Quote:
Originally Posted by Ron61
Joe,
I have to agree as the NASCAR group will stick together and the only people who will gain out of this now are the lawyers unless NASCAR will settle without a trial to avoid the bad publicity. I just don't see why she waited so long to file the suit. That makes it look almost as if someone else suggested she do it.
Ron  |
Before one is allowed to file in federal court under federal discrimination law, one must first file an administrative charge against the employer with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (hereinafter referred to as the "EEOC"), which is the federal agency empowered to enforce anti-discrimination laws grouped together under Title VII of the United States Code (simply because Title VI and VIII are already filled up with other bullsh!t). It is a prequisite, meaning that if one files a federal lawsuit without having filed the charge first, the suit will be subject to a motion to dismiss under Section 12(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil procedure.
Sometimes aggrieved employees seek out counsel first, and sometimes they go straight to the EEOC (the phone number is included on the Discrimination poster on every employer bulletin board in the country, so it's not like it's hard to find). Presuming that the plaintiff approached counsel within weeks of losing her job, said counsel would have embarked on at least a minimal investigation to determine the value of case and gather sufficient evidence to provide the EEOC if called upon. In some instances, a plaintiff's attorney might request the EEOC dismiss the charge immediately and provide the plaintiff with what is descriptively referred to as a Right to Sue Letter, which is what would be attached to a subsequent federal lawsuit to evidence the fact that yes, indeedy do, the adiminsitrative charge was filed as required.
Sometimes the EEOC, asspecially when they think it might be fun to bring the case themselves, won't issue a Right to Sue Letter, and will instead file the suit themselves, with or without the plaintiff's attorney joining in. Also, sometimes the EEOC will attempt to mediate the dispute between the parties before it. Either of these prospects can take a few months of federal employees standing around and considering their own particular intestinal evacuation orifices before they actually do something.
In other words, there are various procedural reasons why it would take several months to file such an action and, for those who are experienced in such things, a mere 7-8 months following the termination of the employment relationship is a rather short time period when one considers that an aggrieved employee has only ninety (90) days after a Right to Sue Letter is issued by the EEOC, thereby making it patently obvious that the EEOC administrative procedures before the issuance of the letter were a bit involved (albeit not overly so).