Racial Discrimination at a Big Corporation that I work at - Need your advice

[DesertFox]

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

Anyway, my case is really long so I will make this short. Basically, I was given an opportunity for a promotion (management level opening). THey basically offered the job and took it back. The offer was not done by email, it was done when my manager let me listen to a voicemail from one of the interviewers saying that I got the job and they want me. Then 2 days later, manager lets me listen to another voicemail to not mention anything yet until we hear from HR because their upper management decided to interview other people that they overlooked.

Then 2 weeks later, the HR recruiter sends me an email that I didn't get the job. THey have 3 openings and 2 of them so far have been filled by people I know. They are the same race and I seem to notice that the structure of the organization only hires this race. I am a different race than that race they hire.

So I filed a complaint to the HR recruiter asking what are their reasons for not choosing me and that I feel I'm being discriminated against and she said somebody in their dept will get back to me soon about this issue. Its been over a week and no one got back to me so they ignored me.

So then I field a complaint with HR and Ethics dept., internal to the company. When I filed, i had the option to be anonymous, but I didn't want to be anonymous so i put my name in. I will be interviewed by the Ethics and HR department for an investigation of alleged racial discrimination. I haven't filed with the EEOC and/or FEHA but I plan to if the defending parties responses are not reasonable.

#1) Do I have a case for a lawsuit (if i take this route)?
#2) Also can I use a voice recorder during the interviews/investigation without letting the parties know? Or do I have to notify them that I'm using a digital voice recorder? What's the laws in California? (I searched the internet and it says to win a racial discrimination case in case the company retaliates , you have to keep solid evidence like emails, etc, and tape the conversations/meetings.

 

[pattytx]

A week isn't very long.

1. Maybe. You would need to show, however, that the only reason you didn't get the promotion was BECAUSE of your race. Have you discussed the probability of prevailing with an attorney yet?

2. No. California law requires that ALL parties involved agree to be recorded.
"Can We Tape?"
(Took me about 10 seconds to get 1,000 of hits on Google. Don't know what you were searching for.)

 

[DesertFox]

A week isn't very long.

1. Maybe. You would need to show, however, that the only reason you didn't get the promotion was BECAUSE of your race. Have you discussed the probability of prevailing with an attorney yet?

My only way of showing it is by observation of their org chart. All the guys under them that have this position are predominantly X race. The ones that got it, (2 of them I know) are X race. I'm Y race and there are no Y races holding this position in their org chart.

No, I have't discussed anything with an attorney yet. I am giving the company a chance to give me a good explanation on why the job offer was retracted. If I don't get a reasonable answer, I will go to the EEOC and the Fair Employment and Housing Agency and file complaints and have them investigate. Thanks for replying to me about the conversation taping laws in CA.

 

[pattytx]

It's only a prima facie case at this point. It MAY become a case, but neither you nor any of us here have any way of knowing yet. There's a lot more to look at than just the org chart. Such as industry-specific experience, education, what the employee will agree to accept as salary, what the candidates' attendance record or disciplinary action showed, or even because the employee who got the promotion was a Raiders fan (why anybody would be a Raiders fan is beyond me, but I guess they HAVE to have some ).

 

[DesertFox]

Well I also looked at the others experience and background to try to root out the race card we all have been in the company for the same amount of years, the line of work I am in is project managing design of a product reporting to the offered position, and I have a bachelors and a state license in my profession. The other 2 don't have state licenses and one of them has just a bachelors degree doing work that is nothing related to the position offered and the other has a bachelors and masters and currently doing work as a sponsor for the products i'm designing. What we are applying for is a project management related position on a grander scale managing the product. So they are inconsistent with their hiring practices. And we never talked about salaries.

They will interview me next week and my manager will testify supporting my claim, I hope he doesn't lie. If he lies, I'm screwed. And we are all salaried employees. This is not one of those jobs that you apply for, its more like a recommendation to interview for the position so I was recommended by my manager to upper management. Between me and my manager is my lead supervisor and he gave me a bad mid year review.

