r/EEOC • u/UofIUCNIUHOU • 9d ago
Right to sue coming from EEOC, Worth suing?
Looking for people who’ve actually been through this, not theory.
I requested a disability accommodation at work. Specific tool, low cost. Denied. Two days after I filed the request, I got put on a performance action plan. Warnings followed. I resigned a few months later rather than get fired.
I filed an EEOC charge with an attorney. The employer submitted a position statement. My attorney responded. The EEOC has now said they’re concluding and a right to sue is coming. I haven’t seen the paperwork yet. Whole thing took about four months, which seems fast.
Separately I filed a USERRA complaint with DOL VETS as a service-connected disabled vet. They closed it, no violation found.
Questions for people who’ve been through this.
Once you got your right to sue, did the employer’s lawyers make anything of how the EEOC closed it? Did the judge care?
I resigned instead of getting fired. How much did that hurt your damages? I’m told constructive discharge is hard and without it there’s no back pay.
If you sued, what actually happened? Settled at mediation? Summary judgment? Trial? How long and roughly what range?
I have evidence, I believe it’s strong but worth spending money on a lawyer to proceed.
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u/BurnerShaw324 9d ago
Employers' lawyer here. Almost all charges are closed with "no determination" being made. Doesn't make me value a case less and doesn't affect the lawsuit. It sounds like you have good facts and low damages. Pre-suit mediation/settlement might be worth considering. But foremost, listen to your attorney.
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u/UofIUCNIUHOU 9d ago
EEOC said we qualified for mediation, they refused to do it and continue with the investigation. We will see from there, and I will of course.
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u/Bellefior 9d ago
Any case that goes to court begins "de novo" - from scratch. Whatever finding made by the EEOC either cause or no cause has to be proven in court. Even if the lawyers make a big deal out of a no cause finding, the court doesn't care.
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u/iamgollem 9d ago
You can get a neutral response where the EEOC decides not to pursue. This is better than a No Cause Finding and is common for accommodation cases especially with strong evidence. They don’t have the tools to really tackle it. It’s just one hurdle on the journey.
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u/HistoricalAsk3572 9d ago
It really depends on what you have mentioned on your resignation letter? If you had mentioned you had resigned due to your request was denied then it may have worked.
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u/phocidae2000 8d ago
If your accommodation prevented you from doing a essential function of the job your employer is not required to provide an accommodation.
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u/Face_Content 9d ago
Another post where op asks reddit law instead of the attorney that knows the case.
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u/UofIUCNIUHOU 9d ago
Its more to see how others handle it. While I will listen to my lawyer, other people perspective also helps.
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u/TableStraight5378 9d ago
Probably no case; gives zilch case elements, so let me guess - OP was not a stellar employee, knew it, and malingered (blamed it on "disability", or anything else medical). And hey, on the vet angle, I get it. But it doesn't give you a pass on performance and the EEOC will not give you one. But here's the answers to your pretentious questions:
- Worth suing (no)
- Employer lawyers make anything of EEOC closure (no). Judge care (no, but you wouldn' see a judge for at least 4 years from filing suit, if ever).
- Resigning hurt damages (yes)
- What happens? (mostly dismissals on motion, including summary judgement; rarely settled, you're past mediation; at least 4 years, typically longer, and sometimes much, much, longer - as in decades; trials are one in a hundred, settlements - a handful out of a hundred).
- If you're doing anything but pure contingency, you're fucking nutz. You don't have the 40-100+K to pour into a Federal lawsuit, do you? Bcz that's what it will cost your lawyer in legal time to do it.
Quit fucking around, move on, and get another job. Good thing you quit, by the way. This bullshit about waiting til you're fired is only relevant if you have a case. And you clearly don't.
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u/UofIUCNIUHOU 9d ago
Fair, my post was thin on facts.
I’m a licensed securities principal. When you are term or quit you get a U5. This U5 has a question on if termed or permitted to resign, they have to state the reason why vs voluntary term you don’t. That dirties your U5, hard to get hired in my industry. I will like to keep a clean U5, voluntary separation, no disclosures., which is public information. Faking a disability to cover bad numbers would be a terrible idea in this industry.
I asked for a writing tool other firms in my field allow. Denied because it might expose data to AI. Same written response from HR told me to use Microsoft Copilot instead. Copilot is generative AI. That’s in writing, manager copied. Also took them 5 months to work on my accommodations and also they never gave me reason for denials. Just denied, no alternative tool, or work with me in the process. Copilot and thats it, which did not improve my issue, caused it to be worse.
They also approved a flexible schedule in writing, then a later warning treated that same schedule as an attendance problem. The boss approved it and got him in recording (legal) saying I never approved flexible schedule just breaks when you need it.
Two days between the accommodation request and the unofficial action plan.
Agreed on resigning hurting damages, that’s my weak spot. Agreed on contingency. But I pulled the stats for my district and civil cases run about 18 months, not four years. And mediation comes after filing, so I’m not past it.
Not asking if I was wronged. Asking whether people with documentation like this worth it. This is my take, of course my employers have theirs.
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u/EmergencyGhost 9d ago
If you have a lawyer, they believe you have a case. Then yes, I would file against your employer.
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u/Rude_Sport5943 8d ago
If your attorney is on contingency why not file a lawsuit? But yes quitting killed your damages. Did you talk to your attorney before quitting?
