The Civil Litigation Process

The Civil Litigation Process

The focus of this paper will be to show how an employee would take a discrimination complaint against his or her employer. The process will be explored from where one would begin with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and proceeds through the civil litigation process from the state level up to the United States Supreme Court. In the examination of this scenario, it becomes necessary to define two key terms: discrimination and civil litigation.

Discrimination may be defined as the "prejudiced or prejudicial outlook, action, or treatment" of an individual or group towards another person or group (http://m-w.com/dictionary/discrimination, retrieved May 12, 2006). The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was specifically written to provide relief from discrimination in a number of areas, but specific to this paper is the area of employment law, which is detailed in Title VII of the Act. The Act created the "legal basis for non-discrimination" in employment, "housing, education, public accommodations and federally assisted programs" (Bennett-Alexander, D.D. & Hartman, L. P., Employment Law for Business, 4 ed., pp 3-4).

Chris Honeyman states that "civil litigation is...the process that will be used if no other arrangement is agreed upon, for all sorts of asserted wrongs" (http://www.crinfo.org/CK_Essays/ck_civil_litigation.jsp, Copyright © 1999-2004, The Conflict Resolution Information Source, retrieved May 12, 2006). He further states that when one thinks of the term "lawsuit", this is the process that is being referred.

The Process

According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, one must ask oneself a series of questions prior to filing a charge of employment discrimination. As a general rule for employees in the private sector, the answer to whom can file a charge of discrimination would be "any individual who believes that his or her employment rights have been violated" (http://www.eeoc.gov/charge/overview_charge_filing.html, retrieved May 12, 2006). To properly file a claim one must submit the following information via mail or in person to the nearest EEOC office: the complaining party's name, address, and telephone number as well as the name, address, and telephone number of the employer, employment agency, or union that is alleged to have discriminated, and number of employees (or union members), if known. The complaining party would include a short description of the alleged violation and the date and time when it occurred.

State Court

In Florida, any person may file a complaint with the Florida Civil Rights Commission or the EEOC within one year of the violation. The commission shall determine, within 180 days, if a discriminatory practice has occurred. At this point one may bring a civil case against the person named in the complaint in state court. (http://www.flsenate.gov/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=Ch0760/Sec11.HTM, retrieved May 12, 2006).

The Federal Court

To begin a civil lawsuit in federal court, the plaintiff files a complaint and serves the complaint on the defendant. The complaint describes the injury received and how the defendant caused the injury. A plaintiff may seek financial compensation or may ask the court instruct defendant to stop the injurious conduct. To prepare for trial, both parties may conduct discovery, which is the gathering of information concerning the case in preparation for trial.

In most cases, judges will encourage the parties to reach an agreement resolving their dispute. As a result, litigants often decide to resolve a civil lawsuit with an agreement known as a settlement. If the case is not settled, the court will schedule either a jury or bench trial. The jury or the judge will make the determination as to whether the defendant is responsible for harming the plaintiff in some way, and to determine the damages that the defendant will be required to pay. "In a civil case the plaintiff must convince the jury by a "preponderance of the evidence" (i.e., that it is more likely than not) that the defendant is responsible for the harm the plaintiff has suffered" (http://www.uscourts.gov/understand02/content_6_1.html, retrieved May 12, 2006).

The United States Supreme Court

The Supreme Court consists of the Chief Justice of the United States and the eight Associate Justices. This court operates in the same manner as any federal court but deals exclusively with matters of constitutional questions. The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure govern the conduct of all civil actions brought in Federal district courts. The basic proceedings follow the path set out