John is an employee in a private sector organization. He wants to file a discrimination complaint against his employer on the basis that his employer passed him up for a promotion due to his age. This paper will explain how the discrimination process works and how the complaint begins 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.
Discrimination Complaint and EEOC
John is over 40 years old and has worked for a local law firm for the last 25 years. Recently, the organization forced John as well as other individuals out of the organization based on a mandatory retirement policy that the organization has been practicing since the late 1970's. According to the EEOC, (2005) "The Age Discrimination in Employment Act makes it unlawful for employers to discriminate against any individual with respect to employment because of such individual's age" (p.
English: William H. Brown, chairman of EEOC
John H Powell Jr, chairman of EEOC
Clifford J. Alexander Jr chairman of EEOC 19671).
The first step that John needs to take is to contact the EEOC and file a complaint of discrimination. The EEOC "is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1964 to eradicate discrimination in employment" (EEOC website). Employers are prohibited from discriminating employees' based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, retaliation, age, and disability (EEOC). This office has the ability to investigate allegations of discrimination against organizations that have a specific number of employees working for them.
Once John has contacted his local EEOC office, a representative will screen him, in order to determine if the law enforced by EEOC covers his experiences. The representative will ask questions about his allegations, the evidence that is available to support this allegation, and jurisdiction (whether the charge was filed in a timely manner, and the employer and discrimination matter are...