Your job may be fulfilling and lucrative, giving you a strong sense of identity and purpose. Other times, it may simply be an avenue for moving you forward in life to what you really want to do.
Regardless of how you view your job, you should never be the victim of those who create a hostile or negative work environment through discrimination.
Attorney Shelly Leeke describes what discrimination is and how to prove discrimination at work. It’s important to understand how a South Carolina employer discrimination lawyer can protect your rights to seek justice against those who violate state and federal laws.
Laws Governing Discrimination at Work
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is responsible for enforcing multiple laws designed to protect people in the workplace, during public interactions, and when seeking housing.
Specifically, at your job, it is illegal for other individuals to discriminate against you. Over the last few decades, the federal government has outlawed unfair treatment based on the following factors:
- Your age (40 or older)
- Your disability status
- Your genetic information or family medical history
- Your military status
- Your national origin
- Your pregnancy status
- Your race or skin color
- Your religion
- Your sexual orientation or gender identity
Employers, managers, supervisors, and hiring personnel cannot use any of these traits in their decision-making about your employment. Anti-discrimination law applies throughout the employment process, from your application review until you leave the company. Likewise, companies cannot retaliate against you for reporting discrimination or taking legal action.
At a state level, the South Carolina Human Affairs Law prevents discrimination for these same factors. The South Carolina Human Affairs Commission (SCHAC) works closely with the EEOC to hold violators accountable.
An experienced employment discrimination attorney in South Carolina can explain how these laws apply to your case and how to seek justice.
How does the Law Define Discrimination?
Under federal and state law, employment discrimination is specifically defined as when employers refuse to hire, promote, or retain employees based on protected class descriptions.
It also applies to situations where the employer is aware of unfair or discriminatory treatment by employees and fails to address the situation. Discrimination can involve any of the following:
- Unfair treatment
- Harassment
- Denying a reasonable workplace change or accommodation for your religion or disability
- Improper questions about your marital status, pregnancy status, genetic information, or medical information
- Retaliating against you if you initiate a discrimination complaint or legal action
It can be difficult to prove employer discrimination without direct evidence, making it challenging to bring a successful claim. For example, suppose a disabled person is performing better than another employee who was promoted.
The disabled person may have a valid discrimination case if they can show documentation of how they met the requirements for promotion and how the poorer-performing employee was chosen instead.
What You Need to Prove Discrimination at Work
In some instances, you may be unsure whether a behavior or change in your work environment rises to the level of discrimination. Other times, it may be very clear.
Your employment discrimination lawyer will examine your case and help you understand when something crosses the line and how to prepare your claim.
It’s vital that your case focuses on the facts and presents as much concrete evidence as possible. While you may experience a range of emotions, such as fear, discomfort, objectification, or anger, what matters is showing documentation of how you have been wronged.
Some recommendations for collecting and preparing this evidence include:
- As soon as you suspect discrimination has occurred, write down what happened to you in detail, describing the discriminatory actions, when they happened, who committed them, who witnessed them, and any other relevant information.
- Describe how the actions or unfair treatment relate to a protected class, such as your gender, race, religion, etc.
- Gather all documentation showing how you were treated unfairly, such as performance reviews, memos, emails, and other items related to the acts.
- If possible, collect proof showing how other employees were treated differently and more fairly in similar instances.
- Obtain copies of your employer’s policies so you can show how the discrimination violates those policies.
Your employment attorney can review this material and advise you on anything else you need to file your complaint and begin your case. For both the SCHAC and the EEOC, you must file your charge within 180 days of the alleged violation. If you wait too long, you could lose your right to seek justice under federal and state discrimination laws.
The Legal Process for Proving Employment Discrimination
Once you believe discrimination has occurred, speak with a skilled employment discrimination lawyer to begin building your claim. They can assess your case and help you collect the evidence you need. They will also assist you with filing an employment claim with either the EEOC or the SCHAC.
You must file your claim within 180 days of when the action occurred, although you may have up to 300 days in some circumstances. The SCHAC and EEOC will coordinate their efforts, so you only need to report to one agency.
The agency will review your claim and determine whether it requires more information to proceed, which your lawyer can help you address.
The agency notifies the employer of the charge within 10 days, and the employer must respond with a Position Statement within 20 days after that.
The governing agency investigates the instance and issues a ruling on whether the case can proceed. It may encourage the parties to settle the matter through mediation, but you can request a “right to sue” letter allowing you to take your case to court.
Taking Your Discrimination Case to Trial
Your case may “go to trial” in one of two ways. If the EEOC or SCHAC decides to hear your case, you and your lawyer will appear before a panel of agency members in a trial setting to present your evidence against the employer. The employer will also present their side, and the agency panel will render a decision.
If the decision is against your claim, you can then move to file your case in the appropriate circuit court, and your employer will be served with papers notifying them of the case.
They must answer within 20 days, and the case will proceed in the same manner as any other civil action. The two sides may negotiate a settlement at any time until the case is handed to the jury for a decision.
Don’t Face Discrimination at Work Alone
When you are able to prove discrimination at work, you can seek damages, paying for your lost wages, damage to your reputation, and other losses.
You can also ask to be rehired, reinstated at your original position, or even receive punitive damages against a grossly negligent employer. Regardless of your discrimination case details, the highly skilled lawyers of Shelly Leeke are ready to be at your side.
Contact us today to arrange a free consultation and learn more about how we can support your claim and secure the justice you deserve.
