Help with EEOC claim

[AtheHun]

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

Please see:

https://forum.freeadvice.com/hiring-firing-wrongful-termination-5/fired-today-company-kept-my-tools-628596.html

for the partial narrative of the last eight weeks.

I have filed for UEC, (and I expect my employer to resist said filing).

I am requesting a r/o of my 401-k so I will have capital to work with. My expenses are very low.

For the bulk of the last 3 years 6 months prior to the last week in July 2016 I have had a wonderful, (naive for sure), relationship with both my employer, (management et al), and the team I work with on a daily basis. That all changed when my employer hired a very skilled 21 year old mechanic, (who is also my friend).

I knew the company was very tough and quick to fire, (as the primary workers are union). Most of the primary workers are my friends from the last 3 years 6 months and I spoke freely with them about my situation until I was ordered three weeks into my 30 day notice to STFU, by senior management and I respected their wishes while on my employer's property or using their communication's equipment. Everyone at the company I talked to was very surprised as they had seen with their own eyes my superior work product. They knew I was the one who got things done, and they always tried to compete for my attention to their particular issues in the very busy mornings. They knew I would see to it that their issue were dealt with, (if it was within my power to do so).

The above all said: there is a natural tendency at this employer to blame the shop mechanic(s) for any equipment problems in the field. The people who butter my bread have to blame someone when they break things, as they really do break things to an amazing degree, at the equipment belongs to the employer not them and is abused accordingly. I know: I'm a whiner... sniff... sniff...

This particular employer dominates it's space in this region so every union worker wants to work for them, as they stay very busy all year long unlike most of their competitors.

The next eight weeks after my above mentioned notice got progressively more hostile. They should have just laid me off in late July, as I wouldn't have known anything and would have just looked for my next job, (as I'm now doing).

The eight weeks allowed me to document my work situation, (by correcting my employee file), as allowed under state law. I was told by the head of operations (when told to stop talking to fellow employees), that I would be fired for cause, (unspecified but he was very unhappy with my corrections to my employee file, apparently not knowing that state law allows me to do this), and he said my UEC benefits would be denied. He made an offer of four weeks of COBRA, ($1200 value), and four weeks of pay, (straight time), if I would resign and hold the company harmless. I rejected this offer.

When I was finally fired, (9/23/2016), they contended I violated company policy, (which I did not). They increased their offer to $10,000 plus three months of COBRA, (I would be resigning if accepted, and not able to pursue any further claims against said employer). I have until the first week in October to pursue said settlement which I will not.

My eight week investigation has uncovered systemic age discrimination, at least two former employees made financial settlements with gag agreements. There are many others who have left very angry do to age related issues, (fortunately I have a very good memory), and most of these folks were my friends. I have their names and contact info, but: I have not contacted them since my issues got going over the last eight weeks.

I'm sure I left out a few things, (most of the current employees over age 40 are very demoralized). This is news to me over the last eight weeks. I don't know how I kept my head in the sand for so long, but: I did.

I know I have a posting style that irritates many forum members. Please accept my apology in advance, I don't mean to be such an AH.

I intend to focus strictly on the hostile environment over the last eight weeks, and specifically focus on age related discrimination when I file my EEOC complaint in person. I am so busy right now it will be next week at the earliest. I have extensive employee records that I have maintained to prove my record. The company gave me parts of what they have in my employee file but: denied me the report from a three hour very intense interview with a very skilled Labor Lawyer I had on 9/9/2016.

I shopped for Attorneys with offices at the County seat (where I may have to litigate, [hope not]), but: I'm not paying $355 per hour at this juncture. Once I have a successful EEOC finding of age discrimination six months to eighteen months from now I will see if I can find a lawyer who will take me and another much longer term employee who is filing age discrimination with EEOC in early November on a contingent basis.

I do plan (as part of my due diligence) to go through the King County bar Association for short term conferences with largely junior Lawyers once my EEOC filing is totally prepared to see if I've made any major mistakes. If I find an impressive Counselor I may hire one. Hard to know until I do that.

Any suggestions?

Any help will be greatly appreciated, I don't mind criticism, (I actually look forward to it as that is how I learn), but I do interact when I get it so the lesson penetrates my thick head.

Please don't take offence, I really do not mean to offend you experts as you school me. It is just my style, and how I learn.

Respectfully, (and I really mean it):

AtH

 

[eerelations]

My knowledge and working experience with this sort of thing is quite in-depth, so I could really help with a lot of this. However, I shall decline. (Respectfully, as always!)

 

[LdiJ]

It is foolish to insist on your "style" when you know that your style is offensive to others.

