Do I need to file a charge with the EEOC and get a right to sue letter?

[Vettechmnm]

Florida
I was shorted almost $2000 in my first paycheck and was after I questioned it I was told that my check was correct. I was paid a total of $184 for almost 100 hours so I was paid less than $3 an hour. My employer fired me in retaliation immediately after I stated for that I would hire an attorney to recover my wages. I read that retaliation was considered a form of discrimination I was told that I did not need to file a charge with the EEOC or obtain a right to sue letter for this type of.retaliation but I wanted to ask here to confirm that that is, in fact, correct. Please advise and thank you for your time.

 

[Taxing Matters]

The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is an agency that enforces the federal laws that prohibit employers with at least 15 employees from discriminating against employees on the basis of race, color, national origin, citizenship, religion, sex, age (if the employee is at least age 40), disability, and genetic test information. In short, it enforces the federal laws regarding illegal discrimination by employers. It is also illegal for an employer to retaliate against an employee for enforcing his/her rights with respect to illegal discrimination.

Your situation does not involve illegal discrimination. So the EEOC has nothing to do with this. Instead, your problem is that you allege a violation of the minimum wage laws. Those issues are handled by the federal Department of Labor (DOL). You may file a complaint with the DOL and it might help you get the wages you are owed (at least up to minimum wage). But you are not required to do that. You may also simply sue the employer for the wages that are owed to you.

It is also illegal under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FSLA) to retaliate against an employee for taking steps to enforce his/her rights under the FSLA. The FSLA is the law that, among other things, sets the federal minimum wage and overtime rules. However, courts are split on whether an informal (verbal) complaint to an employer is a protected activity that gives you protection should the employer retaliate against you for doing it. What this means is that you'd need to consult an employment law attorney in your state to see if you might have a good case to sue for a FSLA retaliation case. Again, though, you don't need to first get a right to sue letter from DOL to pursue a retaliation case. Note that there are a variety of potential remedies for the FSLA retaliation charge, including getting reinstated to your job, back wages, front wages, etc. In addition, if you win the court must award you your legal fees, too.

 

[quincy]

For reference purposes only, here is a link to Vettechmnm's other thread:
https://forum.freeadvice.com/threads/can-i-be-sued-for-defamation-for-sharing-on-facebook.656596/

 

[Vettechmnm]

Thank you for your response and for explaining it so clearly to me.Now that I know I dont need a right to sue letter. I have two more questions if got don't mind...
1. If I should decide to fiie a lawsuit against my former employer, would it be better to do so in federal court or state court and what is the difference?

2. If. i understand correctly, unpaid wages, wrongful termination, retaliation, failure to pay minimum wage, and also breach of contract for not paying me at the rate of compensation that was offered when i was hired are all separate violations for which I could file suit against my former employer, correct? And if I should decide to file suit for all of the violations, would I lump them together on one complaint and summons and therefore, ,one court date would be assigned to address all violations, or would I file a separate complaint for each violation along with its own summons?

Thanks so much for taking the tims to read this and to explain how this works...

 

[commentator]

And all these questions are the reason you so desperately need to hire an attorney if you decide to pursue this issue further.

 

[Taxing Matters]

1. If I should decide to fiie a lawsuit against my former employer, would it be better to do so in federal court or state court and what is the difference?

That's a decision you need to make with your lawyer. There is too much involved in that choice to be able to tell you which is likely the better the forum on the limited information in this thread. And the choice is not just between federal court and state court, but within the state court system there may be more than one choice of court available to you. The differences include different costs, different rules of procedure and evidence, the fact that the state court may be a lot closer to you than the federal court, how fast each court resolves cases, and more.

2. If. i understand correctly, unpaid wages, wrongful termination, retaliation, failure to pay minimum wage, and also breach of contract for not paying me at the rate of compensation that was offered when i was hired are all separate violations for which I could file suit against my former employer, correct? And if I should decide to file suit for all of the violations, would I lump them together on one complaint and summons and therefore, ,one court date would be assigned to address all violations, or would I file a separate complaint for each violation along with its own summons?

Typically you'd bring all the claims against your employer in one action, especially when the same evidence may be applicable to more than one of your claims.