race discrimination

cowboyup2 · June 2003

I have an employee that quit for one reason and later is claiming race discrimination was the reason they quit. I did not even know this person was anything but caucasion. Doesn't an employer have a right to correct a situation like this before you are sued for it. The claim is being made through the EEOC in South Dakota. Their own evidence is only this persons claim. No one interviewed can say that they witnessed even one incidence yet they never said anything in the exit interview. Is this legal? What are my rights? Help!

Parabeagle · June 2003

Not only legal, but also far too common. Discrimination claims must first be filed with the EEOC and/or your state agency. After they have completed their investigation, then they will publish their findings and, regardless of what they actually found, the individual is issued a right-to-sue letter which permits them to file a lawsuit. If I'm not mistaken, they cannot file a lawsuit unless they have received the RTS letter from the EEOC/state agency. Your best bet is to gather all your documentation now and dig in. Good luck!

gillian2 · June 2003

To continue the response of Parabeagle - remember that when you get the charge from the agency, it will only have the employees side of the story. You will get to give yours as a response. No point in getting upset at what the employee says and the agency repeating it - that is their job, to act on complaints.

Rockie · June 2003

Don't get too upset about this. I have two sitting on my desk right now. I've found it doesn't matter how stupid, ridiculous,frivolous the case sounds, the state agency investigates it. Most of the time, they have pretty level headed investigators and if you have your documentation in place, they usually find for the employer. The claimant still gets a right to sue letter though, but the difference is the legal bills are out of his pocket.

In this case, what you should present is..

The letter of termination where this employee resigned citing why he was resigning, if he did submit one.

Any documentation of complaints, concerns, etc. that this person might have brought forward.

Any policy, handbook, etc. that you might have outlining what your reporting process is for an employee to bring issues of this type of the attention of the company.

If you have no complaints from this person, if you can at least show that you did have a reporting process and this individual did not take advantage of it, that will go a long way towards helping your case.

Good luck.

Shawn · June 2003

We were sued in federal court for discharging an african americam employee. She never filed anything with the EEOC. She skipped that step all together. No recourse though, she doesn't have to go there first. We settled out of court for a small amount to avoid the trouble.

cowboyup2 · June 2003

I appreciate the thoughts and advice. This person quit against my wishes and never said anything about this as an issue. Most of the staff never even knew she was in a protected class. If there was a lineup, you could not guess that this person had a ethnic background if your life depended on it. We are fighting this and hope to win. I still can not believe that Congress meant for it to be open market on businesses every time an employee could not perform a job. Strange world.

Dasher · June 2003

Whoa there Cowboy. . . Protections are in place for a reason and it is not always to make things difficult for employers and/or HR Professionals (although I admit I have felt put upon too from time to time). If you did not know that the employee is/was in a protected class then say so, along with the other documentation the other posters mentioned. Deal with the facts of the case.

Your postings are inconsistent in that you say on one hand that you did not want this employee to resign yet you end with "they can't do their job". Try very hard to take the personal annoyance out and deal with the facts of the case. You and the company will probably be alright but don't color all discrimination claims with the same brush. I have seen both sides of this issue and it is not always pretty.

cowboyup2 · June 2003

I do not mean to make it sound like I don't care. In the current climate you are guilty until you prove otherwise. I take employee rights very seriously and make sure they are always followed. Discrimination claims that I have been aware of end up being settled because of economics, not right or wrong of the situation. The EEOC wants me to offer back pay, benefits, semi-annual mandatory training for all my employees and we did nothing wrong. I can't imagine this person wanting to come back and do this job. I offered this person a position they had no skills in, trained them and even kept them on after they failed to meet the minimum expectations because I wanted to provide them a chance to get out of a low paying job. Outside influences ended up causing all the problems as to why they left this job. They did not last long at the next job because that company did not have as much interest in trying tomake them a success as I did. If I had followed my own policy of after 3months you either do the job or you are fired...I would not be in this position. I instead try to help and now someone is coaching to get this person some money. In South Dakota all you need to do is make an allegation and the state will find cause to either settle or take it to trial. So do you write a big check to your attorney for winning or do you write a smaller one to the employee to make it go away? Either way I am penalized and we did nothing wrong. That was my point.

Dasher · June 2003

and your point is well taken. I can certainly see the caring in your response. My mom always said -- if you are going to do a thing, make sure it is the right thing. I am sure you will make the correct decision. Take care.

race discrimination

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