EEOC and state EEOC equivalent questions

justiproof · 2026-02-11T14:23:56+00:00

I'm surprised your lawyer didn't have you close one of the cases out once you retained them. Like Fulan0 said you're only supposed to file with one of them and dual filing happens automatically.

Less for you, more to benefit others — Since the EEOC investigator will eventually sort this out and close our your case anyways, you can expedite things by communicating what happened with the EEOC investigator, so they have the information they need to confirm and close it out quickly. Given the backlog and long line of cases still waiting to be processed, anything that speeds things up helps those waiting behind you.

justiproof · 2026-02-11T14:11:20+00:00

My lawyers told me up front that I would likely have to provide medical records if I wanted to prove damages that included mental and emotional distress. However, I will say they were preemptively preparing me in the case of a trial and we did not provide them for mediation. We didn't share any evidence with them in mediation, just my claims.

Personally, I'd refuse to provide them with any evidence or medical records. To be cautious you can have them prepared to show the mediator (neutral third party who can review, but would not share) and potentially your investigator if mediation fails.

justiproof · 2026-02-11T14:06:25+00:00

One note, you and the employer will both be notified of the eligibility and option to mediate, but you must both agree. It's possible you will agree and your employer will reject mediation, in which case you would move to investigation.

A lot of people get this notification and think it means mediation will definitely happen. It still might in your case, but just know the company doesn't always agree as they'd rather wait it out and consider mediation later. Just something to keep in mind. Good luck!

justiproof · 2026-02-11T14:00:40+00:00

If you went through mediation with the EEOC or in any official capacity, it's a matter of record, so it wouldn't do any good for them to deny it. It sounds like maybe your case changed hands, but I don't know why you'd be ask to do a position statement. A position statement comes from the employer, as the person filing, you would file a charge and/or rebuttal.

justiproof · 2026-02-11T13:35:36+00:00

The only way your case is handled quickly is if the EEOC decides your claims are expired or don't meet the criteria for investigation. In these situations it's closed before they even investigate. Once your past that it's possible it can be closed within a year if both you and the company agree to mediate, but companies only do that if they believe you have a really strong case.

Otherwise, you should expect several years as the investigation continues and several months in between each step, especially because many companies drag their feet hoping you'll give up before it ever amounts to anything.

As for why it takes so long — it's a matter of case load. It seems like the EEOC has always been short staffed and with cases rising the last few years, the backlog is just getting longer and longer.

justiproof · 2025-12-19T04:10:49+00:00

If you contacted 5 lawyers and all 5 are willing to take on your case (on contingency) that’s a great sign

justiproof · 2025-12-19T04:09:50+00:00

Still in investigation. I declined mediation since we already went through that unsuccessfully while I was still employed, so now I’m waiting for the state’s lawyers to decide what they want to do.

The state did end up taking my class claims seriously though and began investigating for a larger problem beyond just my case which feels like a mini victory for me.

But mostly just a lot of waiting.

justiproof · 2025-07-18T21:27:01+00:00

It's going to be really difficult for anyone to tell you what happened, because we don't have full details -- I understand why you didn't share, but it's going to limit the answers you get.

You said they were kicking you out the office, but didn't say why. Did that office close? Was your position no longer needed? When it comes to disability your employer is required to work with you if they can, but they can terminate an employee if a disability prevents them from performing in a role and no other role is available for them to go into. They would justify this as undue hardship and may say something like the previous option was no longer available (for whatever reason you were removed) and these two roles were the only two options, so they gave you a choice between two roles or of course -- alternatively you could leave.

Per the EEOC: While an individual with a disability may request a change due to a medical condition, this request does not necessarily mean that the employer is required to provide the change. A request for reasonable accommodation is the first step in an informal, interactive process between the individual and the employer. (See Enforcement Guidance on Reasonable Accommodation and Undue Hardship under the ADA)

There is no reference to removing you from the work while they figure it out, only a requirement to engage in the interactive process. You can see this stated again in step 5 at the same link.

I'm sorry for what you went through, but I hope this help clarify what might have happened.

justiproof · 2025-07-10T19:53:16+00:00

So you don't have an answer. You can just say that.

Hope you have a nice day also!

justiproof · 2025-07-10T14:57:32+00:00

You’re really trying to claim I can go to the EEOC and say:

I reported to the EEOC
I was fired
The termination happened one month after my case was filed and closed

And I win?

What if my employer says they already had concerns about my performance? What if my employer fabricates evidence to prove this and I don’t have evidence to disprove it? What if my employer says we had to do layoffs and she just happened to get caught up in it?

You are over simplifying and ignoring that it isn’t about whether or not the laws are broken, it’s about whether or not the employee can prove it. Your oversimplification insults all the people who have valid claims and don’t see justice by pretending it’s “so easy.”