When I got denied the opportunity, I went to my lead supervisor to ask if anyone has talked to him about my possible promotion or if he was asked for a reference and he said no. If it turns out that they didn't offer it to me because of performance reasons, I will go back to my manager and ask why i was recommended in the first place if he knew I had performance problems? They will make themselves look like idiots. If i was recommended in the first place, obviously I'm doing something right.

 

[pattytx]

Unless you are in HR and have access to the employees' personnel files, you can't know everything. Having said that if, after you get your answers, you feel that race was still the only reason you did not get the job, then feel free to file with the EEOC. Just know that it can take months just to get a right-to-sue letter (which is the result in 99.99% of cases), then you have only 90 days to file suit. Which is why I suggested you discuss the situation with an employment discrimination attorney first.

Beating this to death internally will, IMHO, merely brand you as a trouble-maker.

 

[DesertFox]

Patti, thanks for your replies. Are you saying that before I made a complaint to the internal HR and Ethics Dept that I should have seeked an employment attorney first?

If they gave me the usual BS answers that others were more qualified, had more experience, etc, etc and I didn't like those answers, if i get a right-to-sue letter from EEOC, what do you think my chances are of winning the case? Are there racial discrimination cases in court that don't win? What happens to those cases that don't win? Do I have to pay up the attorneys for the time they invested in this case?

 

[HuAi]

If get a right-to-sue letter from EEOC, what do you think my chances are of winning the case?

Nobody except your attorney who has all the facts can wager a guess.

Are there racial discrimination cases in court that don't win?

Yes

What happens to those cases that don't win?

They are dismissed, and the plaintiff doesn't get any damages awarded.

Do I have to pay up the attorneys for the time they invested in this case?

If your attorney works on a contingency basis (gets a cut of the damages) and you lose you'll be responsible for attorney's out of pocket costs (filing, document, expert fees). If the attorney won't take your case on contingency, you'll have to pay him or her partially up front and the rest at completion regardless of the outcome (again plus out of pocket costs).

 

[DesertFox]

Huai, thanks for giving me some insight to my questions. Here is the latest. The internal EEO department has interviewed me and has made me sign a piece of paper telling me that an investigation is going on and that I am not allowed to talk to anyone about my case and that I am not allowed to produce documents related to the interview. I also filed with HR and now HR wants to interview me. So is this breaching the piece of paper if I talk to HR? HR told me that this is also confidential and not to talk to anyone about it. EEO doesn't know I will be talking to HR and vice versa. The EEO dept. claims they are neutral but I think what they are doing is they are trying to protect the company, so in the end, they are not neutral cause after all its the company that gives them the paycheck. I also notice that since I filed, my manager started micromanaging me even more and giving me attitudes, is this a sign of retaliation?

What's your advice if after the investigation, they don't tell me what I want to hear? Or it doesn't go my way? Should I file with EEOC? Will EEOC do a separate investigation or rely on the facts collected by the internal EEO department?

 

[DesertFox]

They did an internal investigation and found out that there was nothing that showed racial discrimination. Here are there reasons for getting the job offer retracted which I consider BS...

1) The process of recruiting for Temporary Work Assignments (which this assignment is a promotion for me) is not yet finalized and fairly new to the department. There are inconsistencies in the process and they apologize that it had to be me that got the job retracted. Also they said that they were already leaning towards giving the job to someone else even though they wanted me..(doesn't make sense how you can want someone but already think of getting someone else)

2) The work group I am accusing of racial discrimination has put the burden back on my managers (the very same people that recommended me for this assignment) that they were the ones responsible for giving me back feedback (Doesn't make sense to me, how do you recommend someone for a promotional assignment an then unrecommend them?)

Do you guys think these are BS answers?

These BS answers makes me want to go to the state and EEOC. What shall I do next?

 

[Isis1]

I'm sorry. But this sounds so familiar. Is this a health fitness company?

 

[DesertFox]

I'm sorry. But this sounds so familiar. Is this a health fitness company?

NO..Its a BIG Corporation