Retaliation?

[apishapa]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CO

A few yeas ago I filed a gender discrimination against my employer because I wasn't given a promotion that I felt I was the most qualified for. Younger, less qualified man got it. I was able to demonstrate a history of this and the CCRD found in my favor. I settled for a promotion and some cash. But I had to transfer to another town. Since very few cases like this win, it should be apparent they were really obvious in their preference for men. THEY WERE REALLY MAD AT ME. And still are I guess.

I have applied for a couple of transfers since, and never gotten one. But that was a horrible experience and I don't really want to go through it again. Last spring I applied for a position, and the changed the job classification so that I was not eligible. Prior to that I was told that in a meeting a statement was made that they had to do something because the only qualified applicant was me. Now I applied for a position that I'm pretty sure I am the most qualified for in the entire organization. Didn't get it. I am pretty mad. Younger, less qualified man again.

I could apply for the position he is vacating, but that would be a lateral move without a raise probably. If they didn't give me that one I would have an air tight case against them because that is my old job. They changed the classification to a higher level after I left. ****ty move. No one in the state is more qualified than me for that job. I did it for 13 years. I would be back in my home town, and would save $1000/month because I still own my house there. I rent up here. Also another guy is retiring from that office next moth and unless they make it a PE job, I would be very well qualified for that one. That one would be a promotion.

So my question is this: Should I go ahead and file a retaliation suit on this position, even though it might affect my ability to get one of those other positions. Or should I wait and see what they do? It is important to decide because I only have 10 days from the time the date I was notified to file a complaint with HR. I have to do that before I can file with CCRD.

If I remember right, if I don't file on this one, I cannot bring it up if they do it again. If I didn't complain about it, it didn't happen. This is a state position, and some of the rules are different than other jobs. I'm hesitant because of those other jobs. Also, I am thinking about just asking to supervisor of that position what the reasoning was in selecting him over me. Should I do that?

 

[commentator]

Is this state government with civil service or a contractor for state government? It sounds as though you are moving inside the state's system. As such, with civil service. You are pretty much "termination proof" at this point in your career. You filed your complaint with CCRD. You filed a complaint, it was found valid, and you were given a bit of cash settlement and a promotion by your department, correct?

You filed this complaint against your department, you prevailed and you find yourself very unpopular at work now, almost poisonous. That's not uncommon in state government, from my experience. They can't, so easily as private enterprise can, trump up a reason to get rid of you. But they don't exactly love you now.

The problem is, being unpopular is very hard to define and show a pattern of and file a grievance about. That someone was in a meeting and heard it said that they "had to do something, because the only applicant they had for this position was you" is very possibly true, but it would be almost impossible to prove. I suspect really strongly that the person who told you this would rather be hung, drawn and quartered than to testify in any legal action about this being said.

You might want to talk to the discrimination people again and get their take on just what it would take to show retaliation in this situation.

Let's see. You applied for a position last spring...and you're just now finding out you weren't hired? So you're considering applying for the job he vacated. And filing another suit? If you don't get that job, or right now?

They moved you for the new position. You really sound like you'd be much better off in the job there at your old place, where you still have a residence, even without another raise.

Perhaps you could negotiate for that one. I might consider speaking to someone in your departmental HR or the state's HR department about your not being hired on the job you had applied for (within the window of time to complain, of course).

I really doubt that talking to him would help, because I doubt the particular supervisor who helped select this other person would be perfectly frank with you about why this person was hired instead of you. But he won't be selecting the next one will he? It will be someone else, and always overall management and departmental HR is involved.

I might let them know that you're disappointed that you were not hired, you feel you were the most qualified candidate for the job, that you've considered filing another grievance against them for retaliation, but that you are quite interested in getting the job back in your former town, or perhaps some other position in the future. A bit of negotiation perhaps. Remember, it's a big state, young and smart people are coming along all the time, and even if you did the job for many years, you may not always be the most tech savvy or best suited for it, you need to allow that. Be sure you don't threaten them or challenge them directly.

Frankly, if you go on and file one right now, I doubt you'll be able to prevail in a grievance/retaliation suit of this type twice. The second time it sounds a little like you're trying to force them to promote you because you file suits. And I'm sure they will have their justifications for hiring this other person much more in line than they had before.

I think you have very little to gain, either. You said it would hurt your chances of getting these other two jobs. Retaliation for filing the first suit is going to be much less easy to establish a pattern of than discrimination on the basis of sex or age was. It comes down to you've applied for some jobs and have not been given them.

You can't demand better treatment in regard to how the higher ups like you or want to give you promotional opportunities, or force them to give you future promotions as they arise.

But you could definitely do better with the job back in your town, or the one that is coming up later. I'd make them my goal, strive to divorce myself from any reputation you have acquired as a troublemaker. Try to be very professional and get along with your co-workers, even though they may be obviously biased against older women as opposed to younger men. In our state, younger people who are very politically well placed really have the advantage, regardless of sex.

Yes, they discriminate, but after a while, it becomes very tiring to always be fighting the system. It makes the daily job very tiresome to do. In every state I'm familiar with, working at a state government job as a career has some upsides, but this lack of professionalism in their hiring practices and a lot of jockeying for position is one of the downsides.