Workplace discrimination can upend your career and your financial well-being. If you’ve been harmed by workplace discrimination, then you need to be prepared to take legal action. If the thought of entering the legal arena has you on edge, don’t worry. By thoroughly preparing, you can lift the burden from your shoulders and rest easy knowing that you have strong legal arguments on your side.
But where do you even start when it comes to building your workplace discrimination case? That’s a good question, and an important one to answer. After all, if you wait too long to start building your case, you might lose key evidence to support your position. Let’s look at what you can start doing right now to build your workplace discrimination claim.
Steps for building a workplace discrimination case
It’s hard to know where to start when addressing your workplace discrimination claim. By doing the following, though, you could put yourself in a better position to argue your case, find accountability for the behavior to which you’ve been subjected, and recover the compensation you deserve:
- Keep a written record: Every instance of discriminatory behavior that you can prove is going to help solidify your case. But it might be hard to remember every little detail of this behavior. That’s why it’s a good idea to write down every instance of discrimination to which you’re subjected, capturing the date, time, and circumstances of each. By doing so, you’ll develop a record that shows a clear pattern of discrimination, and it’ll also allow you to clearly recall those details that might otherwise be lost over time.
- Talk to co-workers: If discrimination is rampant in your workplace, then you’re probably not the only one who has witnessed it. By talking to your co-workers, you can identify witnesses who may be able to testify as to your employer’s culture of discrimination and specific incidences where you were treated unfairly.
- Track your losses: If you want to recover compensation from your workplace discrimination case, then you need to prove your damages. So, be sure to track your losses, including wages that you missed out on due to job loss or demotion, costs for retraining or education, and any mental and emotional turmoil that you experienced as a result.
- Defend your employment record: Your employer is going to do everything they can to try to paint you in a bad light, thereby justifying the action they’ve taken against you. But if you hold onto your favorable performance evaluations and complimentary emails, then you might be able to fend off their attacks. It might also be helpful to talk to witnesses who can back up your contributions to the workplace, your attendance, and the quality of your work.
The time to act is now
You don’t want to sit on workplace discrimination too long, as doing so could put you in a difficult position where it’s hard to gather, preserve, and present evidence. By acting now, you might be able to bring discrimination to stop, thereby protecting yourself and your co-workers, as well as recover compensation for damages that you’ve suffered. Reach out to the attorneys at Alan C. Olson & Associates for guidance.