If you have recently been unfairly passed up for a promotion or fired from a job, you may suspect that there is discrimination at play. If you believe that you were fired because of your age, you may wonder how to file a lawsuit against your ex-employer and how to prove that they were actually ageist.
You may have noticed that younger people in your office were being promoted more often than older employees, or you may have seen them being invited to training programs that you were not invited to attend.
Being passed up for a promotion is a particularly strong piece of evidence if the older employee has more job-relevant training and experience than a younger employee.
It is important to understand labor laws in the state of Texas as well as the process for filing an age discrimination complaint. You should also know how to document your case and what records you will be able to subpoena if you go to court over the matter.
Collecting Evidence
If you have not been fired yet, but you feel that you are likely to be fired, you will want to begin collecting any evidence of discrimination. Make sure to save any good performance reviews that you get. Also, collect any documentation of negative reviews that you have. If you can prove that you were disciplined for things for which those younger than you were not, this may be evidence of bias.
Filing a Claim
Age discrimination is illegal at both a state and federal level. If you have been fired or passed up for a promotion, you may file a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or the Texas Workforce Commission.
Although age discrimination is illegal, Texas is an at-will state which means that an employer may fire an employee without giving them a reason. Hence it is very important to document everything to prove that the law was broken.
If you file your claim via the Texas Workforce Commission, you must have the paperwork in within 180 days of the time that the discrimination took place. The company you worked for must be headquartered within the state of Texas to file a complaint with the TWC. You must also have been fired, demoted, or denied a promotion due to your age. If an employer has less than 15 employees, they are not forbidden from discriminating against a person on the basis of age by the Texas Labor Code.
If you file your claim with the EEOC, you should know that The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 only applies to companies with 20 or more employees.
Once you file a claim with either the EEOC or the TWC, it will be reviewed and they will determine whether they will accept or deny the claim. If they accept the claim, you will receive a form to sign in the mail. If your claim is denied, they will send you a letter.
Before an investigation begins, you and your employer will be given a chance to discuss the issue with a mediator. If you are unable to reach an agreement, or if one of you does not want mediation, an investigation will begin. If they find evidence of discrimination, you may file a lawsuit.
Getting Evidence After You Have Been Fired
If you have already been fired, you may still be able to get documentation of the evidence. As long as you can remember the dates that certain things happened, an attorney might be able to subpoena a company’s records when looking for evidence. If you have any coworkers or former co-workers who witnessed the discrimination, you may want to ask them if they will testify for you.
No one should ever lose their job because they are more mature than their coworkers. You may be entitled to compensation if you have been discriminated against at work. Visit our website for more information.
Authoritative Sources:
https://www.twc.texas.gov/jobseekers/how-submit-employment-discrimination-complaint
