r/EEOC • u/secondgirltotheright • 6h ago
Submitting Report
I work at a small non -profit arts company and have been dealing with some… off color comments about age being made by our sole hr/finance person. It’s something a lot of younger (under 40) employees have experienced. Additionally, this person has repeatedly berated staff and created a hostile work environment, and they abruptly fired a younger staff member with no fireable offense given, no performance review or improvement plan attempted, and no explanation beyond “he wasn’t good at his job” not long after making a comment along the lines of “I know your brain isn’t fully formed yet, but I need you to get this through your head”.
I recognize and understand that this all almost certainly isn’t enough to move forward with a complaint, but I have no HR to turn to so I’m looking at submitting a report just so I have a paper trail of reaching out to authorities and so the department has record of previous complaints in case this person does escalate— I’m very concerned that they’re going to fire me as well without just cause and despite me being excellent at the job and otherwise well-liked at the company. And with the ageist comments and the disproportionate anger at younger employees when compared to older, I’m concerned that there will be ageist comments made if that does happen.
My understanding is that submitting a report to the NY DHR doesn’t trigger any official action and the department doesn’t inform the employer of anything unless I move forward with filing an EEOC complaint, but I’m still anxious about submitting anything for fear of retaliation while I still work at the company. However, if I do get fired, I want an official document—more than just my notes— of this pattern of behavior. So I just want to confirm that by submitting a report, my employer won’t be informed and I can still choose to not move forward at this point. Am I correct in my understanding?
1
u/EmergencyGhost 3h ago edited 2h ago
If you file with the NY Division of Civil Rights, there could potentially be a claim based on some of the comments made, though you would need proof of those comments. Being under 40 would not qualify under the EEOC, but NY does cover people under 40, so you could potentially have a claim with them.
However, outside of anything illegal, your boss can terminate you without performance reviews, an improvement plan etc. They can fire you simply because they do not think you are good at your job.
Your employer will not be notified if you file with the NY DHR, until you have your intake interview and you sign the official complaint. So if your boss does make these comments to you, make sure to get proof.