No one who files a lawsuit in court is guaranteed success, but your likelihood of success increases if you do specific things before you file. While I will be discussing them in the context of an employment case, these four tips could apply to a variety of cases.
1. Document! If you are an employee and your coworkers, or someone in authority treats you poorly, and that poor treatment becomes a pattern, don't brush it off. Don't pretend that it doesn't matter, or hope it goes away. Start documenting it. That means keeping a journal of who/what/when/where/why, as well as retaining any relevant emails, text messages, or phone messages. Even if the treatment turns out to not be illegal, it never hurts to have a record. That way, if you do end up filing a claim, you will have evidence to back up your assertions. Too often, people who file a claim must work backwards, scrambling to find evidence after they have asserted illegal behavior.
2. Seek Help From Someone in Authority. One of the first things you should do if you think that you have received poor, possibly illegal treatment, is inform someone in authority. Too often, employees who receive poor treatment end up quitting in protest, or immediately filing a claim. While that does not always harm their case, courts generally look more favorably on those who first try to work things out within the company. If you are mistreated by coworkers, find a supervisor whom you can trust. If there is none, or if the supervisor is the one mistreating you, talk to your company's human resources department. If human resources does not help, see if there is anyone else in a position of authority whom you trust to remedy the issue. If going through company channels does not improve working conditions, an aggrieved employee may then go ahead and file a claim.
3. Keeping Fulfilling Your Obligations. When someone has been wronged at work, it is tempting to quit, or to stop performing certain job duties. Your morale may be low, and you may be feeling angry and bitter toward your company. Yet too often when that happens, employers may give the employee poor performance reviews, or outright fire the employee and claim that it was justifiable based on the employee's poor performance. An employee may then be able to prove that the true cause of the firing was retaliation for filing a claim, but it is much easier to show retaliation if the employee can also show that his or her work performance never changed -- that is, it was the same quality of work as when the employee received good performance reviews.
4. Don't Wait. Some people brush off poor treatment for years before filing a claim. They should keep in mind that there are time limitations attached to their claims. For instance, if they seek to file a discrimination claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, they can only do so within 180 days (or in some cases 300) from the day the discrimination took place. There are also statutes of limitations attached to each claim, which means that if they seek relief for discrimination going back 10 years, they will not be able to do so. So as you attempt to first work things out within the company, keep the time limitations for filing a case in mind.
Again, these four tips may not guarantee success, but they will likely make your case stronger.
If you need a Bay Area employment law attorney, contact the Wild Law Office today.
The above should not be construed as legal advice.
Again, these four tips may not guarantee success, but they will likely make your case stronger.
If you need a Bay Area employment law attorney, contact the Wild Law Office today.
The above should not be construed as legal advice.
