I live in Florida with my boyfriend who is African-American. He worked at an ac place for a month and a half. He overheard his boss calling African-Americans ******s, he insinuated a client of his did not want him working at her house because he was a "******" and he was terminated for inquiring why his hours were not paid for on his time sheet. Now he is sueing through the Civil Rights and he recieved some papers in the mail about mediation. He does not have a lawyer, we cannot afford it so I am wondering how much should he settle for if they decide to settle out of court. If not, what is the next step? Please let me know thank you for your help!
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Please help me, need advice asap on racist employer
- Thread starter ajmann
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BelizeBreeze
Senior Member
How the hell should we know what he should settle for? If, in fact, he will have the right to sue for monitary damages.
You're getting waaaay ahead of yourself. This is less a civil rights issue than a Department of Labor issue.
You're getting waaaay ahead of yourself. This is less a civil rights issue than a Department of Labor issue.
too late now...
What are monitary damages? I know less about the law than anyone so I don't know what we have gotten ourselves into but I guess we are going into mediation now. In addition to that, he has already called the attorneys for Civil Rights and they did tell him that he was discriminated against and that he does have a case. I just wanted to know what was going to happen next and what to do at a mediation. Thanks for your time and advice.
What are monitary damages? I know less about the law than anyone so I don't know what we have gotten ourselves into but I guess we are going into mediation now. In addition to that, he has already called the attorneys for Civil Rights and they did tell him that he was discriminated against and that he does have a case. I just wanted to know what was going to happen next and what to do at a mediation. Thanks for your time and advice.
so why didn't the lawyers take the case?ajmann said:
what your BF should have done is calculate how much he is owed in unpaid wages and written a demand letter to his former employer. if they didn't respond to that letter, then he could have gone to the department of labor for assistance in getting his unpaid wages.
Lawyers taking the case
Well we are working with someone in the Lee County Clerk of Court who is mediating between us and the lawyers in Miami who decide if they are going to represent him. But the gentleman who is in the Clerk of Court is responsible for taking down the information, recording his claim, and submitting it to the Civil Rights people and they make their decision based on that. The latest thing we have recieved is papers regarding mediation and settling with a mediator rather than going to the next step. I don't know anything about mediation or if we need a lawyer for that and if we decide to represent ourselves, I just don't want this company to take advantage of him again. I don't want to go in there without knowing what to expect. He signed the papers and returned it to the Clerk of Court and there was also a place for his former employer to sign. That is where we are now. I was wondering what to expect at this point. Thank you for your time and your advice is welcome.
Well we are working with someone in the Lee County Clerk of Court who is mediating between us and the lawyers in Miami who decide if they are going to represent him. But the gentleman who is in the Clerk of Court is responsible for taking down the information, recording his claim, and submitting it to the Civil Rights people and they make their decision based on that. The latest thing we have recieved is papers regarding mediation and settling with a mediator rather than going to the next step. I don't know anything about mediation or if we need a lawyer for that and if we decide to represent ourselves, I just don't want this company to take advantage of him again. I don't want to go in there without knowing what to expect. He signed the papers and returned it to the Clerk of Court and there was also a place for his former employer to sign. That is where we are now. I was wondering what to expect at this point. Thank you for your time and your advice is welcome.
cbg
I'm a Northern Girl
For the record, your civil rights claim is weak at best.
It is not illegal to be a racist. It is only illegal to make employment decisions based on race, or to create a hostile work environment on the basis of an employee's race. Your boyfriend was not fired, demoted, or even harassed on account of his race; he overheard one conversation in which racist comments were made (which is NOT sufficient to create a hostile work environment) and at most it was insinuated that the client did not want him there. If you have provided us with all the facts, no one acted on the clients' views, even assuming that the client actually said such a thing.
Terming him for inquiring about his hours may or may not have been illegal depending on the specific details; however, Florida has very weak wage and hour laws. If I recall Florida statutes correctly, unless he inquired IN WRITING AND gave the employer sufficient time to correct the situation, then an internal complaint is not protected under state whistleblower laws. His case would have been FAR stronger had he made his complaint to the state DOL; it's definitely illegal to fire someone for filing a complaint with a regulatory agency - it's not necessarily illegal to fire someone for complaining internally. And, of course, this is a completely separate issue from the civil rights claim - on the basis of what you have posted there is no overlap whatsoever.
Just something to keep in mind during the mediation.
It is not illegal to be a racist. It is only illegal to make employment decisions based on race, or to create a hostile work environment on the basis of an employee's race. Your boyfriend was not fired, demoted, or even harassed on account of his race; he overheard one conversation in which racist comments were made (which is NOT sufficient to create a hostile work environment) and at most it was insinuated that the client did not want him there. If you have provided us with all the facts, no one acted on the clients' views, even assuming that the client actually said such a thing.
Terming him for inquiring about his hours may or may not have been illegal depending on the specific details; however, Florida has very weak wage and hour laws. If I recall Florida statutes correctly, unless he inquired IN WRITING AND gave the employer sufficient time to correct the situation, then an internal complaint is not protected under state whistleblower laws. His case would have been FAR stronger had he made his complaint to the state DOL; it's definitely illegal to fire someone for filing a complaint with a regulatory agency - it's not necessarily illegal to fire someone for complaining internally. And, of course, this is a completely separate issue from the civil rights claim - on the basis of what you have posted there is no overlap whatsoever.
Just something to keep in mind during the mediation.
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