 

[cbg]

My suggestion is that instead of laying out a plan of attack all the way to the end, you take it a step at a time. For example, what happens if the EEOC doesn't give you "a successful EEOC finding of age discrimination"? What if, instead, they give you an inconclusive? Which, in my experience, is far more likely? (The EEOC does not often provide definitive findings.)

Talk to a lawyer, by all means. File with the EEOC. But don't live too far in the future.

 

[commentator]

It is my impression that filing a grievance with the EEOC is sort of like filing an appeal in unemployment insurance in that they do not expect the average layman to have the facility and the expertise to make their case, so to speak. You don't really know what the EEOC is looking for. So what you do is very briefly file an appeal. Then EVENTUALLY (as I said before they are very very far behind, work very slowly, and take their time about it, have very generous time constraints under which they must conduct an investigation) the EEOC will begin to investigate your complaint.

That is also why I suggested that you might want to speak quickly with the people you know who may have already filed an EEOC grievance about this company with them. It would only be necessary to investigate and do all the legwork and obtain all the valid information once if your cases were combined. It would also give all of you a stronger case that this company practiced a pervasive pattern of discrimination against older workers. By offering you the settlement, the company made it plain that 1) they have reason to suspect you might get somewhere with the complaint and 2) they've had people file against them before and they have lost money, so they are trying to proactively cut their losses, so to speak.

That is why you very well could get an attorney to take your case without paying them $350 an hour. If they think you have a strong case, or they are representing several different people, attorneys will frequently take a case on contingency. In other words, they don't get paid unless you get paid. You certainly need to check into this, and it's my best advice to do it now.

I agree that you are overplanning. Not everything is going to work out exactly as you expect it to. You need to be well advised by an effective attorney. If you do not take this step now or fairly soon, you'll fall behind. Also, and please do not take this the wrong way, but one of the most important things for which you need that attorney is to help you deal objectively with the case and the complaint and the whole situation. We have found here in working with you that you are just a tad aggressive, you are just perhaps a little abrasive, and frankly, you are defensive as hell when challenged the slightest bit.

An attorney can see how you are thinking and make helpful suggestions about something they will know more than you about. Because it's commonly known that people who are black belts in one area sometimes tend to assume that they can handle everything in other areas, even those where they are complete laymen. It's the old thing about pilots and surgeons. They think they can do each other's jobs equally well because they are very very good at their own jobs. I'm sure you were an excellent mechanic. At representing yourself in a legal setting, possibly you'd do not so hot. I notice that you are not at all sure about where the case would be heard if you believe that the local courts where your company has lots of influence would be the venue.

In my long career in employment services, I have seen many age discrimination complaints filed with the EEOC. I have seen maybe three or four settled to the advantage of the filer. In each of these cases, the person very early on retained an excellent attorney, who worked on contingency and who also eventually made a boat load of money from the suit. As to all the others, I'm not at all sure any of them even got any kind of settlement, even though they may have gotten a "right to sue" letter, and as it has been pointed out above, this certainly didn't happen in all cases.

I mean this very kindly. I believe you can get through the unemployment aspect of your situation without counsel, those cases are designed to be do-able by the average layman without formal knowledge of the system. But then I have also seen people come in who were so "tone deaf" to how they were presenting themselves and how to deal with the hearings and the appeals that they made it very hard for us to fairly exercise the law, because we wanted every way in the world to slap down this know it all. Federal judges who hear age discrimination cases are much more moody and likely to react according to the way you strike them at the time. They tend to hate people who try to self represent. You know what they say about people who act as their own attorneys in situations where most people hire attorneys, don't you? It's pretty much true.

If you follow the advice we provide, and listen carefully and respectfully provide the information that they ask for, you will probably do okay in unemployment even without an attorney. But when you begin filing EEOC grievances, it is not so much what a good case you have as it is how you present it and negotiate settlements when they come and this is an area where I believe you need an attorney and one is worth the expenditure and investment. If they are representing you otherwise, they might also be willing to assist you with your unemployment issues at no further cost, and might even be a boon to you there.

 

[AtheHun]

It is my impression that filing a grievance with the EEOC is sort of like filing an appeal in unemployment insurance in that they do not expect the average layman to have the facility and the expertise to make their case, so to speak. You don't really know what the EEOC is looking for. So what you do is very briefly file an appeal. Then EVENTUALLY (as I said before they are very very far behind, work very slowly, and take their time about it, have very generous time constraints under which they must conduct an investigation) the EEOC will begin to investigate your complaint.

