What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA
I wrote a while back and had an issue with being terminated for using California's equivalent of FMLA. I thought my job was protected for approved leave to care for a domestic partner, which according to the State Dept. of Fair Employment and Housing, it is. They have accepted my case for investigation, the employer was served in July 2010.
I thought it best to get an attorney to help me through the process and see if we could attempt to negotiate a settlement, and for me to have representation if the issue was to be referred to mediation, which it most likely will.
The waiting and process has been draining. After securing an attorney about a month and a half ago, he abruptly resigned a couple weeks ago, stating he only has worked on the "slip and fall" type cases and didn't want to make me his guinea pig. He did attempt to refer me to an another attorney. The other attorney asked for documents, and has never responded back. I did email him a week and a half ago, asking him if he had looked over the docs I sent, he said he was on a deadline and would get back to me by the end of last week.
At this point, does anyone think it's safe to go Pro Se in attempting to negotiate a settlement or see if the ex-employer is willing to go that route? I'm hoping with the State accepting the case (and cross filing with the EEOC) that I may have some leverage, no matter how small. The DFEH had suggested I try to settle with my employer when they accepted the case on June 7, 2010. At that time, I was dealing directly with the H.R. Department in California, not the Corporate Legal in Chicago, and of course they would not talk settlement, and had no authority to do so. However, I did email Corporate HR and was provided a contact in Legal, a name and phone number.
If I contact them, would this hurt the DFEH investigation, even though they had suggested I try myself early on while they worked on the complaint? Is it possible to represent ones self in a mediation? I'd rather have an attorney, but I have to go on a contingency basis, and this is probably small money.
Thoughts?
I wrote a while back and had an issue with being terminated for using California's equivalent of FMLA. I thought my job was protected for approved leave to care for a domestic partner, which according to the State Dept. of Fair Employment and Housing, it is. They have accepted my case for investigation, the employer was served in July 2010.
I thought it best to get an attorney to help me through the process and see if we could attempt to negotiate a settlement, and for me to have representation if the issue was to be referred to mediation, which it most likely will.
The waiting and process has been draining. After securing an attorney about a month and a half ago, he abruptly resigned a couple weeks ago, stating he only has worked on the "slip and fall" type cases and didn't want to make me his guinea pig. He did attempt to refer me to an another attorney. The other attorney asked for documents, and has never responded back. I did email him a week and a half ago, asking him if he had looked over the docs I sent, he said he was on a deadline and would get back to me by the end of last week.
At this point, does anyone think it's safe to go Pro Se in attempting to negotiate a settlement or see if the ex-employer is willing to go that route? I'm hoping with the State accepting the case (and cross filing with the EEOC) that I may have some leverage, no matter how small. The DFEH had suggested I try to settle with my employer when they accepted the case on June 7, 2010. At that time, I was dealing directly with the H.R. Department in California, not the Corporate Legal in Chicago, and of course they would not talk settlement, and had no authority to do so. However, I did email Corporate HR and was provided a contact in Legal, a name and phone number.
If I contact them, would this hurt the DFEH investigation, even though they had suggested I try myself early on while they worked on the complaint? Is it possible to represent ones self in a mediation? I'd rather have an attorney, but I have to go on a contingency basis, and this is probably small money.
Thoughts?