How2Day: EEO Types of Lawsuits

Being an equal employment opportunity (EEO) company means your organizational leadership is committed to the principles of fairness in all employment actions. Employment actions include hiring, training, promoting, retaining and terminating employees. Some of the federal laws that prohibit job discrimination include Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Equal Pay Act of 1963, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. The U.S. Equal Employment Commission enforces these laws as well as many other laws requiring compliance from employers. Lawyers who file EEO-related lawsuits base their clients' claims on a number of reasons.

EEOC clearly defines the type of behavior and actions that form the basis for sexual harassment by stating: "Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual's employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual's work performance, or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment." Sexual harassment lawsuits can lead to lengthy trials where a court determines if the workplace behavior creates an environment where members of either sex are treated unfairly. Because of the nature of these types of lawsuits, the plaintiff may be subjected to inquiries pertaining to his own sexual behavior within and outside the workplace.

A claim of hostile work environment often accompanies claims of workplace discrimination. When an employee experiences discrimination or pervasive and overt unfair treatment, the workplace can become so hostile that it prevents the plaintiff, and possibly other employees, from being capable of performing his job duties. Unlawful harassment that rises to the level of creating a hostile workplace can affect many more people than the plaintiff. Employees who witness the harassment or employees who share characteristics with the actual subject of harassment can join the claim for a hostile work environment. In the alternative, employees who experience a hostile environment can be called as witnesses to the unlawful harassment.

Employment actions that discriminate against a person or group of people because of race may lead to lawsuits that require the employer to prove that it did not engage in unfair employment practices. An example of race discrimination in the workplace would include the company's failure to consider members of a certain race for training opportunities and eventual promotions from within. The types of records that an employer would need to support its defense in a lawsuit of this nature are employee census reports sorted according to race, tenure, beginning occupation and ending occupation. The records are then analyzed according to race, which uncovers any unlawful employment actions.

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