Employment Discrimination

The Community Relations Department (CRD) enforces laws which prohibit discrimination in employment in Fort Worth, Texas and the Enforcement Division carries out these responsibilities.  The Community Relations Department is a certified Fair Employment Practices Agency by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. This designation means that complaints filed with the CRD are also filed with the federal agencies.

The laws cover employment discrimination which is based on the following criteria:

• Race
• Sex
• National Origin
• Age (40 and above)
• Religion
• Disability
• Color
• Retaliation, or
• Sexual Orientation

These laws apply to all employers who have 15 or more employees. The laws apply to actions that have happened within the past 180 days. ALL employment-related actions are covered (hiring, pay, promotion, sexual harassment, etc.).

If you feel that you have been discriminated against on the job for one of the reasons above, you should call the Community Relations Department at (817) 392-7525. You can talk to an Investigator about your situation and, if you want to file a charge of discrimination, you may schedule an appointment to come in and file the charge.

The Process for filing a charge of discrimination is as follows:

If You Believe Your Rights Have Been Violated:

1. File a charge of discrimination.
The law prohibits your employer from harassing or retaliating against you because you filed a charge. You can file a charge of discrimination against private employers of 15 or more persons, private educational institutions, labor unions with 15 or more members and joint labor-management committees for apprenticeship and training.

2. To file a charge of discrimination, you must:

a)  Visit and be interviewed by an intake officer at the Community Relations Department
b)  Provide information including records, and the names of witnesses that you have concerning the discrimination
c)  Swear or affirm to the allegations, in the charge of discrimination or make a declaration under the penalty of perjury 

After you file a charge, you become a Charging Party and as a Charging Party, you must:

a)  Cooperate with the Community Relations Department
b)  Attend fact-finding conferences and other meetings when scheduled
c)  Provide updated information on change of address, change of phone numbers, and contact information.

3. After the intake process:

a)  The employer, union, or employment agency (Respondent) named in the charge will be notified within ten days.
b)  The Community Relations Department may require you to attend a fact-finding conference in order to establish facts, define issues and determine a basis for negotiation of settlement.
c)  If settlement efforts are unsuccessful, the Community Relations Department may investigate to determine the merits of the charge.
d)  After the investigation, the Community Relations Department will issue a Letter of Determination on the merits of the charge and for all Title VII  charges, a right to sue letter will be issued by a State or Federal agency.
e)  Regardless of what action the Community Relations Department takes, you may request a right to sue in a Federal District court on your own behalf.  (This may be done 180 days after you file your charge).

If you file a complaint, the Community Relations Department will investigate your charge at no cost to you.

The Community Relations Department is a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Fair Employment Practices Agency.