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I
am a woman, 58 yrs. old and
disabled. In Aug. of 1993, I
filed a case with the Los Angeles
office of the EEOC, charging
my former employer with age,
sex and disability discrimination.
The case was simple and clear-cut.
I had been denied a promotion
which was given to a man 20
yrs. my junior whom I had trained
and for whom I had served as
leadperson for some time. When
I protested, I was laid off.
I spent months exhausting every
possibility of redress within
the company and the parent corporation
(a defense contractor, whose
every contract with the American
military reiterates their committment
to abide by the Equal Employment
Opportunity laws) before filing
with the EEOC.
The case hinged on the simplest
of facts to prove or disprove.
The supervisor who chose the
young man over me claimed he
had prior experience in the
work which gave him equal or
better qualifications for the
work than mine. I knew this
to be untrue because I had given
him what little training he
had and was well aware of his
lack of expertise. But as I
had no access to his previous
work history, I could not prove
it. I knew that the EEOC would
be able to get this information,
and that his lack of prior experience
would prove that the supervisor
had lied and I had been discriminated
against.
For
3-and-a-half years, the EEOC
investigator assigned to my
case, gave me an incredible
run-around I will not detail
here, but which I will be happy
to describe if needed. In November
of 1996, I was informed that
the EEOC had determined that
no discrimination had occurred
and they would not be pursuing
my case. This, despite the fact
that I was able to determine
that a copy of the young man's
work history, showing no prior
experience in the relevant field,
was indeed included in the EEOC's
file on my case.
I
have written to my congressional
representative and to my senators
without effect. Two letters
to the First Lady's office,
in Aug. of 1995 and October
of 1996, resulted in queries
from the Washington EEOC office
essentially asking the Los Angeles
office if there was a problem
with the case and replies from
Los Angeles simply saying that
there wasn't. But no matter
whom I contact, I cannot seem
to get anyone outside the Los
Angeles office to look into
my file and see that the proof
of my charge is there and that
the Los Angeles office has simply
decided not to enforce the law
in my case.
Some
years ago, the ABC newsmagazine
program "20/20" ran an expose
of the behavior of the EEOC
under then-director Clarence
Thomas, a Reagan appointee,
detailing how the EEOC actively
assisted the Xerox Corporation
in circumventing the law in
the case of hundreds of older
workers that Xerox had laid
off and replaced with younger
workers. I had thought that
under a Democratic administration,
this situation was certain to
have changed or I would never
have bothered to file a complaint.
The EEOC is, essentially, an
arm of the President of the
United States, acting in his
name and using his authority.
I am certain that, if someone
with the authority to override
whatever agenda is being pursued
by the Los Angeles office of
the EEOC will simply pull the
file on my case and look into
it for 5 minutes, my charge
against that office will be
vindicated.
I
need to know how to further
pursue this matter. I cannot
give up, because the EEOC's
failure to act has, quite simply,
destroyed my life and my future.
It should be obvious, too, that
if that office has dealt with
a case as simple as mine in
this manner, there must be hundreds,
and perhaps thousands, of others
who have suffered the same treatment
at their hands.
If
anyone can suggest how I may
proceed from this point, please
e-mail me at [email protected]
I will be eternally grateful
for any assistance.
Thank
you, Barbara
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I'm
sorry to hear about 1.) all
of the harassement that you
have been subjected to and 2.)
that you have not been heard.
From what I have heard, this
is not surprising for the EEOC.
Apparently, due to the overwhelming
number of calls/requests they
receive, they do not give proper
attention to many of them. Even
when they respond to the cases,
they still don't have enough
time to do full investigations.
Another point about the EEOC,
is that regardless of who heads
it, the majority of the EEOC
staff is there--permanently.
(Such is the life of government
employee.)
I would suggest that you contact
9to5,
National Association of Working
Women. They have successfully
pursued many sex discrimination
and sexual harassment cases.
They have a toll free number:
1-800-522-0925.
I hope this helps. If, no, please
let me know and I will try to
come up with other suggestions.
Amy
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