Right To Sue Letter Discrimination: Fill & Download for Free

Virtually all lawsuits that allege workplace discrimination that are not actually entirely without merit are ultimately settled. Generally, this is because the defendants do not want to take their chances with the jury, which has essentially unlimited authority to award punitive damages in discrimination cases. Once it becomes apparent that the plaintiffs have a case that will survive a motion for summary judgment, the only sensible thing to do is to settle, and that’s what most defendants do.The vast vast vast vast majority of discrimination claims, however, do not lead to settlements. Most of them die when the complainant, after filing their complaint with the relevant state or federal equal opportunity agency, gets from the agency a determination that the agency has not found sufficient evidence of unlawful discrimination. While one can still sue at this point, the chances of success on the merits are very low, and most such lawsuits, when filed, end in dismissals or in summary judgments for the defendant. Complaints that do generate a “right to sue” letter (or the equivalent) are the exception, not the rule. Most complaints that do generate a “right to sue” letter will ultimately be settled.

Taxpayers finance EEOC investigations and, in rare cases, lawsuits filed by the EEOC.Like these: Amtrak to Pay $112,000 to Settle EEOC Disability Discrimination Lawsuit; Your Health Team, L.L.C. To Pay $20,000 To Settle EEOC Pregnancy Discrimination Suit; EEOC Sues McDonald�s Franchise for Disability Discrimination.EEOC investigations produce Right To Sue letters for private employment discrimination lawsuits except those based on age discrimination.

What prevents an employer from simply firing an old worker and replacing him with a younger one in an at-will employment with no legal protections?A number of state and federal laws and other legal theories protect older workers from termination in favor of younger workers:The Age Discrimination in Employment Act [1]The Employment Retirement Income Security Act[2]The Americans with Disabilities Act[3], in some circumstancesFourteenth Amendment theories[4]Wrongful discharge and constructive termination law, depending on the circumstancesRetaliatory discharge law, depending on the circumstancesVarious and sundry tort theoriesThe problem is burden is on older employee to prove his/her termination was discriminatory. The person would first have to file a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and let it investigate. The EEOC could sue employer on older employee’s behalf, but probably not. Instead, the EEOC would greenlight employee to sue employer via a Right to Sue letter. Even then, employee has little time to file suit against employer (though employee should have retained an employment law attorney for assistance before s/he complained to the EEOC). Then, employer would answer employee’s complaint. Its best affirmative defense would be at-will employment.Employers grudgingly comply with anti ageism laws for the sole reason they do not want to expose themselves to an EEOC probe or a lawsuit. Unfortunately, despite all of laws in place designed to protect older employees from termination, employers know the likelihood is small that older employees will sue them for their misdeeds. So, it is all too often employers get away with terminating older employees.Footnotes[1] U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission[2] Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)[3] ADA.gov homepage[4] 14th Amendment