Introduction
There has been an increase in cases of a hostile working environment in the United States. A hostile working environment refers an offensive behavior towards employees that makes them feel unappreciated, scared, and intimidated in the workplace. There are several laws in the united states that guide on addressing workplace discrimination. The discrimination complaint process requires that employees having discrimination concerns to seek counseling before filing a formal complaint. The employee should file a claim within 15 days from when they receive a notice to file the complaint. The two parties can decide to file a lawsuit to resolve the discrimination matters in a process called the litigation process. The plaintiff files the lawsuit, and the plaintiff comprises of the defendant who the case is filed against. The mediation approach involves resolving workplace discrimination matters by employing an independent mediator who assists the parties in arriving at a suitable, mutually satisfactory settlement.
Elements of a hostile work environment harassment claim
There are essential elements that must prevail for a workplace harassment claim to be affirmed. For John to make a harassment claim, he must prove the following elements in his claim. John must belong to a protected class. He must provide a claim that the harassment subjected to him was verbal or physical conduct that involved the protected class. The harassment must be based on his statutory protected class (uscourts.gov, 2020). The harassment should affect the terms and conditions of employment to create a form of intimidation and offensive workplace environment. There should be a basis for imputing liability to the employers by proving that the employers we on notice but did nothing to prevent the harassment or discrimination.
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Can John potentially satisfy the elements of a hostile work environment harassment claim?
The experience john is undergoing is a hostile work environment, and the elements are sufficient to support his claim. John receives verbal harassment at the workplace by being called unpleasant names by the supervisor. The case of John satisfies the elements of a hostile work environment, and he can file the harassment claim. After reaching out to the human resource manager, John could not obtain any help. The use of the abusive language is aimed at intimidating John, who interferes with his working environment. In making a claim, however, John could suffer a lack of evidence since the verbal explanation might not be enough for a prima facie work discrimination case.
Does his employer have any defense for the supervisor's conduct?
The defense available to the employer depends on the claim category and impact. One of the first defense against the claim is employee non-compliance. The regulations and the policies of the organizations are not complied with. However, the supervisor needs to have a well-detailed report suggesting that the employee is noncompliant. The employee's performance is a defense made by an employee when the employee feels they have been fired inappropriately, and their contracts terminated without agreement.
Identify whether John can make a prima facie case of a hostile work environment by identifying the elements required to bring a cause of action for discrimination.
John can make a prima facie case against his employer. The verbal abuse made to john results in a strained relationship between him and his supervisor making the working conditions difficult and strenuous for John. There is a contract that makes john a protected person or employee in the organization. Being a protected person, John deserves protection against any form of workplace harassment. The fact that he reported the case to the human resource with no action gives him the obligation to advance his pursuit of obtaining justice. Employees can be subjected to disparate impact and disparate treatment at the workplace. By referring to John as an idiot, John is subjected to disparate treatment. However, there is insufficient evidence, as the supervisor does not have any plans of firing John anytime soon. John can report the matter to the EEO. John can initiate the process of filing a complaint by logging into the EEOC public portal and filing his concerns for action. The process can be conveniently done online, and the required papers sent to the office through email ( How to File a Charge of Employment Discrimination | U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission , 2020) .
Explain how the complaint process begins with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and proceed with a right-to-sue letter through the civil litigation process from the state to the U. S. Supreme Court.
According to EEOC, a case should be filed within 180 days from the time a discriminative action has happened to the employee. When the 180 days duration elapses, John might not be able to file a case. The body investigates the complaints filed by the employee. It determines whether the case has a legal backup of factual evidence and whether to reject or investigation process will kick start if the body sends the notification of the right to sue when they feel that the law was violated. The notification will give John the go-ahead to file a lawsuit against his employer. There are several processes of resolving the discrimination case that EEOC can apply, such as a request for hearing from EOC. A judge from the EEOC determines whether the discrimination or harassment action took place (EEOC, 2020) . Suppose the outcome of the agency is not pleasing to John, he can continue and file an appeal requesting for reconsideration within 30 days from the instance of the notification.
From the provisions offered by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the supreme court of the United States, John needs to initiate a litigation process. The United States Title VII prevents employers from harassing or discriminating their employees based on their race, gender, color, sex, nation of origin, and religion (EEOC, 2020) . As a protected employee, John should be appreciated and treated right by his supervisor. Title VII also offers protection against discrimination for employees who file a discrimination lawsuit. Employers should not retaliate at the action of an employer filing a discrimination lawsuit.
References
Home | U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission . Eeoc.gov. (2020). Retrieved 29 May 2020, from https://www.eeoc.gov/ .
United States Courts . United States Courts. (2020). Retrieved 29 May 2020, from https://www.uscourts.gov/.
How to File a Charge of Employment Discrimination | U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission . Eeoc.gov. (2020). Retrieved 30 May 2020, from https://www.eeoc.gov/how-file-charge-employment-discrimination.
