Legal Question in Discrimination Law in California

I am employed with a very large (leading) nation wide telecommunications company for the last 5 1/2 yrs. I work with men who have 25 yrs plus with the company and I am the only female supervisor in California for my dept ( I am part of the good old boys club). I have put up with sexual harrassment, discrimination, and been put down and talked down to by my boss and even in front of the director of the company. I have recently been targeted in a reduction in force (I lost my job effect 10/30/09). I know that my boss chose this opprotunity to get rid of me when others should have been targeted. I am not the lowest performer in my group I have actually been doing well, however, I do not play in my bosses band or join him at local hang outs like some of my co workers. My question here is, is it too late to file a law suit against this company for the harrasment that I have endured? I know that I should have said something prior to but I just moved offices instead away from my boss in fear of retaliation. I was sick and was taken out of work for 4 to 5 weeks but my boss would not let me take the time off, so I had to work until I went into surgeyI was so sick and only ended up taking two weeks off instead of a 4 to 6 weeks in order not to mess up his absentee rate and lower his bonus. I never took time off even though I was stressed out at work. He made it hard for me to take time off. Note: I was getting paid quite well as a supervisor and these positions are hard to walk into so everyone does what they have to to kept them. I chose not to play that and just do my work. They have offerred me a severance if I sign this can I not sue them? I do not have the money for an attorney (as I will not have a job after 2 weeks) but I want to know if I could persue a law suit? Or can they stand behind that they are just downsizing? Do I have a good case? Or should I just take what they are offerring? I really think that he used this chance to get rid of me instead of the lowest performer in our group.

Sincerely,

Looking for a lawyer in California...


Asked on 10/14/09, 10:59 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Terry A. Nelson Nelson & Lawless

You can file any discrimination claims within one year of the illegal conduct. The sooner the better, so as to include as many of the illegal actions as possible. You will need to have credible evidence and witnesses to support your allegations and show it actually was 'discrimination', and not just poor management skills, personality disputes, office power politics or 'unfair' treatment, none of which is illegal. You will have to show the company knew or should have known of the actual discrimination. Silent suffering generally results in waiver of your claims. If you think you can prove what is necessary, feel free to contact me for the legal help you'll need.

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Answered on 10/15/09, 1:03 pm


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