Legal Question in Employment Law in California

Unless you can prove a termination was due to discrimination or in retaliation for the EEOC claim, you have no recourse. Getting along with co-workers is 85% of the real job in almost any job. If you can't do that part of the job, they are free to let you go, no matter how "unfair" it may be.

If you can prove the investigation was motivated by your EEOC complaint, this would be illegal retaliation, even if the underlying complaint cannot be substantiated. There are many factors that need to be considered, such as the timing of the events, how long you have worked for the employer, without any co-worker complaints about you, the method of questioning of your co-workers, etc.

You should amend your EEOC complaint to add a claim of retaliation and consult with experienced employment law counsel in your area, to have someone evaluate the facts of your case.

In order to fully answer your question, I have a couple of my own. First, had you ever been disciplined for being aggressive or mean prior to complaining to the EEOC? Did you know that your coworkers felt this way? Also, what was the discrimination you complained of regarding project responsibilities and the other issues? Lastly, what did you write in your EEOC complaint?

These questions all go to a retaliation claim. If you were never disciplined for being aggressive or mean before your complaint to the EEOC, that would be evidence your employer was making this up or exaggerating the claims to fire you, which would be evidence of retaliation. As for the discrimination you complained of, in order to have a valid claim for retaliation, you would have had to complain about discrimination based on the legally protected categories, i.e. race, age, religion, gender, sexual orientation, ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition.

Moreover, the very conduct they are complaining of sounds like it could very well be gender discrimination. If they are complaining that you are too aggressive because you�re leaning forward or being mean, yet they wouldn�t make the same complaint about a male in your position, such complaints can be evidence of gender discrimination in that you are not fulfilling typical gender stereotypes by being more passive and �womanly.�

For more information, please feel free to call our office at (213) 536-4236. We would be happy to discuss your situation and fully assess your rights and possible recourse. You can also visit our website at www.sarnofflaw.com for more information.