That is also why I suggested that you might want to speak quickly with the people you know who may have already filed an EEOC grievance about this company with them. It would only be necessary to investigate and do all the legwork and obtain all the valid information once if your cases were combined. It would also give all of you a stronger case that this company practiced a pervasive pattern of discrimination against older workers. By offering you the settlement, the company made it plain that 1) they have reason to suspect you might get somewhere with the complaint and 2) they've had people file against them before and they have lost money, so they are trying to proactively cut their losses, so to speak.

That is why you very well could get an attorney to take your case without paying them $350 an hour. If they think you have a strong case, or they are representing several different people, attorneys will frequently take a case on contingency. In other words, they don't get paid unless you get paid. You certainly need to check into this, and it's my best advice to do it now.

I agree that you are overplanning. Not everything is going to work out exactly as you expect it to. You need to be well advised by an effective attorney. If you do not take this step now or fairly soon, you'll fall behind. Also, and please do not take this the wrong way, but one of the most important things for which you need that attorney is to help you deal objectively with the case and the complaint and the whole situation. We have found here in working with you that you are just a tad aggressive, you are just perhaps a little abrasive, and frankly, you are defensive as hell when challenged the slightest bit.

An attorney can see how you are thinking and make helpful suggestions about something they will know more than you about. Because it's commonly known that people who are black belts in one area sometimes tend to assume that they can handle everything in other areas, even those where they are complete laymen. It's the old thing about pilots and surgeons. They think they can do each other's jobs equally well because they are very very good at their own jobs. I'm sure you were an excellent mechanic. At representing yourself in a legal setting, possibly you'd do not so hot. I notice that you are not at all sure about where the case would be heard if you believe that the local courts where your company has lots of influence would be the venue.

In my long career in employment services, I have seen many age discrimination complaints filed with the EEOC. I have seen maybe three or four settled to the advantage of the filer. In each of these cases, the person very early on retained an excellent attorney, who worked on contingency and who also eventually made a boat load of money from the suit. As to all the others, I'm not at all sure any of them even got any kind of settlement, even though they may have gotten a "right to sue" letter, and as it has been pointed out above, this certainly didn't happen in all cases.

I mean this very kindly. I believe you can get through the unemployment aspect of your situation without counsel, those cases are designed to be do-able by the average layman without formal knowledge of the system. But then I have also seen people come in who were so "tone deaf" to how they were presenting themselves and how to deal with the hearings and the appeals that they made it very hard for us to fairly exercise the law, because we wanted every way in the world to slap down this know it all. Federal judges who hear age discrimination cases are much more moody and likely to react according to the way you strike them at the time. They tend to hate people who try to self represent. You know what they say about people who act as their own attorneys in situations where most people hire attorneys, don't you? It's pretty much true.

If you follow the advice we provide, and listen carefully and respectfully provide the information that they ask for, you will probably do okay in unemployment even without an attorney. But when you begin filing EEOC grievances, it is not so much what a good case you have as it is how you present it and negotiate settlements when they come and this is an area where I believe you need an attorney and one is worth the expenditure and investment. If they are representing you otherwise, they might also be willing to assist you with your unemployment issues at no further cost, and might even be a boon to you there.

Thank you VERY much.

I will follow your advice and obtain counsel, and I agree with your constructive criticism of me, I am very aggressive to a fault, that is why I love forums like these where I can get spanked and humbled by real experts before I go out and shoot myself in the head.

I don't think there has been prior EEOC complaints with this firm, (not sure), as these guys have been very effective with intimidation and dangling settlements with other employees.

They cut my net income by 28% for eight weeks and kept me off balance as much as possible.

Thanks again I will start with the King County bar, before I go for the really big gun.

I will see if the other employee wants to join me, (as I bet he will), and he does know the others who have the same issues.

 

[AtheHun]

It is foolish to insist on your "style" when you know that your style is offensive to others.

I am foolish, I do apologize.

 

[AtheHun]

My suggestion is that instead of laying out a plan of attack all the way to the end, you take it a step at a time. For example, what happens if the EEOC doesn't give you "a successful EEOC finding of age discrimination"? What if, instead, they give you an inconclusive? Which, in my experience, is far more likely? (The EEOC does not often provide definitive findings.)

Talk to a lawyer, by all means. File with the EEOC. But don't live too far in the future.

Thank you, I will do just that as I told the other responder.

I normally don't like the gubment at all, (as I always prefer to do things myself and learn as I go), but: the EEOC is the only way to fight this large rich very tough company in this particular matter.

I do agree with you that the EEOC is very unpredictable and has their own agenda, which is not mine, in any way shape or form.

Thanks again, I appreciate the help.