If you’re filing a lawsuit against your employer, you may need to look at the situation from a different point of view to increase your chances of winning. For example, try talking to a legal professional in the employment field so that you are able to predict all your employer’s moves and avoid getting into legal trouble. Taking the wrong decisions could negatively impact your employment law claim and destroy your chances of receiving any benefits. For most people, this is the first time they will take a stand against their employers, so it’s crucial to seek guidance before filing a lawsuit. However, it’s almost as important, even if this is not the first time you’ve taken legal measures against an employer. Here, we give you the 9 steps you should take if you’re suing your employer.
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Learn to Identify Workplace Mistreatment
Suing your employer is no easy task. A wrong move; and you will have to face drastic legal and financial consequences. Before you decide to file a lawsuit against your employer, you need to make sure you are making the right claims. For that, you need to learn to recognize workplace misconduct well. Practices such as, harassment (both physical and mental), discrimination (gender, race, economic background), violations of wage and hour, and retaliation are some of the most crucial workplace mistreatment against which you can take strict actions.
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Document Everything
Documentation is an important aspect of lawsuits. Therefore, you want to keep a record of everything from phone calls to small talks you have with your employer. A written complaint in the paper is recommended if you’re talking to your boss or HR manager and trying to raise a complaint. You also want to make sure to follow up every conversation with an email to keep a record. When it comes to recording conversations for documentation purposes, there are two things to keep in mind. Firstly, the state law regarding conversation recording, and secondly, whether your employer has a policy against recording conversations.
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Figure Out What Type of Claim You’re Filing
There are many types of employment law claims that employees file against their employers. For example, there are claims for unpaid overtime and other wages, hostile work environment, discrimination, sexual harassment, Family and Medical Leave Act violations, disability discrimination, failure to accommodate, and many types of wrongful termination. Knowing what your claim is will help you hire a specialized lawyer who understands the field of your case.
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Create A Record
In this step, you need to use the documentation you created in the first step. Focus on building a timeline of the things that took place ever since your employment situation started. The earlier you create the timeline, the better for your case. However, it needs to be updated frequently throughout the process. This way, you’ll be able to refer to it every time you need to recall important dates or events. Make sure you’re specific with your entries. For example, mention the To and From along with the Subject line when recording emails in your timeline.
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Keep All Tangible Evidence
Other than keeping a record of your conversations and interactions, it’s also important to keep track of the tangible pieces of evidence that can be helpful for your legal situation. This includes files, printed pictures, and signed papers. However, this also extends to other pieces of electronic evidence that need to be preserved. We do most of our business on the internet, social media, and our phones. Keep track of your phone log history, important emails, the involved parties’ social posts, and important text messages that may be relevant to your lawsuit.
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Know that Retaliation is Illegal
Many employees fear to take actions against their employers thinking that it may cost them their jobs. However, before you take your step back, you must know that according to the U.S. Department of Labor, employers cannot retaliate against an employee for exercising their legal rights of filing complaint or cooperating with an investigation.
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Speak to An Employment Attorney
You should speak to an employment lawyer as soon as you feel that your employer is violating or about to violate the law. Nashville lawyers at Employment and Consumer Law Group say that quitting your job, for example, could damage your case or completely ruin your lawsuit. This is why you need to seek the advice of an experienced employment attorney before taking any action.
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Look for Another Job
Start looking for a new job as soon as possible if you lose your job in the process or if your employer threatens to terminate you in any way. You want to be prepared for the worst, so review a couple of vacancies and search for comparable employment in case you have to leave your current job. Even though this would not happen in all cases, it’s always better to be prepared.
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Research Your Situation Well
Asking your friend or work colleagues is not enough to guide you to the proper legal course. You need to rely on your own efforts in researching and investigating so that you can land on the best law firm websites. You also need to ensure that everything you are being told is correct from the numerous resources online. Do your homework and research your case before you make any decisions or take any legal action.
It may be intimidating to raise a lawsuit against your employer. But, if you’re facing problems at work and feel like your employer is violating the law, it might be the only option you have. However, you need proper guidance before engaging in this field or taking legal action. That’s why you’ll need an experienced employment lawyer who will explain everything to you and prevent you from making irreversible damage to your case.
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