Human Resource Blog

Now What? — Discrimination

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What can a employee ask for if they prove a complaint through their company’s legal department for gender discrimination? This is in the state of Florida. I do not want a law suit.

This is asking for advice on a specific case, which is not something that can be done online. To start with, ask yourself, “What do I want out of this situation?”

It sounds as though the employee lodged a complaint of discrimination based on sex, and a company investigation supported the employee’s complaint.

In general terms, when a company investigation shows evidence of discrimination based on gender, there are 4 types of consequences.

1)     The discrimination will stop.

2)     The supervisor who discriminated against the employee may be disciplined.

3)     The employee may receive a promotion or raise that was denied due to gender.

4)     The employee or supervisor may be reassigned, if the employee wishes.

At a minimum, the discrimination should stop. This includes all discrimination based on gender throughout the company, not just against the complaining employee. In cases where discrimination is widespread, the company may retrain supervisors and/or employees to recognize and avoid discrimination. In other cases, a memo or poster reminding supervisors not to discriminate might be enough.

In most cases, the supervisor(s)  who discriminated against the employee will be disciplined. This may include receiving a verbal or written reprimand, being suspended without pay,  being demoted, or being terminated. Human Resources people walk a fine line here. Technically, they have to keep the details of the supervisor’s discipline confidential, so they may not be able to tell the employee exactly what actions they have taken. But, they should be able to assure the employee that the supervisor was disciplined.

If the employee suffered financially by not receiving a promotion or raise due to the discrimination, then the employee should expect to receive those increases. Any increase in pay may be retroactive. If the employee would have received a promotion last year, if not for discrimination, then he or she has a valid reason to request back pay from that date.

“Undoing” the harmful effects of discrimination may include eliminating past written warning or other disciplinary actions against the employee. It could also include discarding a previous negative evaluation and substituting a more positive one.

In some cases the employee or supervisor may be reassigned, so that the two don’t have to work together anymore. This is not always a practical solution, depending upon the circumstances. If Mary is a team leader who has been discriminating against John, and the company has 5 team leaders, they may assign Mary to a different team. However, if the company has only one team leader it might not be reasonable to reassign Mary.

In another example, John may decide that he would rather transfer to the accounting department. Note, John is the victim here and should not be required to transfer against his wishes. But, if that’s his request, and he’s qualified for an open position in another department, many companies would grant his request.

In other situations, the employee is comfortable working for the supervisor, as long as the discrimination is eliminated.

It is very unusual for an employee to receive a cash settlement, even in the most blatant cases of discrimination, unless a suit is filed. It’s possible that if the employee did file a suit, he or she would lose, since the company has taken steps to address this matter as soon as it was brought to their attention.

An employee who is being discriminated against can file a complaint with the EEOC, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. A complaint with the EEOC should be filed before an employee files any lawsuit. If the EEOC determines that the case has merit, they will file the suit.

Even if the employee is not interested in filing a suit, he or she might want to consult an attorney in this matter. That’s because the company is interested in protecting themselves, and there is no one in this situation who is looking out for the employee. It’s often unwise for an individual to go up against a team of lawyers.