Equal Employment Opportunity Complaint Process

John, a Hispanic employee in a private sector organization, experiences a hostile work environment and as a result, seeks to file a complaint. A hostile work environment is a work environment with unwelcome conduct that is based on color, race, religion, national origin, or sex (Ivancie, 2015). It is a work environment where employees endure offensive conduct from their employer or supervisor. The equal employment opportunity complaint commission supports equal treatment of employees and with dignity and respect since it is the right of all employees to be treated with respect, dignity, and equality. John’s supervisor made the work environment hostile through his conducts and discrimination.

Elements of the Harassment claim

The elements of the hostile work environment harassment claim included the use of objectively offensive conduct that attacks a person’s membership in a protected class. The harassment was in the form of unwelcome verbal conduct involving the protected class. In the case of John, his protected class was Hispanic, and the verbal misconduct was aimed towards his class. His supervisor regularly called him “idiot,” and the supervisor called him inflammatory names that are considered derogatory to Hispanics. Another element of the harassment claim was that the harassment interfered with the work environment such that it made the environment hostile, intimidating, and offensive. In addition to that, John’s attempt to correct the situation was not recognized, and his report to the Human Resource Management was not taken seriously, and therefore, he was not assisted in any way.

John can make a prima facie case of hostile work environment by providing and proving all the elements of hostile work environment harassment. He must be able to prove a number of elements including the fact that he belongs to a statutorily protected class, he was subjected to a harassment based on verbal misconduct involving his protected class, the harassment interfered with his working condition such that it made the environment offensive and intimidating and the employer was informed of the hostile working condition, and nothing was done to correct the situation. All these elements provided would bring a cause of action for discrimination. The hostility of the work environment is also proved by the frequency of the alleged discriminatory conduct. However, the working environment should be objectively hostile.

Complaint process

Under Title VII, an employee has a right to file a case with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) when they have been discriminated against. The Title VII of Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a federal law that prevents employers from discriminating against their employees based on race, religion, gender, color or origin (“Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,” 2019). This act applies to all employers with more than fifteen employees, local, state, or local governments. It also applies to public or private employers or other employment agencies and labor organizations. The rights of employees are important, and any type of discrimination, either verbal or physical, is considered unlawful.

A charge of discrimination should be file to request the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) take remedial action before filing a job discrimination lawsuit against the employer. The EEOC would inform the employer that a charge has been filed against them and the employee is interviewed to get first-hand information about the discrimination by the EEOC (“Filing a Lawsuit: EEOC,” 2019). The EEOC determines whether filing a charge is the appropriate path in the case. The law enforced by the EEOC necessitates the employer to accept the charges alleging employment discrimination. The EEOC then notifies the employee when they are done with their investigations of the right to sue. In addition to that, the EEOC can provide local attorneys to assist during the filing of the suite (“Discrimination Complaint Process,” 2009).

The employer will prepare their defense in an employment discrimination case, and in this case, the employer must prepare a defense to provide an explanation of the supervisor’s conduct. In this case, John’s employer has no excuse for the conduct of the supervisor because the verbal misconduct was intentional and aimed at embarrassing the employee. In addition to that, John attempted to seek help from Human Resource Management, but the issue went unresolved due to the ignorance and lack of proper attention towards the employees and their work environment. This adds to the elements of the harassment case because it is a clear indication of the lack of proper action when it comes to the issue of employment harassment in the organization.

References

Discrimination Complaint Process. (2009, January 20). Retrieved from https://2001-2009.state.gov/s/ocr/c25504.htm

Filing a Lawsuit: EEOC. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.eeoc.gov/employees/lawsuit.cfm

Ivancie, M. (2015, April 20). Hostile work environment: defined and explained. Retrieved from https://www.ivancielaw.com/federal-employment-law/what-is-a-hostile-work-environment/

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.aauw.org/what-we-do/legal-resources/know-your-rights-at-work/title-vii/