Senior_Esparza_Jianniney
New Member
- Jurisdiction
- New Jersey
The New Jersey DCR withheld the files from my case which prevented me from filing an appeal with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. I believe that this violates my right to due process and am looking at my options to file a complaint against the DCR. I have been through a similar issue with the New Jersey DOL in which I attempted to file a Conscious Employee Protection Act violation at no point was I informed by the receptionist or the wage referee that they don't handle Cepa violations only by the assistant director. I contacted several state agencies including the DCR and the EEOC and none of them handle new jersey CEPA. The attorney general also couldn't help but I ended up finding who handles these issues online. So i'm looking for advice on which agency might take violations of the right to due process by state employees and agencies. I'm also curious about whether or not the employees would be entitled to qualified immunity and if I sue them if there was any case law I can use to get the qualified immunity thrown out. Below is a description of the events the relevant information is bolded.
I turned to the New Jersey Division of Civil Rights after I was terminated from my company after being falsely accused of Harassment. An employee had been following me around harassing me and I had asked him several times to leave me alone and tried to avoid him even leaving my work area on several occasions. The employee used derogatory speech and had even threatened me on occasion. Eventually this was witnessed by a floor supervisor who had instructed him to stay away from me and the worker left before coming back to claim that I had threatened him with a knife. I resumed working and later I was called up to the office I wrote my statement stating that I was being harassed by the employee based on the color of my skin and that I did not threaten the employee and was not in possession of a knife and that It was the employee who threatened me please view the camera's as they will show everything. I was suspended and during my suspension one of the two managers who saw the witness statements being written and submitted them to corporate had informed me that of the 3 witnesses 2 of the witnesses corroborated my story while only one had corroborated the other employees story he also informed me of who wrote the statements the supervisor who had scolded the employee as well as two elderly workers who are from the same neighborhood as the employee and are of the same ethnicity. I was informed by the same manager that I was terminated and that the worker who harassed me had not been fired or suspended. I appealed my termination and asked for the video and the witness statements and informed the company of my intent to sue however the company had refused to provide them. I would later receive a termination letter in which the company made two inaccuracies. The first was an incorrect description of my clothes "A work shirt with a switchblade in the shirt pocket" I was wearing a sweatshirt with no pockets and I do not own a switchblade. The second was "I took no de-escalation" I attempted to avoid the worker several times and had even left my work area to stay away from them.
I filed with the New Jersey DCR and had provided the recording of the call. I had stated that the plaintiff was in possession of all the evidence which was 5 witness statements the 3 witnesses and me and the worker who harassed me as well as a video of the incident. It took 2 years for the DCR to make a decision in which they deemed no probable cause. The only relevant evidence was the witness statements which they claim "Overwhelmingly corroborates the workers story." The video was not listed in the relevant evidence nor any interviews with the witnesses. I was able to appeal with both the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the New Jersey Appealeant Court. I had 15 days for the EEOC and 45 for the NJAC.
I requested my case file to make a decision. This was made first in a phone call with my investigator who refused to even give me information on how to obtain this information next I submitted an email to all the emails I could find and made several phone calls. After the 15 days was up I received a call back instructing me on how to get the files. When I finally got the files I knew that I needed to appeal this decision. For starters there was evidence in the form of an email in which the DCR demanded the video the witness statements and the phone numbers for the 2 managers the supervisor and the 3 employees. The company provided the witness statements however they destroyed the video which means that they have met all the elements of spoilation of evidence(1) the evidence must be within a party's control(Possessed by the company); (2) an actual suppression or withholding(refused to provide this when I requested it); (3) of relevant evidence(video captured the events); (4) where it was reasonably foreseeable that the evidence would be discoverable(Company was informed of my intention to sue). Next there was evidence submitted by the company that shows 3 months after they were served only the worker was still employed by the company which prevented the DCR from contacting the witnesses. Lastly the witness statements submitted by the company were not notarized so it was possible they were forged.
I turned to the New Jersey Division of Civil Rights after I was terminated from my company after being falsely accused of Harassment. An employee had been following me around harassing me and I had asked him several times to leave me alone and tried to avoid him even leaving my work area on several occasions. The employee used derogatory speech and had even threatened me on occasion. Eventually this was witnessed by a floor supervisor who had instructed him to stay away from me and the worker left before coming back to claim that I had threatened him with a knife. I resumed working and later I was called up to the office I wrote my statement stating that I was being harassed by the employee based on the color of my skin and that I did not threaten the employee and was not in possession of a knife and that It was the employee who threatened me please view the camera's as they will show everything. I was suspended and during my suspension one of the two managers who saw the witness statements being written and submitted them to corporate had informed me that of the 3 witnesses 2 of the witnesses corroborated my story while only one had corroborated the other employees story he also informed me of who wrote the statements the supervisor who had scolded the employee as well as two elderly workers who are from the same neighborhood as the employee and are of the same ethnicity. I was informed by the same manager that I was terminated and that the worker who harassed me had not been fired or suspended. I appealed my termination and asked for the video and the witness statements and informed the company of my intent to sue however the company had refused to provide them. I would later receive a termination letter in which the company made two inaccuracies. The first was an incorrect description of my clothes "A work shirt with a switchblade in the shirt pocket" I was wearing a sweatshirt with no pockets and I do not own a switchblade. The second was "I took no de-escalation" I attempted to avoid the worker several times and had even left my work area to stay away from them.
I filed with the New Jersey DCR and had provided the recording of the call. I had stated that the plaintiff was in possession of all the evidence which was 5 witness statements the 3 witnesses and me and the worker who harassed me as well as a video of the incident. It took 2 years for the DCR to make a decision in which they deemed no probable cause. The only relevant evidence was the witness statements which they claim "Overwhelmingly corroborates the workers story." The video was not listed in the relevant evidence nor any interviews with the witnesses. I was able to appeal with both the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the New Jersey Appealeant Court. I had 15 days for the EEOC and 45 for the NJAC.
I requested my case file to make a decision. This was made first in a phone call with my investigator who refused to even give me information on how to obtain this information next I submitted an email to all the emails I could find and made several phone calls. After the 15 days was up I received a call back instructing me on how to get the files. When I finally got the files I knew that I needed to appeal this decision. For starters there was evidence in the form of an email in which the DCR demanded the video the witness statements and the phone numbers for the 2 managers the supervisor and the 3 employees. The company provided the witness statements however they destroyed the video which means that they have met all the elements of spoilation of evidence(1) the evidence must be within a party's control(Possessed by the company); (2) an actual suppression or withholding(refused to provide this when I requested it); (3) of relevant evidence(video captured the events); (4) where it was reasonably foreseeable that the evidence would be discoverable(Company was informed of my intention to sue). Next there was evidence submitted by the company that shows 3 months after they were served only the worker was still employed by the company which prevented the DCR from contacting the witnesses. Lastly the witness statements submitted by the company were not notarized so it was possible they were forged.
