Disability Discrimination Tagged with , , , ,

ADA Term “Substantially Limits” Gets Redefined

July 22, 2011

In March of 2011, the EEOC published new regulations that serve to implement the ADA Amendments Act of 2008.   The Amendments were enacted in response to court rulings which had the effect of denying coverage to those whom Congress had intended to protect.  (See the EEOC statement regarding the purpose of the Amendments here).  For those attorneys who practice under the ADA, you may wish to review an article written by Robert J. Baror which appears in the July 2011 edition of The Federal Lawyer.

Filed under Disability Discrimination Tagged with , , , ,

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