Case To The U.S. Courts Of Appeals example essay topic

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, referred to hereafter as EEOC was established in 1965 and was given the authority to investigate claims, against employers, arising under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). EEOC investigates discrimination claims against employers based on race, sex, color, religion, national origin, age, disability, as well as sexual harassment, and retaliation. If someone feels they have been wronged or discriminated against based on any of the above criteria, they have the right to file an EEOC claim (also known as charge); charges can be filed either in person, or by mail. Before a lawsuit can be filed, the statutes require that the employee file a charge of discrimination with the EEOC first. This paper will discuss the process and the time frames of filing a complaint, as well as provide information on the civil litigation process from the State to the Supreme Court levels. The claims process begins with issuance of the initial charge of discrimination against an employer, which must be filed within 180 days of the incident.

If EEOC determines, after reviewing the complaint, that unlawful discrimination did actually transpire, it will then assign an investigator to the case. The employer will then be notified within 10 days, and is given the opportunity to respond or appeal the charges and explain actions and the recourse they took in regards to the charges. After the investigation is complete, EEOC then makes a determination on the merits of the charge. If it is determined that the charges were unfounded then a "Dismissal and Notice of Rights" letter will be sent to the charging party (a copy of this letter is also sent to the employer). This then gives the complaint the right to file a lawsuit in federal court within 90 days from the date of receipt of the Dismissal letter.

However, if EEOC determines there is reason to believe that discrimination had occurred; both parties will be issued a "Letter of Determination" which states there is reason to believe that discrimination had occurred and encourages both parties to join EEOC in seeking a resolution to the charge, through the informal process of conciliation discussions. However, if conciliation fails, EEOC then has the authority to enforce violations of its statutes by filing a lawsuit in federal court. If EEOC wishes not to pursue litigation, the charging party will receive a "Notice of the Right to Sue" and may file a lawsuit in federal court within a 90 day time frame. In addition to conciliation, there are other informal methods that the EEOC offers to resolve charges of discrimination. Even though these are strictly voluntary, they are the preferred methods of resolution.

These methods include mediation, settlement, and as previously discussed conciliation. Some of the advantages to these methods include cost effectiveness and time and effort saving measures. If the voluntary methods are forfeited and the case does go to court, the following are the procedures which take place from the state level all the way through to the Supreme Court. First and foremost in the litigation process is the Pleadings.

This is the filing of a complaint in the District Court where the case will be litigated. The employee bringing suit is known as the plaintiff and the employer being sued is known as the Defendant. After the complaint is filed a summons is then issued. After the Defendant is served the summons, they must file an answer to the Complaint in which they admit, deny, or plead ignorance to every allegation. The next step in this process is called the Discovery.

Discovery entails the opportunity for each party to discover all the evidence that may be brought up at the trial. There are several methods in which each party may conduct discovery. These methods are Interrogatories, Requests for Production of Documents and other things, request for inspection of premises, request for physical or mental examination, subpoenas for discovery from non parties, depositions, as well as requests for admissions. The third phase of this process is called Motions. A motion is a request to the court for it to take some specified action. A motion for summary judgement is usually filed prior to the trial.

A motion for summary judgement is filed by the Defendant and asks the court to end the lawsuit without a trial. If the Summary Judgement is not granted, the case will then go to trial. However, most cases do not make it to trial. The trial entails all the information / evidence be presented to the jury. The purpose for this is to determine if the admissible evidence is enough to rule in favour of the Plaintiff.

Generally, in employment litigation it is generally common that the case is phased into two parts for punitive damages. If the jury supports the award of punitive damages, then phase two begins. In this phase the employer's financial records are introduced and the jury then decides on the amount of the punitive award. Jury trials of this nature can take up to three weeks to conclude.

If one of the parties in the claim is unsatisfied with the end result, they have the right to appeal the case to the U.S. Courts of Appeals. An appeal, is when a party asks another court to review the trial court proceeding. The arguments of both parties are presented to the appellate court in the way of briefs, along with the information that was presented to the trial court. The appellate court usually only reviews a case for legal error. If the appellate court does not find any legal error, it will uphold the previous verdict, however, if error is found it may reverse the verdict or order a re-trial.

Once again, if one of the parties is still unsatisfied with the verdict of the U.S. Court of Appeals, they have the right to file a motion for the case to be determined by the U.S. Supreme Court. The U.S. Supreme Court will take cases they feel they have not ruled on. If a case is similar to a previous verdict, they will not hear it. Similar to the claims process, there are other alternative methods to litigation. These methods include Settlement, Arbitration, and Mediation. Both the claims and the litigation process can be time consuming, expensive, and require an enormous amount of effort.

Although this system appears to be an arduous process, the system is very effective and worthwhile and assures fair and equal rights to all people.

Bibliography

Recurrences in Employment Litigation A Lawsuit Primer authored by San Diego Employment Discrimination, (web) The Litigation Process authorized by Stoel Rives (web) The EEOC website which provides information on the claims process (web) A website designed by the National Employment Lawyers Association, used for information regarding general law (web).