Hello,

I filed a racial discrimination charge (with the EEO) and the charge was served 7-10-06 to the company I work for.

The company has contated the eeo and advised they are wanting to mediate the issue.

Is it normal for companies to mediate so quickly?
What should I expect?

You can find more here http://www.eeoc.gov/mediate/index.html

Thanks so much for your reply and the link, it was very informative.

I guess I was a little puzzled that the company wanted to go to mediation so quickly because I had been trying to settle the dispute for almost a year.

Is it normal for companies to tell employees there was no wrongdoing then decide to try and settle in mediation?

Of course. Mediation is a way of settling the matter without litigation. If the employer says it didn't happen and the employee says it did, it has to resolve one way or another.

Now it is starting to make sense and come together for me because the company insisted for eight months there was no wrongdoing. Then in April I was told, by the company, there was wrongdoing. Until July nothing was ever done to correct the pay discrepancy issue.

I filed a complaint with the eeo and submitted 10 months worth of emails, meeting notes, etc...and per the eeo, I submitted enough information to show there was "something" going on with the company.

Now, the company wants to settle. I guess it is just a little hard to believe that out of everything I had gone through it only took them two weeks to decide on mediation.

This is unbelievable!

This is very typical. Companies have very little incentive to settle with an employee who does not have a lawyer or gov't agency on their side- but once you do, they will take you more seriously.

Thanks Megan for that outlook on my situation.

I think the company felt I would drop the issue if it went on long enough and I never did.

Since they responded so quickly with the eeo's complaint, does that normally mean the company is admitting to "some" wrongdoing? I have documentation (emails) where I advised management of the white employees (same job, hours) paid differently. Management first stated there was no pay discrepancy when a company's audit was conducted, then I am told there were employees (never mention color,but I am the only black/female on this shift) paid differently than I but nothing was ever done to right the wrong.


This issue has caused me and my family a lot of hardship. August 13th will mark one year of consistent complaints, aggrivation, worrying, depression, harassment and a host of other emotions.

They won't admit to anything- they will probably tell you that they only want to mediate to save paying their attorneys. What they will do is offer you money, and that is as close as a company can get to an apology.

Thanks Megan and God Bless.

You really gave me a new perspective to look at this from.

Luckily, I have documented every event and have everything, in writing, dating back to the incident.

I go to mediation soon so we will see what happens.

Again, thanks for taking the time to respond.

I would contact an attorney prior to mediation to give you some insight on how to bargain.
JoeC

Thanks for that input.

I am currently looking for an attorney to possibly represent me in this matter. Hopefully I am able to find someone who is not scared to represent me against such a huge company.

Nevertheless, I will not give up.

Thanks to all of you for so much input. I really appreciate you all for that.

Don't know if you have gone to mediation yet, or not. But, your representative does not have to be a lawyer. You can contact some of the law schools to see if you can get a representative or someone from your union, if you have one, can accommodate you. You will need to know, in advance, what it is that you accept to settle the case. Be prepared to compromise. When you go to mediation, they are looking to settle. If your company asked for mediation, they probably want to settle. EEOC usually request mediation. In mediation, your representative doesn't talk for you. I've been through several, many as a representative. I'm not a lawyer.

Thanks so much for that information from a personal view point.

I do have another question...Are employees allowed to take notations (not photocopies) of his/her personnel records? I recently requested to see my personnel file and was told I could not take notations.

In viewing my file I saw BLATANT lies that could very well affect my raise, promotions etc..I have DIRECT evidence the information is untrue.

What are my rights when it comes to personnel files (South Carolina).

I have not had my mediation yet but I am very confident that all will go well..

Thanks

The file is the employer's property and they may put in there what they want for the most part. You can try to write a rebuttal of the things that are false but it need not be accepted by your employer. I'd advise addressing those things with your legal representative, particularly if you are headed for mediation. Just putting a rebuttal in the file doesn't change anything. Nor does firing you for reasons that are false necessarily lead to a wrongful discharge claim or serve as evidence of an illegal motive. You really should discuss this with counsel though.

Thanks for that insight, I did not look at it in that way.

I guess I was a little confused because our handbook states "an employee can go to his/her Supervisor or any Supervisor for any concerns". I went to my Supervisor (black/male) to request my personnel records. I advised him that I wanted to view and possible discuss any wrong information.

Well later that day a white/male Supervisor and a white/female Supervisor called me in to view my records. These are the same two people I have filed harassment/discrimination charges against both with the company and the eeoc. I never requested records from them so I am not sure why they particularly held the meeting. I wanted to speak to my Supervisor. I thought I had that right, per the handbook.

My Supervisor (black/male) advised me that I could not photocopy but he did not see anything wrong with note taking. When I went into the actual meeting to view my records I was told that I could not photocopy or write down notes from my file. I asked to be shown the procedure and was told that it is just company policy.

I currently do not have legal representation. I am at the mediation stage and I still work with the company so more issues continue to happen.

This is the second time this has happened since I filed charges against the company. The other time I requested to have a meeting with a particular Supervisor(white/female)for procedure clarification because I had noticed, once again, I was being told things differently from others (this came from personal observation over a weeks time). I requested to have the meeting with the Supervisor (white/female) and my Supervisor (black/male). The white/female Supervisor came back and told me that "she would be happy to meet with me but I would have to meet with her and another white/male Supervisor". I did not agree to the meeting and the issues were never resolved.

Issues are very long but very true.

Thanks all

A policy that says you may go to your supervisor with any concerns is very different than allowing you to meet only with those you wish to meet with about those concerns or allowing you to make notes from the file. It isn't claer why you objected to meeting with these other two supervisors but the company isn't obligated to allow you to only meet with the one person you request. In some cases, that might not even be the appropriate or best person to handle the situation.