I was forced to resign from my job because of discrimination. What can I do?

Question: I was working with Wachovia Bank since April 2005 and last October I was forced to resign from my job. The reason was Arrogance of the Sales Leader and Personnel Dislike because of my Race, Religion. I was not given any warning or was not brought to my notice of any problem in my performance. I have tried with My Human Resources Dept, Employee Services, Dept. Of Labor and quite lot of different govt. agencies but with no luck . I am wondering if I can ask for your help to get my job back. I have ample of evidence to prove my claim of Discrimination.

Answer: I regret to tell you that we cannot take on your case but we do want to help you in any way possible.

If you believe that you have been discriminated against by your employer, and if your employer has 15 or more employees then you should contact the EEOC. The Raleigh area EEOC contact information is as follows: 1309 Annapolis Drive, Raleigh, NC 27608. Their phone number is 1-800-669-4000.

Fyi, If you want to file suit against your employer (again, assuming your employer has 15 or more employees), then as a first step you MUST contact the EEOC. Note that you need to act quickly because in order to make this claim you must do so within 180 days (6 months) of the act you are complaining about. Because you indicated you have been unemployed for four months, you should get to the EEOC as soon as possible.

If your employer does not have at least 15 employees, you may still have a claim under state law in NC. NC state law also prohibits discrimination in employment based on some personal characteristics such as those you mentioned. If you need to make a claim under state law, then you should contact an attorney.

If you wish to engage an attorney immediately, I recommend that you contact the NC Lawyer Referral Service. Their webpage is http://www.lawyersosi.org/north-carolina-lawyers-referral-service.htm. Their phone number is (800) 662-7660.

I hope this helps and best of luck to you.