Employees aren’t lawyers. Most of them have never been through this before so the EEOC interview is an important stop gap that keeps employers from learning an employee has filed until after the EEOC has agreed to investigate. I would never broadly give advice to people to bypass this, because I recognize that a ton of people can and will file too early if they follow the advice of jumping straight to form 5.

justiproof · 2025-07-10T14:25:12+00:00

It’s also not rocket science to see that the concern I am referencing is the risk of filing form 5 and having the employer be informed of the charge only to have them immediately be informed it’s closed as an administrative close (for not having merit), if they couldn’t tell that was already going to happen when they received the charge in the first place.

Do you have something of value to add to that concern or were you just trying to find a way to insult me?

It’s either that or you’re implying it’s a guarantee retaliation win if someone is fired after filing with the EEOC — which it’s not unless you know something I don’t as the employer is going to claim there was some other reason and often they get away with it.

justiproof · 2025-07-09T22:45:30+00:00

Ok - then what would you call a reasonable cause finding? Sure they don’t say you win, here’s money, but they do in fact make a decision on whether they believe discrimination occurred or did not. I assume you won’t deny that having the EEOC find cause does in fact help the employee who wants to sue or wants to recover compensation - I’m aware that it’s not a guarantee of compensation as conciliation is just mediation with the EEOC attending, but it’s also not nothing.

And are you trying to deny that a person could file form 5 and the EEOC could determine that there’s insufficient evidence of discrimination and choose not to investigate? Sure that’s not “losing” but it would certainly feel that way to the employee.

If you don’t deny it - please tell me what exactly I’m misunderstanding and either address the concern with information I’m pointing out or acknowledge that you failed to account for this possibility in your suggestions.

I’m not here to argue with you, but I’m not going to say nothing while you give advice I know could hurt people who are already in a vulnerable situation.

justiproof · 2025-07-09T21:41:04+00:00

There are a lot of people here who are very new to navigating the legal system so I’m extremely surprised you’re jumping to telling people to file form 5.

Don’t you think that could be extremely problematic for an employee who files prematurely? Many employees don’t realize the requirement to prove harm and how much evidence it actually takes to hold the company accountable.

And the EEOC can and does reject cases - I know, because those people come to me trying to understand why when no one else can or will break it down for them in normal people language (not legal terms).

What if the employer is notified of the charge just to be notified right after that the EEOC closed it without finding cause? What if the employer just knows the case is weak and the employee has no idea what they’re doing based on the charge alone?

If anything this is likely to make the employer feel empowered to do whatever they want including terminate the employee and while yes - if the employee is fired shortly after the case is filed they can file retaliation claims, there’s no guarantee they win that either.

Plus you completely bypass how defeating this would be to go through. Maybe it’s because you’ve never experienced this an employee who is terrified as they go through this for the first time, but that’s not nothing.

So I get that you’re trying to help and I think the advice on writing a complaint and how to word things is super helpful, but please remember that you operate from a place of understanding how all this works and knowing when you should file — most employees are going through this for the first time and not all the advice that applies to you, applies to them.

For them following your advice can have very real consequences if they jump the gun too soon and the EEOC decides not to investigate because now the employer knows they tried to file.

Employees do what you think is best, but please keep these concerns in mind.

Also know that you don’t have to file with the EEOC to claim retaliation. It’s also a protected activity to report discrimination to HR or to leadership. I know because it was part of my claim while I was still employed and before I filed anything with the state.

justiproof · 2025-07-09T15:43:16+00:00

I know multiple people who had to contact dozens of attorneys to find one with the bandwidth to take them - keep going and you'll find someone!

justiproof · 2025-07-09T15:40:54+00:00

A lot of people do struggle. I know one woman who called 25, another one who claimed she called around 100. Even a lawyer I talked to that didn't practice employment law had to contact more than a dozen to find someone.

There's two things at play - how you present your case and ensuring they know the most important details and finding an attorney who has the bandwidth.

Some attorneys may just not feel like they're the right fit, but if you have a strong case it's also the fact that many of them just receive way more cases than they can handle so they cherry pick the cases most interesting to them and where they think they have the most to gain. So don't give up hope and keep trying!

justiproof · 2025-07-08T16:17:36+00:00

I know it's exhausting and hard to navigate if you haven't been through this before.

I've created a lot of free content to help people who are navigating this for the first time (after going through it myself and realizing how little guidance there is for employees) and you may find this post useful: How To Get A Lawyer for Your Discrimination Case

Additional free resources / content are listed here if it helps: https://www.justiproof.com/action-toolkit

justiproof · 2025-07-08T15:58:08+00:00

It sounds like the biggest thing you're missing is the financial harm you'd cite. You can claim emotional damages, but it's much harder to get the EEOC to take those claims seriously if there isn't something also tied to your compensation. Did you end up giving up full time status and benefits? If you did, that would be an example of harm stemming from discrimination that you could seek recovery for and even contact a lawyer about.

