If you believe you’ve been the victim of discrimination or harassment, you’ll need to bring the following kinds of documents to your Los Angeles discrimination attorney:
- Personnel File: Your employment record will need to be evaluated by your attorney in order to determine if you’ve had any warnings or disciplinary actions taken against you in the past. Your attorney will also need to see your employee reviews in order to get a better idea of how your supervisor has evaluated your job performance in the past. If you cannot obtain a copy of your personnel file, your attorney can request one from your employer.
- Employee Handbook: Typically, an employee handbook lists company policies, information about pay, benefits and procedures for bringing grievances. Most large companies state clearly that different kinds of discrimination or harassment will not be tolerated. While the courts do not view employee handbooks as contracts, they do hold companies accountable for violations of their own stated policies. As such, an employee handbook can bolster your case when your employer is guilty of violating their own policies in regard to grievance procedures, harassment, or discrimination.
- A Journal of Your Experience: Memories can fade and key witnesses can leave a company. Keeping a journal where you can record times and dates of specific kinds of actions, comments, or events will help you to preserve your memory and tie down instances of unacceptable behavior to specific people, places and times.
- Pay Stubs: Make sure you keep track of your pay and any lost time you experienced as a result of harassment or discrimination. If, for instance, you were denied a promotion due to discrimination, you may be able to recover the difference in wages involved if your attorney can prove discrimination was the reason why you were denied a job promotion.
- Evidence of Discrimination or Harassment: If you have copies or actual documents that establish the presence of discrimination or harassment, it’s important to bring them with you to your meeting with your attorney. For example, offensive pictures, e-mails, postings on kiosks or similar kinds of things should be provided to your attorney.
- Mental or Medical Health Records: Discrimination and harassment can take a physical and mental toll on an individual. If you developed high blood pressure, anxiety, depression or other conditions as a result of your experience at work, it’s important to document it through your medical records. If a link can be established between your health condition and discrimination or harassment you suffered, you may be entitled to additional damages for pain and suffering as well.
- Information on Witnesses: It’s also important to develop a list of people who may have been witness to discriminatory or harassing behavior directed toward you. Additionally, preparing a witness list can greatly reduce the amount of time your attorney has to expend in tracking down potential witnesses.
- Performance Reviews: An examination of your performance reviews is important to establish retaliatory or discriminatory behavior on the part of your employer. If you have consistently received positive reviews until after speaking up about discrimination or harassment, your attorney should be able to expose important inconsistencies that are often indicative of discrimination.
Contact discrimination attorney Steve Rubin
If you believe you have been the target of discrimination or harassment, contact attorney Steve Rubin today to schedule an appointment and discuss your case.
