A salesman had been working for a company for over 30 years when his company was purchased and new management took over. Systematically, management began a campaign to force the salesman to resign. They singled him out, criticized his work, demoted him, and divided up his sales territory. The salesman has now lost commissions and is desperate, but what can he do? If he lives in Pennsylvania, he may look for relief under a law referred to as The Pennsylvania Human Relations Act which prohibits his employer from discriminating against him because he is over the age of 40. Once he has exhausted the company’s internal grievance procedures (if any), the salesman is entitled to file a complaint with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission.
When the Commission was created in the 1950’s, it was authorized only to handle cases based on race, color, religious creed, ancestry, age, or national origin. Since then, the law has been strengthened and the definition of illegal discrimination has been broadened to include discrimination on the basis of sex, non-job related disability, unlawful eviction during the course of a lease, pregnancy, birth of a child, use of guide or support animals, and familial status. The Commission is responsible for investigating complaints of discrimination in employment, housing, education, and businesses open to the general public. Among their official duties, the Commissioners set policy, promulgate rules, regulations and guidelines, serve on panels to hear cases, and adopt final orders after public hearings.
The Pennsylvania Human Relations Act provides that the remedies under the Act are exclusive once invoked and must be exhausted. Furthermore, as with most legal matters, there are a number of deadlines and strict time-tables that must be followed. For example, an individual has 180 days from the date of the “alleged unlawful discriminatory practice” to file a complaint with the Commission (unless you have a very convincing reason why you failed to timely file).
The proceedings are commenced by the filing of a verified complaint with the Commission. The Commission then enters the complaint on its official docket and sends the complaint to the party or parties (the “respondent”) against whom the complaint is made. The respondent then has 30 days in which to file its written, verified answer to the complaint.
In many cases, the party (the “complainant”) filing the complaint chooses to dual-file his or her charges with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (the “EEOC”), which preserves the individual’s right to file a lawsuit in federal district court. If the complaint is filed with the Commission and dual-filed with the EEOC, the EEOC will refrain from processing the charge until the Commission completes its processing and issues final findings and orders. At that time, the Commission will notify the EEOC of the closure so that the EEOC can review the Commission’s findings.
Once the complaint and answer are filed, if the Commission has reason to believe that an unlawful discriminatory practice as occurred, it will assign an investigator to the case and the investigation begins. The investigator may conduct interviews, request documents and records, and otherwise conduct discovery. The investigator typically schedules a fact finding conference during which the parties are questioned by the investigator, and the investigator attempts to resolve the complaint by conciliation among the parties.
If the investigator finds that there is no foundation for the allegations of the complaint, he may make a finding of that determination and the Commission may dismiss the complaint. The Act provides that if within one year after the filing of a complaint with the Commission, the Commission either dismisses the complaint or has not entered into a settlement agreement or conciliation agreement, the Commission must so notify the complaintant. When the complainant receives the notice, he is able to bring an action in state court. If the Commission has dismissed the complaint, the complainant has two years after the date of notice from the Commission in which to file his action. If the complaintant then chooses to file in state court, the Commission will dismiss the complaint before it. This means that the Commission will not decide the case even if the complaint filed in state court is dismissed because of a procedural error.
The complainant also has the right to request a preliminary hearing before the Commission to decide whether the Commission properly dismissed the Complaint; however the complainant has only 10 days of the receipt of the notice in which to request such a hearing.
If the investigation reveals that there are grounds for the allegations of the complaint, the Commission will issue a finding of probable cause. At that point, the Commission attempts to eliminate the discriminatory practice and encourages settlement between the parties. If the case cannot be settled, a public hearing may be conducted before the Commissioners. After the hearing, the Commission will state findings of fact and conclusions of law and issue its order.
If we can be of any assistance in this area, please contact our office.
— Denise Ciampitti