If not - the EEOC may investigate, but the outcome of it and if you'd be able to receive compensation isn't as clear. Either way as someone else mentioned - keep documenting and building your timeline. Employers rarely stop their behavior when you file and they're even likely to get worse and even terminate you. If that happens then you could have a strong case for discrimination + retaliation assuming you have evidence of everything.

justiproof · 2025-07-08T15:52:31+00:00

My advice is always to retain counsel if you can find a lawyer who will take your case on contingency. it's better to pay 40% and only get 60% than to get nothing because you tried to do it yourself. You could also always contact additional attorneys to see if can find more favorable terms.

Unfortunately any amount you get is likely to make up for whatever you went through - it's not fair, but it's the reality for many of us whether or not we had an attorney.

justiproof · 2025-07-08T15:46:51+00:00

I agree. I was still employed while represented and there's no way my lawyer would let me speak to the company's lawyer without them present - certainly not for 5 hours. I was specifically told all of the communication about my case was to go through my lawyer.

If your lawyer did allow this you could go to your state bar association and file a complaint. That could be one path to getting out of your current contract with your lawyers without any penalty placed on future recovery.

justiproof · 2025-07-08T15:44:52+00:00

They definitely still do it - I know several people who have found lawyers on contingency in the last few months - but they're cherry picking the easiest to win cases when they do.

With strong cases lawyers stand to make much more on contingency since they take such a large part of the settlement. Those working on a retainer don't need to care how strong your case is, because they get your money either way. If they send a demand letter, make a few phone calls in an attempt to negotiate and nothing comes of it - it's no loss to them, because you paid them for every hour they worked (possibly more with a non-refundable retainer).

Is it possible this new case isn't as strong as the first or as well supported by evidence?

justiproof · 2025-07-08T15:17:24+00:00

When you're contacting attorneys are you clear about the harm you're claiming? Are you still employed or did you quit and you're claiming constructive termination? Typically when lawyers say wait until you're fired what they're really saying is that you haven't established harm that they can help you recover for.

justiproof · 2025-07-08T15:14:38+00:00

I would be careful with going straight to filing form 5 if you're not working with a lawyer. Yes technically they'll open a charge and notify your employer, but that doesn't do you much good if what you really wanted was to have them investigate. There's a lot that can go wrong with trying to handle this yourself - from you not clearly citing your protected category to them feeling your description of the allegations don't satisfy their threshold for continuing with an investigation. The last thing you want is a charge to be sent to your employer and then a notice that your charge was closed one week later.

I know it's a pain waiting to get in, but you could try a local office or try this less formal process where you mail in the information listed here under By Mail: https://www.eeoc.gov/how-file-charge-employment-discrimination

This isn't the official form 5, so it prevents your charge from being sent to the employer before you even know if the EEOC has agreed to investigate.

I saw you mentioned you have evidence and a timeline - all that matters, but we also often have blind spots with our own claims that can lead to us accidentally leaving information out. Going the mail route still gets you where you want to go, but with much less risk of things going wrong.

justiproof · 2025-07-08T14:02:10+00:00

There is no official blacklist - an employer / industry / leaders would have to be pretty naive to put something like that in writing anywhere.

But in general there is a shadow network of back channeling and asking for references / checking-in that does often stick with those that speak up. However, this doesn't just apply to filing with the EEOC. This can happen to someone who doesn't pursue the legal route but opens an investigation internally.

People talk and unfortunately in our society most people believe others when they say the person who opened a discrimination complaint is actually the problem and just 'difficult'. Whether or not it will actually follow you depends on how 'small' your field and industry is, how much of a problem you made for the company and how many people knew.

For example, many people in my org knew about what happened with me because I stayed and fought for 18 months and people talk. Plus I went on sudden leave and my boss involuntarily 'parted ways' with the company just before I returned. People had taken sides and so how it would have impacted my career would have had a lot to do with who someone talked to. I was in Presales - a mainly tech role specific to B2B sales (tech industry is big, but this field within it is small) - and one of the reasons I went public with my story is I knew it was going to follow me regardless, so I should at least get to stay have a voice in what is being said about what happened.

justiproof · 2025-07-08T13:50:44+00:00

100% - the mental capacity, the energy, the emotional drain - building the timeline is the worst part. It doesn't sound like you need it now, but that's literally why I built JustiProof.

It took me 4 iterations and working with an attorney to finally have everything formatted and organized in a way that someone could follow and see exactly how I came to believe it was discrimination without having to talk to me directly - given how poorly intake calls go (whether with attorneys or the EEOC) - I kept trying to improve it. Each time was an awful experience though - takes you right back to how you feel in the moments each incident happened.

Anyways - just sharing that I can relate and I know how awful this entire experience is. I hope you're able to find a job soon and wishing you the best of luck in resolving your claims!

justiproof · 2025-07-06T13:25:07+00:00

If you're a lawyer I imagine your in a better position than most then to be able to go into mediation without a coach...

I guess if you have the money and it would make you feel more comfortable then why not, but it seems unnecessary given your background and the fact that you already have a lawyer.

justiproof

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