EEOC Right to Sue Letter

What Is a Right to Sue Letter?

A right to sue letter is a letter from the EEOC when they review your case and believe you have grounds for a lawsuit. The EEOC will try and resolve the situation through mediation, arbitration, and other resolution strategies, and if they are unable to, they will issue a right to sue letter.

In many cases, you will need a right to sue letter to bring an employment discrimination lawsuit to federal court. The letter shows that you have tried to resolve the situation through the proper channels and given your employer the chance to remedy the issue. However, a right to sue letter is not necessary to file equal pay or age discrimination cases.

Does the EEOC always issue a right to sue letter?

The Right to Sue letter from the EEOC when they are finished working on a case. An employee will need to obtain a Right to Sue letter from the EEOC if the employee want to sue an employer in civil court. Generally, an employee must allow the EEOC 180 days to resolve the allegation against the employer. However, the EEOC may issue a Notice of Right to Sue letter before the 180 days expires.

How Long Do I Have to File a Lawsuit After Receiving My Right to Sue Letter?

Once you receive the right to sue letter, you have 90 days to file a case with the federal courts. If you miss this time limit, then you may miss your chance completely to file an employment discrimination case. Ensure you get started as soon as possible, so you do not miss the deadline.

What Do I Need to Do Once I Receive a Right to Sue Letter?

Once you get your right to sue letter, you need to decide whether you want to file an employment discrimination lawsuit or not. You only have 90 days, so you need to make the decision quickly. If you decide to file a lawsuit, then you need to find a lawyer to get the process started.

What Does the EEOC Do?

The EEOC is the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. They are a federal agency that investigates employment discrimination. The EEOC investigation process can move very slowly because of the volume of complaints they have and the limited number of staff. The EEOC will appoint an investigator to look into your case and collect evidence, and interview witnesses where necessary. They will often visit the worksite and look at relevant files too.

Certain personal traits are protected by the EEOC, and employers or potential employers who mistreat employees based on those traits are breaking the law. The EEOC investigates claims based on protected traits like:

• Disability
• Gender
• Race
• Religion
• Age
• Pregnancy

The EEOC will also handle sexual harassment cases.

The EEOC will use mediation to try and resolve disputes. Mediation is a non-binding settlement tactic where both parties will meet and try to talk through the issue. The mediator will manage the conversation and help both parties negotiate a mutually beneficial resolution. It can be very successful, but in some cases, they are unable to reach a resolution.

Dismissal or Determination

In the cases where the EEOC is unable to reach a resolution through mediation, they will send a letter. The letter will either be:

• A Dismissal and notice of rights
• A letter of determination

The EEOC issues a dismissal if they have not found any evidence of discrimination. This just means that they were not able to find enough evidence to take to court. The EEOC has limited resources, so they may not have uncovered any hard evidence. This letter will often include a right to sue letter.

The EEOC will issue a letter of determination if they find hard evidence of discrimination. They will also include a right to sue letter.

Employment Discrimination Lawsuits

An employment discrimination lawsuit can be extremely time consuming and expensive. You need to seriously think about whether you want to go through the process.

Consider the following:

• Do you have solid evidence? – Do you have hard evidence proving that discrimination occurred. Evidence can be texts, videos, pictures, emails, or other hard proof that the reason for the employment action was discrimination.
• Did a negative employment action occur? – Many people are fired, lose an opportunity, suffer indignities or setbacks. Generally, an employment discrimination lawsuit is only suitable if you were fired due to discrimination.

Even though you have a right to sue letter, you need to decide if you want to sue or not. Look at your resources to see if suing is a good decision based on your time and resources.

How to Pick an Employment Lawyer

You will need a good employment lawyer to represent you and bring your case. Call us at Nakase Wade if you live in California or New York. If you live elsewhere, search employment lawyers on the NELA directory.

These lawyers specialize in employment discrimination cases and have the expertise required to represent employees. They will know the applicable laws inside and out and will be able to successfully represent you.

How Are Employment Lawyers Paid?

Most employment attorneys will work on a contingency fee. This means that the lawyer will only get paid if they win the case, and they will be paid a percentage of the money you are paid. If they are unable to win any money for you, then they will not be paid. A Contingency fee will be between 33% and 50%.

Nakase Wade EEOC Attorneys

At Nakase Wade, our EEOC attorneys want to help you right any wrongs you may have experienced. If you have any questions about your case and whether you should file a lawsuit, book one of our free consultations.

We serve California employees and employers in employment discrimination cases. Most of the cases we handle are on a contingency fee basis.