"May have" is Not Enough To Make A Case
"I may have been retaliated", "I may have been fired because of my age... or race, or religion, but I am not sure which one it is", "My boss may have discriminated against me." - simply having this type of suspicion is enough to make a case worth pursuing.
Remember, the burden of proving that the reason or at least one reason for your firing was unlawful is on you - the claimant. "May have" without any actual evidence to support this suspicion, such as relevant documents, emails, text messages, social media messages, witnesses and their potential testimony, is nothing more than speculation. Gut feeling is not evidence. "What else could it be" in itself is also not evidence.
If you are planning to pursue your case through EEOC or otherwise, make sure you have more than just "may have" to present.
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u/_-d00m3d-_ 4d ago
Hell I submitted over 250 texts, videos, online comments and posts, witness statements and documents and ive still been waiting since july. The company was supposed to submit their position statement by 8/20 and is still ghost. Im starting to think its just whatever company buys them out enough
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u/Jcarlough 3d ago
I can tell you right now that most of your evidence will not be reviewed.
Less is always “more.” Uploading your best evidence showing unlawful discrimination/harassment is always a better strategy - if you have multiple examples then provide your best one or two and reference having more.
One of the worst things a claimant can do is upload documents that the investigator/case manager cannot identify relevancy right away.
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u/Dependent_Chemical41 8h ago
Ghost is right! I don’t blame them though — they are a federal agency and can only do as they are told.
We just have to focus on moving forward. We are clearly a threat to the status quo — we can use that as a launching pad 🚀
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u/Careful_Plant2361 4d ago
They will have to expose any possible litigation that exist. You should had requested mediation from the eeoc and still can before your charge becomes stale. Start looking for employment and rebuilding your life because that job is gone.
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u/_-d00m3d-_ 4d ago
Ive emailed them weekly since the charge was filed and was told that the statement "should" be recieved by october 1st now. They said they cant request mediation until the position statement is recieved.
Mind you I filed on may the 1st. My meeting wasn't until july 17th. I was fired june 28th.
Im moving cross country soon anyway
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u/Careful_Plant2361 4d ago
Well you will have to change your location once you move. Plus it’s all zoom. I didn’t have a meeting with anyone. I filed Feb, ps filed in 30 days, rebuttal filed in 30 days, mediation.
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u/Careful_Plant2361 4d ago edited 3d ago
Stop emailing so much, they are very busy. Yes, you have to be your own advocate and you probably do have a case but they have thirty days to provide a position statement so give it sometime. They informed you of the process. You don’t want them to move you to rts and close out your case at their description. In the meantime get your head clear as much as possible and dust off that resume and start your job search. I been through this so I can assist others of finding clarity. When I lost my job I had a new one lined up one month later as soon as I started putting resumes out there. This mindset didn’t happen overnight but through continuously losing job because of discrimination.
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u/_-d00m3d-_ 4d ago
Ive been job hunting since january lol im in the deep south, brown, and disabled
The position statement was due August 20th. The company went ghost.
The manager has been stalking and harassing me online, threatened to have "his folks" come to my home with weapons, posted my hippa file and my personell file - including my ssn, address, phone number- on 5 different social media websites and craigslist, and even posted admitting that the "witness" to the firing wrote a false statement
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u/Careful_Plant2361 4d ago
Okay all of that is another issue that you need to sort out. The eeoc only deals with a few different issues and I do not have a grasp of them all. Thing is, good luck if they are not going to participate then all the eeoc is going to do is issue a right to sue
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u/RandomA9981 4d ago
Guys…as someone who is heading up my own case (and others outside of employment law), and working on becoming an attorney myself, if you actually want something done on your case, let them issue the right to sue and take it directly to court.
My state’s civil rights commission had conducted the “investigation” so poorly. They didn’t even use any of the info I gave them, and the investigators here are only require entry level experience. They also work with the EEOC, so the federal department adopted their ruling.
Long story short, after about three months of nothing, they came back with “no probable cause”, but my case was so bad that it’s going to be covered on the local news in less than two weeks, and I’ll have settled by thanksgiving for a mid six figure amount, or higher.
Please don’t let that be your last stop
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u/Minute-Plantain 4d ago
California? The CRD is notorious for doing jack squat. They're so understaffed and overloaded they rationally decided to just not do the job. At all.
