Legal Question in Employment Law in Florida

Is it too late to file?

In March, of last year,I was terminated from a nursing home that we worked at, beacause of a false accusation that one of the nursing home residents made about me. The nursing home investigated the incident, and chose to fired me(black male), and another employee(hispanic female). My termination happened in March of 2003. In September of 2003, I found out through a reliable source that the hispanic female hired a lawyer and regained her employment, plus the two months of back wages, that she would have earn had she not been fired. Well, this made me very angry, because I felt that the rehiring of this hispanic female was a discriminatory act. That's not all. This girl found out, some how, that our employer was illegally taping the room that was assigned us. This is what she used to get her job back. Now, here is what I wanted to ask you. Legally speaking, when does the clock start ticking on the statue of limitations,to file with the EEOC? Is it when the actual act of discrimination occured(rehiring of hispanic female), or is it when I found out about the discrimination, months later? How could I file with the EEOC about an act that I did not even know had been committed? Can you point me in the right direction? Thank you.


Asked on 4/01/04, 11:21 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Kelly Henderson

Re: Is it too late to file?

I believe that for the EEOC the clock starts running at the time of the discriminatory act. For you I think that would be your termination, not when you learned of the re-hire of the hispanic woman. I would however call the EEOC in Miami and check this out immediatly. You can get their phone number at www.eeoc.gov. The Florida Commission on Human Rights lets you file up to 365 days after the discriminatory act and also has language that may extend that from the date you learned of the discriminatory act. In any event, I suggest you move quickly to preserve your rights.

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Answered on 4/01/04, 11:39 am


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