Recent Answers to Civil Rights Law Questions

Merry K.

Answered Jun 10, 2025

I am so very sorry to hear about your termination. One can always sue; the question is whether one can win. The content of the letter would be used as one piece of evidence; you would need to provide as much evidence as possible to win a case (or to even convince the employer to settle with you). Some of these other pieces of evidence would include such things as the performance and discipline of colleagues who are of a different race than you; evidence that demonstrates your performance was no worse than colleagues who weren't terminated; testimony from colleagues, and etc. In addition, a court would look at things such as how long you had been on the job when compared with other employees who were not fired; whether you and the colleagues used for comparison had the same/similar jobs or not; etc. If you employer has at least eight employees, you can file a complaint at no charge with the Washington State Human Rights Commission here: https://www.hum.wa.gov/file-complaint This neutral state agency will file a complaint on your behalf at the same time with the federal EEOC (which has been gutted) and HRC will conduct a neutral investigation and also try to help you settle with the employer. You can skip the State HRC and go straight to state court, but this would be challenging to do without an attorney representing you - and you'll only find an attorney to represent you if you convince him or her that you have an excellent case. I also want you to know that Tacoma, Seattle, Spokane, and King County have their own discrimination agencies, so if you were working in one of those places, you can contact the appropriate agency for help. I hope that helps. I have a long background in discrimination law, and worked at the HRC three times, and was also a City of Tacoma Human Rights Commissioner.

Donya G.

Answered Sep 24, 2021

You will need an attorney to advise you, as such, you will need to post your project on the website Here are the steps you need to take to accomplish this 1. Post the job you need to get accomplished – for example “ I am looking for an attorney to discuss a possible violation of a cease and desist by a college -------------“ 2. Once posted, attorneys on the website that are interested and qualified will respond to your posting 3. Choose an attorney/s based upon their qualifications and cover letter to have a quick call so that you can decide who you would like to hire. 4. After talking with attorneys, choose who you will decide to proceed with. Remember to discuss the cost of the project as well as how long it will take to be completed as well as when payments will be made. 5. Once you have decided who to hire, click “HIRE” and that attorney will now be hired by you. Donya Gordon, Esq.