Hello
This is my first post here. Sorry for the long story.
I am from a protected class based on race. I started working for my company as a consultant.During the time I was a contractor no one said anything about poor performance.In fact they hired me on as a permanent employee since they liked my performance.
Three months later I was told that my probation was being extended due to poor performance however, during those three months no one said anything to me about poor performance.I did my job as usual.I complained to HR that I was never told about poor performance and all of sudden it is being used to extend probationary period.I also mentioned that the performance issues mentioned were just flimsy excuses and were not true either.I was told my communication skills was poor and was asked to watch a video. Interestingly I never had any communication issues when I worked in other
companies.
HR never got back to me but was taken off probation at the end of the period confirmed my full-time
employment.During the rest of the year I was never told anything about poor performance. I noticed I was being treated differently from my other co-workers which were all Caucasian women.My manager tended to favor them with responsibilities, bonuses and constant praises.They were all less experienced and qualified than me. I never received any of bonuses or praises. However, I was also never told that I was doing anything wrong for the rest of the year. When it came time for my annual evaluation I was given a poor evaluation and was held responsible for things that were not under my
control.Others in higher positions did not do their job but I was being blamed for the work not getting done. So I refuted all of the contents of evaluation. When I told my manager that I had no control over deadlines, he changed the wording in the evaluation but not the overall score (kinda like a %). I had proof he changed the wording of my evaluation but did not change the corresponding score to go with it.
Therefore when raise time came, he did not give me a raise because of the score of my evaluation.Reason given was my performance was poor, budget was not there, my salary was too aleady high,etc.
I once again went to HR to complain and was told that they did not feel that I was being treated unfairly.I had asked at that time that my supervisor be changed and that I be reevaluated by a third party. Since I did not get a reply, I went my manager's boss and was told that he stands by my managers' decision. He also told me that I would have no chance of advancement in the department.
So I went back to HR again and was told that they do not feel that I was being treated unfairly.After more than a month, I called the 1800 ethical hotline and reported the issue.Told them that I feel uncomfortable working this manager and that I was discriminated against due to my race.After this call,I received my next years midyear evulation. In this all of a sudden my manager mentioned many negative points which were all false.Basically he retaliated since I had called the number and went to HR.So I
asked for an explanation of the negative points so that I can understand what the problems were.Never got a response.I called the 1800 again and added this information and told them I was being retaliated now.
Meanwhile HR kept dragging and finally contacted me and told again the same thing.When I disagreed, HR tried to play the delay tactic by telling stories many times.After this went on for almost 2 months and still was unresolved I told HR that I was gonna file a complaint with EEOC. HR agreed and said no problem.
Now I have filed my complaint with the EEOC and the state agency saying that I was discriminated against because of race and sex.And it has affected my promotions, salary raises,bonuses, etc.I would like to know how strong my case is.
I would appreciate any advise you can provide regarding my case above.Thank you.
