People are often surprised to learn that there are no laws that require employers to be reasonable, polite, or even fair in their decisions regarding hiring, firing, promotions, demotions, discipline, and job duties.  Employers can legally make employment decisions for good reasons, bad reasons, or even for no reason at all.  For example an employer could announce that “everyone with brown shoes on” would be terminated at the end of the day and then do just that without risk of violating any employment laws.  Of course, such an odd circumstance might make the local news, but if the employer’s true reason for making the decision was truly based on shoe color, then it would not violate the law.

A different result might be forthcoming, however, if the employees that were fired took notice of the fact that they were all white males, were all over the age of 60, or were all disabled in some fashion.  If so, then the employer may have violated one or more of the various Florida and federal laws that protect against workplace discrimination.  Such laws prohibit, among other things, discrimination in employment decisions based upon race, national origin, color, sex, disability, religion, age or marital status.

If you feel that you have suffered an act of workplace discrimination, then you are likely best suited to speak to a qualified Orlando employment law attorney as soon as is practicable.  It should be noted that most discrimination claims cannot proceed immediately to court.  Typically, the employee has to first file a complaint (termed a “charge of discrimination”) with either the federal government (the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or “EEOC”) or the Florida government (the Florida Commission on Human Relations or “FCHR”) and allow the government an opportunity to investigate their discrimination issues.

Once a charge of discrimination is filed, the government will send a copy of the charge to the employer and will typically offer to set up a mediation (informal settlement conference) wherein an impartial person tries to assist the parties resolve their dispute prior to the government investigation.  If, however, the dispute cannot be resolved through mediation or mediation does not occur, then the government will conduct an investigation as to the alleged discrimination.  At the end of the investigation, the government will notify the employee as to its findings and will provide the employee with instructions on how to seek available remedies under the law.  Such remedies could include either an administrative hearing or a civil action in a court of law.

Of course, as with any legal claim, time is of the essence as the law limits the time that you have to file.  Generally speaking, charges of discrimination in Florida must be filed no later than 365 days from the alleged discriminatory act.  The employment attorneys at Bogin, Munns, & Munns, P.A. have handled many such claims from the initial filing all the way through to federal trial and even appellate claims.  The firm employs several experienced employment attorneys that are available for consultations and assistance at any stage of employment law proceedings.

– Joseph Shoemaker, Esq., is an attorney with Bogin, Munns, & Munns, P.A., a full service law firm with offices in Orlando, Clermont, Kissimmee, Deltona, Daytona Beach, Ocala, Melbourne, Gainesville, and Leesburg, Florida.  Mr. Shoemaker works out of the Leesburg office of the firm and welcomes questions and comments regarding the above and can be reached at jshoemaker@boginmunns.com

NO LEGAL ADVICE: This blog entry is not intended as legal advice nor should you consider it as such. It is intended only as general information.  You should not act upon this information without retaining professional legal counsel. Please keep in mind that merely subscribing to or reading this blog or otherwise contacting Bogin Munns & Munns, P.A. in the manner that you have will not establish an attorney-client relationship with our firm. Bogin Munns & Munns, P.A. cannot represent you until the firm knows there would not be a conflict of interest, and the firm determines that it is otherwise able to accept the engagement. The engagement would also be confirmed by a written agreement.