- Within 10 days of an employee's filing a claim of discrimination with the EEOC, the employer receives a "notice of charge" that details the allegations. During this time the EEOC continues to review the allegations and may decide to dismiss the charge without an investigation. The EEOC will dismiss a charge if it is not the appropriate agency to handle the charge. Also, if the charge appears to lack any basis in fact, the EEOC may choose to dismiss it without an investigation. If a charge is dismissed before investigation, the charging party will be issued a "right to sue" letter, which allows her to bring a lawsuit against the employer in court.
- Before the charge is assigned to an EEOC investigator, both parties to the charge will be contacted and offered the option of mediation. If both parties (charging party and employer) agree, a mediation will be scheduled with a trained mediator. The mediation is free and usually lasts from three to four hours. All parties to the charge should attend, and attorneys are allowed to be present during the mediation conference. The mediator will attempt to reach a resolution to the charge. If a resolution is not reached during the mediation, the charge will be assigned to an EEOC investigator.
- The EEOC investigator will investigate the charge using methods such as interviewing witnesses, reviewing personnel files, analyzing documents and statistics, and conducting visits to the employer's work site. An investigation takes an average of 182 days to complete, depending on the complexity of the charge and how quickly the information is received. Once the investigation is completed, the EEOC investigator informs the charging party and the employer of the results. If the investigator finds that there is "reasonable cause" to believe the allegations in the charge are true, a settlement between the parties is attempted. If the investigator does not find reasonable cause, then the charging party is issued a "right to sue" letter, which allows him to bring a lawsuit against the employer in court.
- The United States Code requires that EEOC attempt to informally resolve a charge where there is reasonable cause to believe that discrimination has taken place. The EEOC investigator, after informing both parties of the outcome, will work with the employee (charging party) to resolve the charge and find an appropriate remedy. Appropriate remedies are those that will put the employee in the same position she would have been in had the discrimination not occurred. For example, if a person was terminated from her job for discriminatory reasons, the appropriate remedy would be reinstatement to her position with back pay.
Punitive damages are considered for those situations where the discrimination was malicious and reckless. There are limits to compensatory and punitive damages, which are based upon the size of the employer. Both parties must agree to the settlement; when agreement is reached, a contract is signed. If both parties do not agree to the settlement, the case is referred to the EEOC attorneys for legal action against the employer. - Not all cases that are referred to the attorneys result in a lawsuit. The attorneys consider various factors when deciding which cases are appropriate for lawsuit. Considerations include the type of legal issues, the impact on workplace discrimination efforts, and the seriousness of the violations. If a lawsuit is not filed in a case that is referred for legal action, the charging party will be issued a "right to sue" letter.
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