Race based harassment with intentional infliction of distress

I am being harassed at work by two members of management. I am constantly being watched, circled, and reprimanded either verbally or in writing for actions that my fellow white co-workers get away with openly and frequently. I was at the brink of disaster when I started seeing a psychiatrist several months ago for stress, anxiety, depression, and anger management all relating to the situation at my job. My doctor recently also became fed up and advised me to talk to the EEOC, but I feel that I have a better chance filing a suit. Some of the behaviors that I have been reprimanded for is popping gum, originating gossip, bad mouthing management, talking, lost productivity due to talking (but I have one of the highest productivity numbers there on both shifts), being late from break, applying for too many jobs (using the internet posting system) and so on and so forth. Thing is that I am the only person to be written up for any of these offenses. I have reported the harassment to my immediate supervisor, my hr rep and the operations manager, and to the third party ethics hotline last week, but to no avail. They have searched my locker outside of my presence like their policy states, denied me due process by not telling me the nature of the "gossip" that they speak of so that I can defend myself. They have never asked me about any of these situations, only approaching me with the write ups having already "tried, convicted, and sentenced" me without giving me the chance to say anything. Also the hr rep tried to force another coworker to put something down on me in writing after I proposed in my comment section of the last write up, which was my final notice, that she and the other members of management had fabricated the written accounts and complaints on me by co-workers. It's really deep and too many details to discuss now, but am I being harassed and my rights violated, especially freedom of speech. I was even told last week that I could not talk, even though I was at my workstation doing my job while talking a coworker beside of me, but I am the only one that is not supposed to talk. I am black, the only black female on my shift and there is definitely some preferential treatment going on.

1 answer  |  asked Nov 1, 2003 6:08 PM [EST]  |  applies to North Carolina

Answers (1)

Reagan Weaver
race discrimination

I would suggest that you seek counsel as soon as possible. There may be things you could do that might prevent that final warning becoming a termination. You should obtain counsel quickly because there are statutory time limits for filing claims with EEOC. If you have a race claim then you should normally file such a claim with EEOC. The failure to do so could affect your rights, at least to some degree. I can recommend the Ferguson Stein law firm in Charlotte. They have a number of attorneys who are experienced in this type of mattter. Good luck.

posted by Reagan Weaver  |  Nov 2, 2003 10:54 AM [EST]

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