Answers Posted By Orion Callison

Answer to How do I make it stop?

Your employer is not allowed to retaliate against you for reporting acts of discrimination, either to your employer or to the EEOC. Your employer is also not allowed to discourage you from making such reports.

The first thing you should do is look at your employee policy manual and see who is designated as the person or department to whom you should report discriminatory conduct. Then you should report any instances of discrimination to that designated person or department in writing and keep a copy of your complaint and any written response you are given by your employer to it.

It is a better practice to report the conduct to the person designated by your employer in its policy manual to handle and respond to the charge, rather than, for example, e-mailing the president of the entire company.

If you feel you have been discriminated against, when you make your report be sure to say so. Don't just say that a particular employee mistreated you if you feel the mistreatment was caused by discrimination. Be clear that you are reporting what you believe was a discriminatory or retaliatory act.

If you are a member of a union, you should report any acts of discrimination to your union representative and consider filing a grievance. Your union representative should be able to advise you of the procedures.

If you have filed a charge of discrimination with the EEOC or your state administrative agency that handles workplace discrimination, be sure to supplement your filing with that agency to advise them of any new acts of discrimination or retaliation that have occurred after the initial charge. If you have not yet filed a charge with the EEOC or your state agency, then you need to do so promptly before your claims become time barred.

You should also consider keeping a private journal (private means something you keep at your home and prepare there) where you write down everying that happens related to discrimination or retaliation (that is, who said and did what, when, where, and who was present to see or hear it), so that you do not forget relevant details over time. This document may be discoverable in later litigation (meaning your employer may eventually request to see it), so be sure to stick to the facts and try not to editorialize or rant. Be as detailed as possible.

And of course, you should strongly consider retaining an attorney of your choosing to assist you with this matter.

posted Jan 30, 2010 10:01 AM [EST]