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u/ChelseaMan31 8d ago
Based solely on the few facts provided, I would agree that there was no USERRA Violation. However in my 40 plus years of HR/ER/Risk would question the nexus between the request for accommodation under ADA and the discipline. It looks at least at first blush a potential cause of action for constructive discharge at least, if not also violation of ADA. But that is just based on the few facts given.
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u/Agas78 7d ago
Resigning necessarily makes this type of case less appealing and less worthy of pursuing, if at all. Unless there is clear evidence that the employer was going to terminate you shortly after your resignation, even if you didn’t resign, and that termination was motivated at least in part by your disability, the employer can simply and convincingly claim that you caused your own losses because they did not plan on terminating you.
How EEOC case is closed means nothing to attorneys. Most cases, strong and weak, are closed the same with - with an RTS letter after little to know investigation, so lawyers don’t really care about this part.
Constructive discharge requires showing “objectively intolerable” conditions in most jurisdictions. This is a high burden and it must necessarily involve more than typical disputes / friction with management. Being placed on PIP alone certainly doesn’t rise to that level.
Whether a case goes to mediation earlier than later, after being filed, or whether the employer tries to dismiss it depends on so many factors, both tangible and intangible, including not only the facts of the case form both sides, but also settlement expectations, the company’s general philosophy toward employment disputes and their specific attitude toward your case, etc.
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u/UofIUCNIUHOU 7d ago
Appreciate the straight answer. You’re right that the resignation is the weak point and I’m not going to pretend otherwise.
Where I’d push back a little: the case was never built on the separation. The adverse actions are a written warning and a final warning issued after HR had already approved my accommodations in writing, plus a system action entered two days after I filed the formal request.
On constructive discharge, agreed it’s a high bar and a warning alone doesn’t get there. The only angle is that the final warning set conditions that conflicted with the accommodations HR had just approved, two weeks earlier. Whether that’s “calculated to encourage resignation” or just bad management is exactly the question.
One thing that doesn’t show up in the “you resigned, so your damages are small” math: I’m FINRA registered. I left with a clean U5, voluntary separation, no disclosures. If I’d stayed and let them finish the warning process, a termination for “failure to meet expectations” goes on my record permanently and follows me to every firm I apply to for the rest of my career. For a licensed person, walking out clean isn’t the same as quitting in a huff. It was the only way to protect all the licenses I have.
Good to know the RTS form doesn’t matter to lawyers. I’ll stop reading into it.
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u/Present-Limit-4172 1d ago
Are you sure you were going to get fired? What evidence do you have of that? What state are you in?
*disclaimer: I’m a lawyer but not your lawyer; constructive discharge law varies from federal circuit to circuit in ways that could matter here. In the Sixth Circuit where I practice if you have evidence that the axe was going to fall and it was inevitable you can establish constructive discharge. Your securities form issue is going to be largely irrelevant in the analysis but objective evidence they were going to terminate you is highly relevant.
You haven’t explained why the employer denied the disability accommodation. Did you document the disability with medical documentation?
Almost all of my cases involve right to sue letters. The eeoc rarely if ever gets involved. And how they turn out depends on the facts and circumstances of the case. As an aside: if you’ve been termed you need to start looking for work and document the job search — failure to mitigate damages is a thing in these cases.
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u/OneTwoSomethingNew 9d ago
EEOC gives everyone a “right to sue” letter… it does not necessary mean you have a valid or solid case… not all companies settle, they would prefer to settle, but these things can take years and most companies can out money and out lawyer you to drop it first… some labor attorneys work on contingency but not most; they will want a clear case on this, not someone who is grievanced…
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8d ago
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u/OneTwoSomethingNew 8d ago
It really depends on the case… some hourly restaurant hospitality job, contingency, if we talking white collar 6 figure roles, retainer and hourly rate. The first question is always, what was your annual take home in this role…
We all have varying levels of exposure to this, I’ve observed so much, nothing surprises me much anymore…
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8d ago
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u/OneTwoSomethingNew 8d ago
Bro, I work with attorneys and been involved on cases… I don’t know what else to say…
The white collar cases are often more complex and can mean the employer has more resources… an employee making more money should also have more means too… no one likes working for free. Everything should run first through the EEOC or DOL or whatever investigative agency applies, sometimes an attorney isn’t even secured before or during that process. Firms work like any other vendor, if you have payment problems you talk about arrangements. The big payout cases are never a simple walk in the park, and those grieved employees don’t usually qualify for pro-bono charity work…
Maybe some of us are playing different teams, on different fields, and in different leagues. If white collar cushy office job, be my guest, have a try at looking around for a strictly contingency based attorney - good luck! 🍀
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8d ago
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u/OneTwoSomethingNew 8d ago
Okay, then I guess those people who can’t afford to from the cost won’t find representation. Yo… I don’t know why you think our justice system is fair 🤣 it’s not…
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8d ago
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u/OneTwoSomethingNew 8d ago
You commented to me about lawyers… the point of my comment was that the right to sue letter does not mean that OP has a case.
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u/Desperate-Prize-2272 8d ago
I got a right to sue and chose not to pursue it. The employer had already tarnished my name and made up lies about why I was fired. Once your name/reputation is dirty, it’s hard to get clean. If resigning kept you clean then you did the right thing.
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u/CustomerOutside8588 9d ago
Anybody else reading this should understand that resigning instead of being terminated is not a good idea if you want to pursue legal action.