Dealing with an EEOC Complaint or DETR Complaint response causes headaches and anxiety for businesses.  Please contact Blatnik Law, LLC to discuss the merits of hiring Blatnik Law, LLC to prepare your Respondent Position Statement.

What is an EEOC Complaint?  An EEOC complaint is a charge filed by an employee or former employee against an employer or former employer with the U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission regarding various grounds relating to discrimination.  

Who can file an EEOC Complaint?  Any employee, former employee, or prospective employee that was not hired due to a discriminatory reason may file an EEOC Complaint.

Are there time limits for an EEOC complaint? Yes, generally the claimant has 180 days from the date of the discrimination in order to file the charge.  See https://www.eeoc.gov/time-limits-filing-charge

Oh NO!  My company just received a Notice of Charge from the EEOC!  What do I do?  First and foremost, take a deep breath.   Contact counsel.  Make sure that your human resources records are complete and accurate.  Conduct an internal investigation, if one has not already been completed.  Assist your counsel in preparing the Respondent Position Statement.  Upload the Respondent Position statement to the EEOC Respondent Online Portal. Ideally, you already have a good relationship with a business attorney so that the attorney is familiar with your business and able to guide you through the process.  If you do not have a business attorney, please consider contacting Blatnik Law, LLC to discuss the benefits of a relationship with business counsel rather than attempting to find a business attorney after a legal problem occurs.  

I believe my company discriminated against me.  How do I file an EEOC Complaint?   Nevada facilitates employees, former employees, or potential employees with discrimination claims by allowing claims to be filed online, over the phone, facsimile, email, and US mail.  For additional information see https://detr.nv.gov/Page/File_a_Charge_of_Discrimination

What constitutes discrimination claim?  In order to prevail upon his discrimination claim, the claimant must prove that (1) s/he belongs to a protected class (2) s/he was qualified for the position in question (3) s/he was subject to adverse action and (4) similarly situated individuals outside his/er protected class were treated more favorably. See, Chuang v. Univ. Cal. Davis, 225 F.3d 1115, 1123 (9th Cir. 2000).  

What are the protected classes?  For Nevada, the protected classes are race, color, religion, sect, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity or expression, age (40 and older), disability or national origin. See, Dennis v. Nevada, 282 F. Supp. 2d 1177, at 1181 (D. Nev. 2003); Switzer v. Rivera, 174 F. Supp. 2d 1097 (D. Nev. 2001); Wolber v. Service Corp. Int’l, 612 F. Supp. 235 (D. Nev. 1985), and NRS §613.330   Federal law protects the following classes: Race, Color, Religion or creed, National origin or ancestry, Sex, Age, Physical or mental disability, Veteran status, Genetic information, and Citizenship.  Note that at the time of writing this, Federal Law does not include sexual orientation as a protected class.  

What is an adverse action?  An adverse employment action is any action that decreases the income or responsibilities of an employee.  Examples include failure to hire a qualified candidate, failure to promote a qualified candidate, transfer of employee to a position with less potential for future advancement, transfer of an employee to a position with fewer responsibilities, transfer of an employee to a position with less income, and termination of an employee.  Additional examples of adverse action exist.  Please feel free to schedule an initial consultation with Blatnik Law, LLC to discuss additional actions that may consist of adverse employment actions.

What are my duties an employer to prevent discrimination?  Employers must enforce and maintain appropriate anti-discrimination policies and procedures.  Employers must provide adequate reporting means for reporting and eliminating discrimination from the workplace.  Employers may not be willfully blind.  Employer must maintain safe workplaces.  Generally speaking, the higher up the chain of command the discriminator is, the greater the liability of the employer relating to the discriminator's actions.  

What is a hostile work environment?  hostile work environment is a workplace in which unwelcome comments or conduct based on gender, race, nationality, religion, disability, sexual orientation, age, or other legally protected characteristics unreasonably interfere with an employee’s work performance or create an intimidating or offensive work environment for the employee who is being harassed. This conduct can severely diminish an employee’s productivity and self-esteem both in and out of the workplace.   A hostile work environment is created when anyone in a workplace commits this type of harassment, including a co-worker, a supervisor or manager, a contractor, client, vendor, or visitor.   In addition to the person who is directly harassed, other employees who are impacted by the harassment (by hearing or viewing it) are also considered victims. They too might find the work environment intimidating or hostile, and it might affect their work performance. In this way, bullies and harassers can affect many more people than just the targeted employee. 

                     Please call (702) 996-1123 to schedule a consultation to discuss your workplace concerns!