Quote:
Originally Posted by Mircea
You have to wait until the EEOC closes the investigation. That will take probably 6-10 months.
You will receive notification from the EEOC when the investigation is completed.
If the EEOC determines that there is insufficient evidence to corroborate your claim, then that is the end of the matter, because you are not legally allowed to file a lawsuit.
If the EEOC finds sufficient evidence to move forward, then you'll receive a notice stating that you have the right to sue, and your lawyer has 90 days to file a lawsuit, or you will have 90 days to find a new lawyer to take your case and file a lawsuit.
It is unlikely the EEOC will take legal action, since they rarely do. If the EEOC finds for you, they will effectively initiate arbitration to resolve the matter with your employer. If your employer blows off the EEOC, the EEOC won't take legal action unless it will set a precedent, or clarify existing court rulings, unless the EEOC has a slam-dunk case, and those are incredibly rare. In that instance, it's up to your lawyer to get the job done in court.
As far as your lawyer not being communicative, there's nothing to communicate until the EEOC finishes the investigation. Pestering your lawyer to death will not make the EEOC investigate faster, and your lawyer cannot make the EEOC investigate faster no matter how much you pester him/her.
Whatever will happen will happen whenever it happens and not before.
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Here is another vote for the above being bad advice, filled with inaccurate information. Below is an accurate summary of how a charge with the EEOC gets processed:
1. Claims for employment discrimination often arise under both state and federal law. The procedural requirements for being able to file a lawsuit based upon those laws vary. For example, in Ohio, a state law claim for employment discrimination can be filed without any complaint being first filed with a government agency. Under federal laws enforced by the EEOC, claims must first be filed with the EEOC before a charging party can assert in court a claim based on the laws enforced by the EEOC.
2. BEFORE the EEOC investigates the charge that has been filed, the EEOC usually offers to the employee and the employer an opportunity to MEDIATE the dispute. Mediation is a voluntary process that only resolves the dispute when both the employer and the employee agree on a settlement. If the parties do not agree to mediate, the EEOC will process the charge through the investigation to determine whether probable cause that a violation of the law exists.
3. The investigation phase can be relatively fast in a few cases (less than 90 days) and extremely long in a few cases (3+ years). The typical time for an investigation often depends on the office that is handling the charge. Their workloads and resources vary substantially from office to office. My guess is that the sweet spot for most investigations is in the 6-12 months range. The offices with which I am most familiar usually get the investigation done in 6-9 months (post investigation processing then takes another 45-90 days).
4. During the investigation, the EEOC will usually notify the parties about who is the assigned investigator. Typically, after receiving the charge, the investigator communicates primarily with the employer, but sometimes, the investigator will ask for a response from the employee. In the meantime, most investigators will be happy to inform the charging party or their counsel about the status of the investigation (but not the details of their findings). And a gentle nudge from a lawyer on behalf of the charging party sometimes will help keep the charging party's file from staying on the bottom of the investigator's pile. (Of course, if the nudge is more like an aggressive or annoying shove, it can also result in the file staying on the bottom of the pile).
5. When the investigation is completed, the EEOC then makes a determination regarding whether PROBABLE CAUSE exists to show a violation of the law. PROBABLE CAUSE is not sufficient to prove that the law was actually violated. The EEOC NEVER makes the finding that an actual violation of the law occurred or did not occur. That role is left to the court.
6. If the EEOC finds NO PROBABLE CAUSE, the EEOC is required to issue to the complainant a Notice of Right to Sue. Without the notice, the court will not have jurisdiction to hear any complaint based on the discrimination claim asserted under the laws enforced by the EEOC.
7. If, on the other hand, the EEOC finds probable cause that the law was violated, the EEOC must attempt -- through conciliation -- to resolve the matter with the employer. Conciliation is similar to mediation in that it resolves the dispute only if the parties agree to the resolution. If conciliation fails, then the EEOC will decide whether to file a lawsuit against the employer.
8. Most of the time, the EEOC declines to file the lawsuit. In those cases, the EEOC then again must issue to the charging party the Notice of a Right to Sue. So -- whether the EEOC finds probable cause or does not find probable cause, the EEOC issues a Right to Sue Notice, and the individual can then file a lawsuit on their own behalf.
9. The charging party does not have to wait to hire a lawyer until the EEOC issues a right to sue notice. OP already has a lawyer, and for charging parties who file complaints without a lawyer, they are free to get one at any time.
10. If the EEOC finds probable cause, as I stated above, the EEOC then requires a conciliation effort. Conciliation is similar to mediation in that it resolves the dispute only if the parties agree to the resolution. The EEOC NEVER requires or even participates in ARBITRATION.
Why should anyone believe me? I have been an employment lawyer for 2+ decades and I am a trained and active EEOC mediator.
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