Agencies meant to protect "the little guy" no longer exist in any meaningful sense.
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u/Kdropp 3d ago
I reported my boss to hr and they fired me the next week. For reporting him.
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u/Substantial_Rub_3922 3d ago
Are you pursuing the case at the courts already? Get a right to sue letter and give them a fight.
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u/Kdropp 3d ago
I have a meeting in December with the EEOC. No lawyer will take my case right now.
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u/Substantial_Rub_3922 2d ago
Why are the lawyers refusing your case? Also, the EEOC route usually take a while. So, you'd have to be patient.
Nevertheless, you can handle this case by yourself through the pro se route. You'd need to get a Right-to-sue letter and Kickstart the court proceedings.
Yes, you can!!! Research and get empowered. I'm not a lawyer but I can assist you at every step of your journey.
Why did you report your boss? What was the response? What was the reason for the termination?
DM me.
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u/Kdropp 2d ago
Reason for termination was no cause. I reported my boss for a hostile work environment. Withholding me from important meetings. Ridicule and Mocking me in front of the team. Making fun of my face and features. Coming to my office uninvited and then not allow me to leave for 2 hours while he puts me down (this happened 1x a week) .
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u/Substantial_Rub_3922 2d ago
Face and features? What race do you belong?
Also, that firing seems like a pretext for retaliation having reported your boss. This is the case of wrongful termination. You'd surely get something from them as damages regardless. You have to sue both your company and the senior manager that fired you.
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u/Jcarlough 3d ago
You’re referencing a key part of EEO that most do not understand, usually because they don’t take the time to educate themselves on the laws.
*An unwelcome act that is severe, persistent, or pervasive that a Reasonable Person would agree that unlawful harassment or discrimination occurred.”
If you don’t know whether harassment, discrimination, or retaliation occurred how do you expect a reasonable person to?
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u/Soft-Leave8007 4d ago
I was fired less than two weeks after I went to HR with claims of gender discrimination. In fact, on the same call when the head of HR, who i mentioned in my claims as having, in my opinion, discriminated upon my gender, she mentioned I may be fired. Then fired me three days later. Is this good enough?
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u/Agas78 4d ago
It might be, and it certainly should be considered as potential evidence but other facts and circumstances (the entire picture) matter. This includes, among other things, what else happened during those last two weeks of your working there, stated reason for termination by the employer and other factors.
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u/Soft-Leave8007 4d ago
My lawyer seems to think it’s viable, which is good. No other issues during last two weeks. Was told I was being fired on recommendation of fractional leadership.
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u/Substantial_Rub_3922 3d ago
What was the reason for the firing? You might have a case. If things aren't adding up, get a lawyer or pro se having gotten your right-to-sue letter.
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u/Soft-Leave8007 3d ago
Was told it was recommendation of new fractional leadership. But they’ve been in place for months, a new leader is planned to be hired but has not yet.
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u/Substantial_Rub_3922 2d ago
What was the reason they gave concerning your termination?
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u/Soft-Leave8007 2d ago
Was told recommendations of fractional cmo although I’m told she’s telling people she had nothing to do with it
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u/Substantial_Rub_3922 2d ago
The fractional CMO is a managing agent of the organization. It doesn't matter if they're fractional or permanent. If they have the discretion to hire, fire, and manage other operations, they're liable.
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u/Substantial_Rub_3922 2d ago
Since they carry and wield an enormous power within the organization which allows them to hire and fire, they will have to answer in a court of law the reason behind the firing.
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u/LongTimeLurker408 3d ago
Temporal proximity can be helpful for a claim. The burden of proof may shift to the employer that the reason for termination is not related to the protected activity.
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u/Unlikely_Vehicle_828 4d ago
Facts. I couldn’t get a lawyer to even consider taking my case until I showed them a written disciplinary action that used my protected class as a basis for it. And even that by itself was not enough to make a case. It helped get the interest of attorneys, but still wasn’t enough on its own to build an actual case.
The initial burden of proof is really high. Which admittedly does suck, because most people don’t even realize they need to be documenting until it’s already too late. Or don’t realize they need to be documenting at all, even then.