Discrimination in a power plant isn’t uncommon. It may take place while working as a power worker you are treated less favorably than other power workers. This is normally because of something personal about you and not your ability to work in the capacity of a power worker.
How a Power Worker May Experience Workplace Discrimination
There are both state and federal laws which help to protect workers from discrimination in their workplaces. Usually state laws are just like the federal laws.
This means that power company employers are not permitted to discriminate based on a power worker’s protected features, which are his or her personal characteristics such as:
- sexual orientation;
- religion;
- race;
- pregnancy status;
- political leaning;
- parenthood in many cases;
- national origin including ancestry;
- marital status;
- gender;
- color;
- age;
- a physical or mental disability.
There are a few employers who may think it is in their company’s interest to discriminate because if they don’t the business may suffer irreversibly. This however is unlawful so if the power company you work for has discriminated against in some way you may have a case for illegal discrimination.
How Discrimination Can Occur For a Power Worker
There are a number of ways a power company can discriminate against a power worker because of a personal feature that is protected. These may include any of the following:
- Cutting the power worker’s shift hours which decreases wages;
- Refusing the power worker any additional training opportunities and promotion;
- Being paid a lower wage than another power worker who does exactly the same job;
- Being kept apart from other power workers;
- Failing to provide the power worker with useful information which helps to get the job done well;
- Being told to undertake tasks that are impossible to do;
- Being abused or verbally insulted because of the protected feature.
Filing a Discrimination Claim as a Power Worker
The first thing you need to do is file a report of the discrimination with your supervisor explaining how and where it took place. Your employer may be happy to solve your complaint of discrimination and ensure it doesn’t happen again before you take your complaint to the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC).
If your employer doesn’t take any notice of your complaint, then you may progress onto the next step. If your power company employs more than 15 employees,8u you are permitted to file a complaint with the EEOC if your employer has failed to respond to your complaint.
You are given 180 days to submit your complaint from the date the incident took place. However, you should go through the process as soon as you can, so that not only is the discrimination still clear in your mind but the same will apply to your witnesses who you have chosen to support your claim.
How to File a Claim for Discrimination as a Power Worker
When you file your workplace discrimination complaint as a power worker it is important that you file the claim in person at your nearest EEOC office or if you prefer by mail or online. Before you do this, you should submit an online enquiry so that the EEOC can decide if it is the right agency for you to file your complaint.
With your complaint you will be asked to provide information about yourself such as your name, address and contact details and also the same information for your employer. Included in the complaint should be the following information:
- a description of the act of discrimination including the dates it took place;
- any notes or emails from the perpetrator that proves that discrimination has occurred;
- names, addresses, and contact details of all witnesses who are prepared to support your allegations of discrimination.
When the EEOC receives your complaint it will initiate an investigation. If your wellbeing is at stake due to the discrimination it may start the investigation straightaway.
During the investigation an EEOC officer may visit your power company, request more details from you, conduct interviews and appraise any relevant documents. It may decide to organize mediation between you and your employer to see if the discrimination issue can be solved in this way. If it cannot be resolved the EEOC has to establish that there is no doubt that the discrimination has taken place and you may get compensation like:
- back pay;
- front pay;
- legal fees and court cost (if applicable);
- promotion;
- re-instatement to your job as a power worker.
If the EEOC is unable to resolve your discrimination claim it will let you know and give you 90-days to sue the power company, your employer. However, you will need the help of an employment law attorney who specializes in discrimination to work on your behalf.
Help With Your Discrimination Claim
An employment law attorney can help you navigate the different steps of the claims process. Complete the Free Case Evaluation today to have your claim reviewed by a lawyer that is licensed in your area today!
